Chinese zodiac · compatibility
Chinese zodiac compatibility: the twelve animals, pair by pair
Two birth years, one table. Choose the two animals and the page names the relation the classical table gives them — Six Harmony (六合), Three Harmony (三合), direct opposition (相冲), punishment (相刑), harm (相害) or break (相破) — and says what each of those means.
Pick two animals
The whole table
| Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rat | · | 合 | · | 刑 | 三 | · | 冲 | 害 | 三 | 破 | · | · |
| Ox | 合 | · | · | · | 破 | 三 | 害 | 冲 | · | 三 | 刑 | · |
| Tiger | · | · | · | · | · | 刑 | 三 | · | 冲 | · | 三 | 合 |
| Rabbit | 刑 | · | · | · | 害 | · | 破 | 三 | · | 冲 | 合 | 三 |
| Dragon | 三 | 破 | · | 害 | 刑 | · | · | · | 三 | 合 | 冲 | · |
| Snake | · | 三 | 刑 | · | · | · | · | · | 合 | 三 | · | 冲 |
| Horse | 冲 | 害 | 三 | 破 | · | · | 刑 | 合 | · | · | 三 | · |
| Goat | 害 | 冲 | · | 三 | · | · | 合 | · | · | · | 刑 | 三 |
| Monkey | 三 | · | 冲 | · | 三 | 合 | · | · | · | · | · | 害 |
| Rooster | 破 | 三 | · | 冲 | 合 | 三 | · | · | · | 刑 | 害 | · |
| Dog | · | 刑 | 三 | 合 | 冲 | · | 三 | 刑 | · | 害 | · | · |
| Pig | · | · | 合 | 三 | · | 冲 | · | 三 | 害 | · | · | 刑 |
Each cell names the strongest relation between the row and the column:
- 合 — Six Harmony (六合): The pair the classical table puts closest together: each supplies what the other lacks.
- 三 — Three Harmony (三合): One of four sets of three animals that move in the same direction — an alliance rather than a close pair.
- 冲 — Direct opposition (相冲): Six animals apart: the two pull in opposite directions, which shows as friction and as change.
- 刑 — Punishment (相刑): Pressure inside a set — read classically as discomfort from being too close, not from being opposed.
- 害 — Harm (相害): The quieter one: what one holds, the other tends to spoil without meaning to.
- 破 — Break (相破): An unfinished pair — the two get most of the way and then a piece falls out.
Some pairs carry more than one relation — entering the two years above lists all of them.
Questions
Does a relation decide whether two people work?
It names the relation the classical table gives the two animals. Whether a pair works is read from the two charts; that is what the compatibility reading takes.
Where do these relations come from?
They come from the twelve earthly branches. Six Harmony pairs combining branches (子丑, 寅亥, 卯戌, 辰酉, 巳申, 午未); opposition is the animal six years away; Three Harmony groups every third animal into a set of three; harm, break and punishment follow their own series. The table here is the standard one.
Is this the zodiac pairing or the full chart?
This page works from the two birth years alone. The compatibility reading casts both charts and reads the palaces of each.
Compatibility reading Zodiac Cast your chart first — free Chinese astrology vs Western astrology