Rabbit (zodiac)

This article is about the Chinese Zodiac animal. For the band, see Year of the Rabbit (band).

A Ming Dynasty Chinese box (c. 1490s AD) made of carved lacquer over wood, with decorations of the palace of the Chinese moon Goddess Chang'e, displaying outdoor courtyards, trees, buildings, and denizens of the moon including a rabbit that pounds the elixir of immortality with a pestle and mortar, a three-legged toad (referencing the story of when Chang'e landed on the moon) and groups of Chinese scholars. The signature of the artisan Wang Ming (fl. late 15th century) is inscribed on the right column of the palace scene.

The Chinese Year of the Rabbit ( 兔 ) is actually the Chinese Year of the Hare, as China has seven native species of hares and no native species of rabbits. The Chinese applied their word for hare to the first rabbits to be taken to China, and the word is now erroneously back-translated into English as "rabbit". The hare is the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. The Year of the Hare is associated with the earthly branch symbol 卯.

In the related Vietnamese zodiac, the cat takes the place of the hare.

Years and the Five Elements

People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the "Year of the Hare", while also bearing the following elemental sign:

• 29 January 1903 – 15 February 1904: Water Hare
• 14 February 1915 – 2 February 1916: Wood Hare
• 2 February 1927 – 22 January 1928: Fire Hare
• 19 February 1939 – 7 February 1940: Earth Hare
• 6 February 1951 – 26 January 1952: Metal Hare
• 25 January 1963 – 12 February 1964: Water Hare
• 11 February 1975 – 30 January 1976: Wood Hare
• 29 January 1987 – 16 February 1988: Fire Hare
• 16 February 1999 – 4 February 2000 Earth Hare
• 3 February 2011 – 22 January 2012: Metal Hare
• 22 January 2023 – 9 February 2024: Water Hare
• 8 February 2035 – 27 January 2036: Wood Hare

Personality

The Rabbit is the fourth sign of the Chinese Zodiac. Rabbits in China are a sign of longevity and are considered naturally lucky.

This sign is blessed by many wonderful and highly refined qualities. Rabbit people are gentle, gracious, kind-hearted, and value harmony and beauty. Their naturally diplomatic natures make them well suited to occupations working closely with other people.

At times, a Rabbit can be moody and distant. They are especially sensitive to negative or critical comments.

Socially, Rabbit people are wonderful hosts with an appreciation of all the nice things life has to offer. They prefer quality to cutting corners. They can be good friends who give excellent advice.

You will not always know what Rabbit is thinking. Under what can be flawless manners is a spine of steel and the ability to turn any situation to their advantage. They are good students, and better negotiators.

Although they appear to be a peacemaker, a Rabbit is always working to put their own interests first. They are not above being sneaky or manipulative to get what they want. What they want is comfort, peace, and personal security. With these values in mind, Rabbits generally have a very happy life.

The rabbit is one of the most delicate animals among all 12 animals. Rabbits are usually kind and sweet and of course, popular people. Nobody ignores them, for they are good company and know how to make the best of themselves.

A rabbit's home is always a beautiful one cause Rabbit people are famous for their artistic sense and good taste. They are also usually well-dressed. Go check out your Rabbit friend's closet, I bet you will find many expensive and beautiful clothing there.

But even though they are popular and loved by their friends and family, rabbit people are also pessimistic. They are conservative and insecure, and that explains why most of the them don't like changes.

Calm as they are, it is not easy to provoke Rabbit people. They don't like to argue and enjoy quiet, peaceful lives. They are also sentimental and compassionate. Yes, and they cry easily too. They can be moved by personal problems you share with them. Therefore, if you work as a salesman for a living, you will have much better luck with rabbit people - Nine out of Ten Rabbit people will definitely buy your products!

Call them cautious or call them timid, rabbit people will undertake nothing before they have weighed the pros and cons from every angle. And that is probably why rabbit people are doing well in their work. And yet, unless they abandon their conservative nature, and become more aggressive, they will probably live a very normal, and average life.

They can be great partners in relationships. Romantic and sweet, faithful too, rabbit people never lack of suitors. . Male rabbits are sometimes picky, and perhaps not a family man. And female rabbits should probably spend less time admiring themselves in front of the mirror and spend more time with friends.

The Rabbit is quick, clever and ambitious, but seldom finishes what he starts. He epitomizes gentleness, refinement and elegance, turning his back on conflicts of any kind. Preferring a situation that is perfectly favorable according to his specific desires, the Rabbit bypasses all obstacles and persons he does not find suitable. As a result, he is rarely angry, hostile or aggressive. Companions quickly forget any discord, only remembering his seductive grace.

