All the 12 animals are placed in a particular order or each animal is ranked respectively. The rat comes first then second is the ox then next tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and finally the pig. Your Chinese zodiac sign is based on your date of birth and if you want to find out under which animal sign you were born then your date of birth is calculated to determine the same. The internet has many astrological sites where you can type in your date of birth to get your Chinese zodiac sign.

Each Chinese zodiac sign has affinities which are of two types. These are known as the affinity group and the affinity pair. There are four groups of animals in Chinese astrology and each is known as an affinity group that consists of three animals. On the other hand there are six affinity pairs namely the rat and ox, tiger and pig, rabbit and dog, dragon and rooster, snake and monkey and lastly the horse and goat. For compatibility you have to choose your partner either from the affinity group or from the affinity pair. If you can do that you are sure to develop a harmonious relationship with your partner. For instance a person born in the rat year would gel well with a person born either in the dragon or monkey year because all of them belong to the same affinity group. Similarly that person can also have a compatible relationship with someone who is born in the ox year as both of are under the same affinity pair. You can also consult any Chinese zodiac compatibility chart for further insight on this aspect.

Just as compatible signs, there are also incompatible signs in Chinese astrology called clashing signs. These signs are opposite to each other and have the tendency to clash often. The most incompatible signs in Chinese astrology are the rat with horse, ox with goat, tiger with monkey, rabbit with rooster, dragon with dog and snake with pig. Chinese astrologers suggest that you should not choose a partner whose birth sign clashes with yours.

All this knowledge and information about Chinese astrology and zodiac signs would come in handy when you entertain new friends or when you want to liven up social get togethers.

Chinese astrology is somewhat different from western astrology though some of its elements have similarities with eastern or Vedic astrology. The aim here is to delve into the finer aspects of this ancient astrological study and present a holistic view on the same.

Chinese astrology:

In Chinese astrology the twelve zodiac signs have been divided into four animal groups. According to Chinese scholars of astrology the animals representating the four groups have identical personalities and think similarly. To put it simply even though each animal is different their style of understanding and thinking is more or less aligned.

These animal signs are associated with the year, month, day and hour of birth. One has to enter his/her date of birth to determine the animal sign associated with the same. Accordingly a compatibility chart is prepared to check compatibility between two individuals. The five elements namely air, earth, fire, metal and water which make up a human body is also calculated along with the animal sign representating an individual. This, Chinese astrologers feel provide a more detailed compatibility percentage.

The four animal groups:

Group 1: – Mouse/Rat, Dragon and Monkey

Characteristics- action oriented, positive minded and hardcore competitors

Group 2: – Buffalo/Ox, Snake and Cock/Rooster

Characteristics- deep thinkers and objective minded

Group 3: – Tiger, Horse and Dog

Characteristics- independent and egoistic

Group 4: – Cat/Rabbit, Goat and Pig

Characteristics- peace loving, co-operative, sensitive and considerate

To know about your Chinese sign you have to use your date of birth. For example if you were born on the 9th of April 1967, then the animal sign corresponding to your date of birth will be the goat. The goat as you can see falls in the group 4 with the given characteristics. To find which animal sign is compatible with yours you have to refer to the compatibility chart prepared by Chinese astrologers. The compatibility percentage is numbered from 1 to 10 with 1 being less compatible and 10 considered as highly compatible. In the case of the goat it is highly compatible with the rabbit and the pig signs and less compatible with the ox, dog and tiger signs.

With Chinese astrology you can discover many things about yourself. You can also find out how far you are compatible with lovers, family members, celebrities, friends, co-workers, travel companions and so on. So go ahead and find more about your relationships.