Chinese Year of the Metal Rat: 2020

2020 is a year of the White Metal Rat, starting from January 25th, 2020 and lasting until February 11th, 2021. It will be a Metal Rat year. In 2021, a year of the Ox will follow.

Though people consider the rat not adorable, and it even makes its way into derogatory languages, it ranks first on the Chinese zodiac signs. It has characteristics of an animal with spirit, wit, alertness, delicacy, flexibility and vitality.

Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Zi
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Shui (Water)
Yin Yang: Yang

Lucky Signs for People Born in the Rat Year

Lucky Numbers: 2, 3
Lucky Colors: gold, blue, green
Lucky Flowers: lily, African violet, lily of the valley
Lucky Directions: southeast, northeast

Rat Personality: People born in the Year of the Rat are instinctive, acute and alert in nature which makes them to be brilliant businessmen. They can always react properly before the worst circumstances take place. They are also sophisticated and popular in social interaction. They are sanguine and very adaptable, being popular with others.

Strengths
Adaptable, smart, cautious, acute, alert, positive, flexible, outgoing, cheerful
Weaknesses
Timid, unstable, stubborn, picky, lack of persistence, querulous

Read more at Travel China

More at China Educational

The Year of the Rat is the first zodiac sign in the Chinese zodiac cycle. According to the Chinese zodiac story, in the competition held by the Jade Emperor to decide the zodiac animals, the quick-witted rat asked the diligent ox to take him on a ride to cross the river and jumped down before the ox crossed the finish line, so the rat won the race and became the first of the zodiac animals.

The 12 zodiac animals are, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. A Rat year occurs every 12 years.

Rat Years
Recent Rat years are 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, and 2020.

The Chinese zodiac is associated with traditional Chinese chronology — a 60-year calendrical cycle, which is the combination of the 12 Earthly Branches (12 terms corresponding to 12 animals, months, and hours) and the 10 Heavenly Stems.

According to this, the Rat represents the Earthly Branch Zi and the midnight hours (11pm–1am). Moreover, in terms of the Chinese Yin and Yang theory, a Rat is Yang. continue at China Highlights