THE TWELVE YEAR ANIMALS
Rat
The Rat opens the twelve-animal sequence.
Go deeper: the full reference
鼠 · shǔ
In the calendar story, the Rat suggests beginnings, observation and making use of what is close at hand. It is a symbol for noticing resources, not a claim that everyone born in this year behaves alike.
An example
When a plan is new, the Rat image invites you to inventory what you already know and can use.
A question to carry with you
What small resource could help you begin?
Find your own lunar-year placement
Use your birth date to find the year animal, stem, branch, stem phase and Yin/Yang. This calculator follows Chinese New Year; it does not calculate a full Four Pillars (BaZi) chart.