Year of the Rabbit: the years, the sign and 兔 in Chinese
The Rabbit is the fourth animal of the Chinese zodiac, right after the Tiger and before the Dragon. Recent Years of the Rabbit: 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023. The most recent one, the Water Rabbit, ran from January 22, 2023 to February 9, 2024; the next starts on February 8, 2035.
One thing trips people up: a zodiac year doesn't begin on January 1. It begins on Chinese New Year, which moves around between late January and mid-February. Below you'll find the exact dates of every Rabbit year, what the sign is said to mean, who it gets along with, and, since this is a language course, how to talk about it in Chinese.
Years of the Rabbit
| Year | Starts | Ends | Element | In Chinese |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | February 2, 1927 | January 22, 1928 | Fire Rabbit | 丁卯 · 火兔 |
| 1939 | February 19, 1939 | February 7, 1940 | Earth Rabbit | 己卯 · 土兔 |
| 1951 | February 6, 1951 | January 26, 1952 | Metal Rabbit | 辛卯 · 金兔 |
| 1963 | January 25, 1963 | February 12, 1964 | Water Rabbit | 癸卯 · 水兔 |
| 1975 | February 11, 1975 | January 30, 1976 | Wood Rabbit | 乙卯 · 木兔 |
| 1987 | January 29, 1987 | February 16, 1988 | Fire Rabbit | 丁卯 · 火兔 |
| 1999 | February 16, 1999 | February 4, 2000 | Earth Rabbit | 己卯 · 土兔 |
| 2011 | February 3, 2011 | January 22, 2012 | Metal Rabbit | 辛卯 · 金兔 |
| 2023 | January 22, 2023 | February 9, 2024 | Water Rabbit | 癸卯 · 水兔 |
| 2035 | February 8, 2035 | January 27, 2036 | Wood Rabbit | 乙卯 · 木兔 |
If your birthday is in January or early February, check the "Starts" column. The Rabbit year 1939 only began on February 19, 1939, so a baby born in the first days of February 1939 is still a Tiger. It works the other way too: anyone born between January 1 and February 9, 2024 is a Rabbit, even though the ordinary calendar already said 2024.
Rabbit in Chinese: 兔 and 兔子
The zodiac sign is the single character 兔 tù. In everyday speech, when you point at an actual rabbit, people say 兔子: . The zi at the end is a common noun suffix with no meaning of its own; everyday Chinese adds it to many one-syllable nouns.
How to say it: tù is close to English "too", but the t comes with a clear puff of air and the voice drops sharply, the fourth tone, like a firm "No!". In tùzi the second syllable is short and toneless: a quick "dz" with a buzzing vowel, as in "kids" without the "ki". A rabbit is counted with the measure word 只 zhī: 一只兔子 yì zhī tùzi, "a rabbit".
Look closely and the character draws itself: long ears on top, a body, legs, and the little dot at the bottom right is the tail. Take the tail away and you get 免 miǎn, "to be exempt", a different character that learners mix up with 兔 all the time.
In the old count of years the Rabbit stands for the fourth "earthly branch", 卯 mǎo. The same branch named the two hours of dawn, 5 to 7 a.m., the hour of the Rabbit. The full name of 2023 in the sixty-year cycle was 癸卯 guǐmǎo.
Words and idioms with the rabbit
- 兔子tùzirabbit, hare (everyday word)
- 兔年tùniánthe Year of the Rabbit
- 小白兔xiǎobáitùlittle white bunnyfrom a children's song every Chinese kid knows
- 玉兔yùtùthe Jade Rabbit on the moon
- 守株待兔shǒuzhūdàitù"guard a tree stump, waiting for rabbits"to wait for luck instead of working
- 狡兔三窟jiǎotùsānkū"a clever rabbit has three burrows"always keep a plan B
- 兔子不吃窝边草tùzibùchīwōbiāncǎo"a rabbit doesn't eat the grass by its own burrow"don't make trouble close to home
守株待兔 comes from a story over two thousand years old: a farmer saw a rabbit run into a tree stump and break its neck, so he gave up farming and sat by the stump waiting for the next one. His fields went to weeds. Today the idiom is what you say about someone waiting for opportunities to fall into their lap.
