The rat ranks top 1 in the Chinese traditional zodiac. It is also a kind of cultural custom. The method for judging whether it is the year of the Rat is as follows: when the year of the AD is divided by 12, the remainder of the result is 4, then it is the year of the Rat. The formula is that the number of the year÷12=a quotient, and the remainder is 4. For example: 2008÷12=167······4, then the year of 2008 is the Year of the Rat.
The years of the Rat include: 2044, 2032, 2020, 2008, 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, 1948, 1936, 1924, and so on. During 22 o’clock in the evening to 1:00 a.m. it is also called “the time of Rat”.
The rat zodiac ranks No.1 in the list of 12 Chinese traditional zodiacs for three main reasons: one is the arrangement of the zodiac in the folklore story; the second reason is that the ancient Chinese scholars explained the relationship between the earthly branch and the zodiac beast from the perspective of the ancient day and night. The third reason is based on the Chinese people’s belief in yin and yang.
The zodiac Rat is regarded as a symbol of vigilant strain, good in adversity, descendants, and prosperity. There is an auspicious meaning of being endless and prosperous.
For those people who were born in the years of the Rat, the character advantages are as follows: they may have a quick response and have strong environmental adaptability and strain capacity. They are clever with many ideas and they are understanding. Their personalities are more active and more varied and have a strong desire. And they will take advantage of opportunities, and they are lively and lovable.
Disadvantages of the character of the people who were born in the years of the Rat are: they are lack of courage, lack of ability to do things, lack of proper command ability, and they may not enough to be the leader of a commercial organization or other groups. They always sleep lately at night because the zodiac rat is a nocturnal animal.