The tables
Why the pair is rated this way
The Rat and the Ox are one of the six harmonies (六合), the pairs the classical tables say combine. 子 and 丑 are next-door neighbors on the circle of twelve, one yang and one yin, which is part of why they fit.
The Ox is an earth sign and the Rat a water sign. In the controlling cycle earth dams water, so the Ox is read as the one who sets limits and the Rat as the one who pushes against them.
The Rat rules the winter month that starts around Dec 7 and the hours from 11 pm to 1 am; the Ox rules the winter month that starts around Jan 6 and the hours from 1 am to 3 am.
For comparison, the Rat's harmony partner is the Ox and its trine partners are the Monkey and the Dragon; the Ox's harmony partner is the Rat and its trine partners are the Snake and the Rooster.
Reading
In love, friendship and work
Traditionally the Rat is quick-witted, resourceful and careful with money, and the Ox is patient, steady and hard-working. The Rat tends to bring sharp planning and look for security; the Ox tends to bring reliability and look for loyalty.
In love, a six-harmony pair is the classic easy match: the two branches are said to combine into something new, so the bond tends to feel natural rather than negotiated.
As friends or co-workers they tend to keep each other in check, which can sharpen the work as long as neither tries to run the other.
Years
Which years are these animals?
Rat years: 1948 (Earth Rat), 1960 (Metal Rat), 1972 (Water Rat), 1984 (Wood Rat), 1996 (Fire Rat), 2008 (Earth Rat), 2020 (Metal Rat).
Ox years: 1949 (Earth Ox), 1961 (Metal Ox), 1973 (Water Ox), 1985 (Wood Ox), 1997 (Fire Ox), 2009 (Earth Ox), 2021 (Metal Ox).
9 of the idols with a Bias Match idol page were born in Rat years.
12 of the idols with a Bias Match idol page were born in Ox years.
Your pair
Check two birth years
A zodiac year starts in late January or February, not on January 1: Chinese New Year calendars switch at Lunar New Year, and saju switches at Lichun, around February 4. If you were born in January or early February, you may belong to the year before.
Beyond the birth year
On Bias Match the animal that counts most is not the birth year but the day branch, the animal in each person's day pillar. If two people's day branches are Rat (子) and Ox (丑), the compatibility calculator scores that check as a full plus, next to five other checks.
The text is fixed sentence templates filled in with the classical relation tables built into the Bias Match engine; no AI model generates or rewrites it. For entertainment only: the zodiac describes old patterns, not what will happen between two people.