The moon has its own rabbit. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, children are told that the goddess Chang'e lives on the moon with a white rabbit who pounds the elixir of immortality. China even named its lunar rover Yutu, "Jade Rabbit". Two sentences with a recording:
- 传说月亮上住着一位美丽的女子和一只兔子。chuánshuōyuèliangshangzhùzheyíwèiměilìdenǚzǐhéyìzhītùziLegend says a beautiful woman and a rabbit live on the moon.
- 兔子的耳朵很长，尾巴很短。tùzideěrduohěncháng,wěibahěnduǎnA rabbit has long ears and a short tail.
How to say "I'm a Rabbit" in Chinese
You don't say "my sign is"; you use the verb , followed by the animal in one syllable. So it's 我属兔, usually with 兔 rather than 兔子.
- 我属兔。wǒshǔtùI'm a Rabbit. (I was born in a Rabbit year.)
- 你属什么？nǐshǔshénmeWhat's your zodiac sign?
- 你的生肖是什么？nǐdeshēngxiàoshìshénmeWhat is your Chinese zodiac animal?
- 他比我大一轮，我们都属牛。tābǐwǒdàyìlún,wǒmendōushǔniúHe's twelve years older than me; we're both Oxen.
is the formal word. In China the question 你属什么？ is often a polite way of working out someone's age: once you know they're a Rabbit, you can guess whether they were born in 1999, 2011 or 2023. A gap of twelve years is 一轮 yì lún, "one round" of the zodiac.
Rabbit personality in Chinese tradition
The Rabbit is said to be gentle, kind and quiet, with good taste and a dislike of conflict; the less flattering side of the same picture is a cautious, slightly timid nature. That's folklore, of course, not science, but it gives you four useful adjectives:
- 温柔wēnróugentle, tender
- 善良shànliángkind-hearted
- 安静ānjìngquiet, calm
- 胆小dǎnxiǎotimidliterally "small gall bladder"
Each Rabbit year also has one of the five elements, and the table above shows which. The cycle gives Wood Rabbits (1975, 2035), Fire Rabbits (1927, 1987), Earth Rabbits (1939, 1999), Metal Rabbits (1951, 2011) and Water Rabbits (1963, 2023). Fortune-tellers say the element tints the sign: a Fire Rabbit livelier, a Water Rabbit even calmer. The same element comes back with the same animal every sixty years.
Rabbit compatibility
In Chinese tradition the Rabbit's best matches are the Goat (羊) and the Pig (猪). The three signs sit four years apart and form one of the "three harmonies", 三合 sānhé. The sign directly opposite, six years away, is the Rooster (鸡): its branch 酉 and 卯 are a "clash", 六冲 liùchōng. Some older relatives still take this seriously when a couple gets engaged; most people treat it as a bit of fun.
The Rabbit's own year: 本命年
The year of your own animal is your 本命年 běnmìngnián. Oddly enough, it's traditionally considered an unlucky year, not a lucky one, so people protect themselves with : red socks, red underwear or a red string around the wrist, often a gift from family. For Rabbits the next one is the Wood Rabbit year 2035, from February 8, 2035 to January 27, 2036.
The 12 Chinese zodiac animals
All the years on one page are in the Chinese zodiac chart. How the New Year itself is celebrated is in Chinese New Year, and what to say to people that day is in Chinese New Year greetings. The names of other animals, from cats to pandas, are in Animals in Chinese.
Say your sign in Chinese
In the course you hear words like 兔子 and 属 from a native speaker, build sentences with them and say them out loud. Free during the beta.
Start learning