Year of the Rat

The following chart will tell you if you were born the Year of the Rat and people should pay attention to the start and end dates as the Chinese zodiac is based on the Chinese lunar calendar.

A more simple way is to fill in your birthday in “Find your Chinese Zodiac” to get a quick and accurate answer.
 

In the minds of most people, rats are always associated with stealing food, causing damages, and spreading epidemics. Their sneaky behavior, sharp snouts, and ubiquitous presence are truly unappealing. However, in fact, throughout the long course of Chinese history, the image of the rat is not entirely so bad. They have also had a respected side.

In ancient times, rats were regarded as symbols of life reproduction due to their high fertility. In that era of extremely low productivity and difficult population growth, people were full of hope for vigorous fertility, and the trait of rats having many offspring in one litter perfectly matched people's wish for a thriving family. Therefore, in ancient people’s beliefs, rats were given a special status, and it comes as no surprise that they were selected as one of the Chinese zodiac animals.

There is also a very interesting legend telling why the rat was selected to be a member of the twelve zodiac signs. It is said that the God of Heaven Jade Emperor intended to select twelve animals as the zodiac signs and announced it to the animals, asking them to come and sign up. Hearing this news, the rat knew that it was too small in size to have any advantage among the many animals. However, the rat was intelligent and cunning. It came up with a plan and learned in advance that the diligent ox would surely set off to sign up at the Jade Emperor’s hall early. On the day of registration, it took advantage of the ox's inattention and quietly hid on the ox's horns. The ox moved steadily forward and arrived at the Jade Emperor’s hall first. Just when the ox thought it was sure to win first place, the rat seized the opportunity and “whoosh” jumped down from the ox's horns and ran to the Jade Emperor before the ox. The Jade Emperor saw that the rat was the first to arrive, so he ranked it first.

As for why Rat could be the sole leader among the twelve zodiac signs, there is another theory closely related to the traditional Chinese timekeeping method. In the twelve time slots of the day, the period of Zi from nowadays 23:00 to 01:00 is the beginning of the day, and this is precisely the time when rats are most active. Their activity pattern perfectly matches the period of Zi. Ancient people based the correspondence between animals and the twelve time slots of the day on their habits and accordingly linked rat to the period of Zi, thus ranking rat as the first among the twelve zodiac signs.

People who were born in the Year of the Rat are always called Rats whose characteristics tend to be more quick-witted with a keen observation and foresight. Rats also have a bright and optimistic personality which makes them adapt to changes in any environment and easily get help from others. However, though Rats are ambitious in career, they may not be qualified to become great leaders due to the stubbornness and the lack of empathy and humility. 
 

• Strengths
  Savvy, quick-witted, positive, intelligent, bright, versatile
• Weaknesses
  Lack of courage, captious, undetermined, stubborn
• Rat Men: Rat men can think quickly and have a good memory. They are curious about everything, get to the bottom of things, and have a strong thirst for knowledge. Meanwhile, they hold on to their own views but seldom have the courage to take action. Men with Chinese zodiac Rat sign also attach importance to the family.
• Rat Women: Rat women are smart and sensible in the life, taking a cue from somebody’s words or facial expressions. They also take a good advantage of their strengths and avoid showing weaknesses. All of those make them considerate and their families could be taken care of. However, they may lack the ability to cope with stress. 

People born in the Year of the Rat always have a lower immunity since childhood as the immune system isn't up to par. They often catch colds and suffer some small diseases, but luckily, no big illnesses need to be worried. They are also sensitive about climate change as the higher or lower temperature will make them sick, thus the Rats should keep an eye on the weather and temperature, change garments according to the season. It is also suggested that they quit smoking and drinking alcohol.  

The Rat fortune of 2025 would be quite good. The career of people born in the year of Rat go smoothly, accordingly, finance fortune may be also on the rise. As for love, they may encounter ups and downs and face small challenges that will eventually be solved. Special attention is needed in terms of health. There may be some health risks in June, August and November of the lunar calendar, and good lifestyle is needed.

Rat’s fortune in 2026 is a little worrying. In career, they have the chance to show their outstanding capability and talent so they may get a promotion but could be weary due to work-related stress. Doubled income could be expected but unforeseen financial losses are possible which could be that the house has to be restored or that the elderly in their family needs medical treatment. Singles may fall in love but end up in a toxic relationship. As for health, gastrointestinal disorders should be avoided.  

George H. W. Bush (41st US President): June 12, 1924, Wood Rat
Prince Charles (Prince of Wales): November 14, 1948, Earth Rat
Eminem (Rapper): October 17, 1972, Water Rat
Katy Perry (Pop Star): October 25, 1984, Wood Rat
Cristiano Ronaldo (Football Star): February 5, 1985, Wood Rat
Tom Holland (Actor): June 1, 1996, Fire Rat