Year of the Rabbit: Years List, Traits & Compatibility

Recent Years of the Rabbit: 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023. The sign returns every 12 years; the next one after 2023 is 2035. Each occurrence pairs the Mao (卯) branch with a different Heavenly Stem, so the same animal appears as Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water versions across a 60-year cycle.

A zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year, not on January 1. Lunar New Year falls between January 21 and February 20, so anyone born in that window should check the exact start date in the table below before assuming the sign.

The 2023 Year of the Rabbit (Water Rabbit, Gui-Mao 癸卯) runs from January 22, 2023 to February 9, 2024, while Li Chun, the year-pillar boundary used by many Bazi schools, falls on February 4, 2023. The next Year of the Rabbit begins on February 8, 2035. A Chinese zodiac year does not start on January 1. The popular zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year (late January to mid-February), while many Bazi schools change the year pillar at the Li Chun solar term (around February 4). Use the table to check a January or February birthday against both boundaries.

In the Chinese calendar the Rabbit is a label for Mao (卯), the 4th of the twelve Earthly Branches. Mao is Yin Wood. It marks the two-hour period of 5–7 am, the east direction, and mid-spring.

In a Bazi chart Mao is also the branch of the 2nd solar month, which begins at the Jing Zhe (惊蛰, Awakening of Insects) solar term. Its hidden stems are Yi 乙 (Yin Wood). Those hidden stems are why the same animal can read differently from one chart to another: they interact with the Day Master in ways the animal symbol does not show.

The traditional relationships are fixed by branch position rather than by personality:

• Six combination (Liu He): Rabbit and Dog.
• Triad (San He): Pig, Rabbit, Goat, which together form a Wood frame.
• Clash (Chong): Rabbit and Rooster, the branch six places away.
• Six harm (Liu Hai): Rabbit and Dragon.

These pairings describe how the branches interact in a calendar or chart. They are not a verdict on any relationship, and a full Bazi comparison looks at all four pillars of both people. The compatibility chart lists the same patterns for every sign.

Popular zodiac writing describes Rabbit people as graceful, diplomatic, and observant. Treat that as cultural symbolism attached to the Mao branch, not as a personality test: the year animal is one of eight characters in a birth chart, and the Day Master (the stem of the day pillar) carries more weight in a Bazi reading.

2026 is a Bing-Wu (丙午) Fire Horse year. For the Rabbit, Wu is neither a traditional harmony nor a clash pair. The 2026 forecast explains how that relationship is usually read, and why it should be checked against the full chart.