The Rabbit is the happiest sign of the Zodiac -- gifted, nice to be with, discreet, refined, reserved, ambitious but not too much so, and virtuous in the bargain. Nobody ignores Rabbits, for they are good company and know how to make the best of themselves. Unfortunately, however, Rabbits are superficial and their good qualities are superficial also.

The Rabbit is a social creature, tactful, cool, and sensitive to others. Yet this calm can become aloof, the sensitivity can be quirky and thin-skinned, and the intelligence can become dilettantish. The Rabbit is lucky -- with brains and only a little hard labor, the Rabbit can go far.

Rabbits seem to be born with an innate sagacity, a natural shrewdness which makes them streetwise when it comes to the affairs of the world. Intuitive and with a canny understanding, they seem to possess an ability to see things before they happen, a talent which secures them the best deals both in business and in life, whilst also ensuring them financial stability and security. With perfect understanding of their partners, they frequently have the advantage, and in the practice of human relations, they are unrivaled in what requires subtle negotiations. They will undertake nothing before they have weighed the pros and cons and examined the deal from every angle. Because of this, people admire the Rabbit and take him into their confidence. He shines in trade, especially in some offbeat aspect of it like antiques, which permits him to capitalize on his good taste. Politics, diplomacy and the law all offer the Rabbit equally good opportunities -- provided always that he can live the tranquil life he craves within their orbit.

Style as well as an eye for beauty are especially associated with this group whose members possess refined tastes together with artistic skills. Highly creative people, art is of particular interest to them. Because of the Rabbit's built-in acquisitive nature, many become great collectors, filling their houses with beautiful paintings and objets d'art. In whatever walk of life Rabbits find themselves, they will always be distinguished by this sense of refinement and their cultured views. Elegant both physically and intellectually, Rabbits will always stand out from the crowd either as extremely stylish dressers or because they create an individualistic fashion statement of their own.

During the three phases of his life, the Rabbit will manage to have the peaceful existence he wants on one condition: that he keeps away from the exceptional situation, the dramatic turn of events, or the insurmountable obstacle. Wars, revolutions, natural catastrophes have nothing to do with him; he wasn't designed for adversity. Anything that threatens his quiet life becomes insupportable.

There is usually something offbeat and mysterious in the Rabbit's makeup, as though he held the secret to some great truth that he dare not reveal. It must be remembered that the Rabbit's apparent weakness can easily be changed into strength -- from man to magician to god.

The Sensual Rabbit

Though Rabbits are sensitive, sentimental creatures, emotional and easily moved to tears, when it comes to committing themselves to a long-term relationship they can be quite mercenary. Their driving passion is a desire for an easy life, filled with as much comfort and luxury as they can get. Thus they are more likely to show their allegiance to someone who will not only provide security and stability but who will also guarantee as much of la dolce vita as possible. But to give them their due, once they have found the right partner they make faithful husbands or wives, devoting themselves to their families and to their homes. By the way, their sensuality usually ensures that the Rabbit family will be a large one.

Affectionate and obliging though he is with those he loves, faithful and loving though he is, the Rabbit finds it easy to benefit his friends at the expense of those nearest to him; he's not really a family man, and that's the truth of it. Often enough, he regards his parents or his children almost as strangers to whom he prefers the cronies of his own choice. So far as female Rabbits are concerned, they can always be relied on to do their duty, but their maternal instinct in fact is strictly limited.

The honest Dog and scrupulous Boar get on well with Rabbits. The Rabbit will settle down well with the Ram whose artistic sense he appreciates. The Horse and Tiger do not suit them. There is good interaction with the Ox. The Rabbit should remember to avoid the Rat like the plague!

April is the month of the Rabbit. The time of the Rabbit is from 5:00 a.m. to 6:59 a.m.; their direction of orientation is the east. The Rabbit's color is light green.

Positives

Kind, sensitive, wise, astute, docile, thoughtful, refined.

Negatives

Moody, detached, cunning, possessive, fussy, snobbish.

Traditional Hare attributes and associations

Attribute
Zodiac Location	4th
Ruling hours	5am - 7 am.
Direction	East
Motto	"I Relax"
Season and month	Spring, March
Fixed element	Wood
Stem	Negative
Gemstone	Pearl
Color	Grey
Roughly equivalent western sign	Pisces
Polarity	Yang
Ruling Countries	Croatia, Iraq, Malaysia, Oman, Chile, Syria

See also

• Chinese zodiac
• Rabbit

References

• Adapted from Chinese ZodiacRabbit, 'licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

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