Is Any Chinese Zodiac Sign Luckier in Love? The Numbers
People often ask which Chinese zodiac sign is luckiest in love. Using the traditional chart that this site follows, the honest answer is none of them. Every sign gets exactly the same set of matches. We counted all 78 pairings to check, and this page shows the numbers.
How the chart sorts a pair
The traditional chart puts every pair of signs into one of six groups. Two of the groups have their own guides, so here is the short version.
- Secret friends are six fixed pairs, each one a sign's single strongest bond. See San He and Liu He.
- Affinity triangles are four groups of three signs, spaced four years apart. Two signs in the same triangle get along easily.
- Clash pairs are signs six years apart, directly opposite on the wheel. This is the hardest match on paper.
- Harm pairs are six fixed pairs with a milder, slow kind of friction. See the six harm pairs.
- Two of the same sign is its own group, rated in the middle.
- Everything else has no special bond or conflict, so we call it neutral.
Here is how all 78 pairings fall into those groups. We count a pair of two identical signs, such as Dog and Dog, as one pairing.
| Group | Pairings | Share of all 78 | Rating on this site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secret friends | 6 | 8% | Excellent (5 out of 5) |
| Same affinity triangle | 12 | 15% | Very good (4 out of 5) |
| Two of the same sign | 12 | 15% | Fair (3 out of 5) |
| No special link (neutral) | 36 | 46% | Moderate (3 out of 5) |
| Harm pairs | 6 | 8% | Challenging (2 out of 5) |
| Clash pairs | 6 | 8% | Difficult (1 out of 5) |
Almost half of all pairings, 36 of 78, are neutral. Only 12 are clashes or harm pairs.
Every sign gets the same hand
Now look at the chart from one sign's point of view. Whichever sign you pick, you find the same thing:
- 1 secret friend
- 2 partners in the same affinity triangle
- 1 clash partner
- 1 harm partner
- 1 match with its own sign
- 6 neutral partners
That adds up to 12, one for every sign including itself. Take the Dragon. Its secret friend is the Rooster, its triangle partners are the Rat and the Monkey, its clash is the Dog, and its harm is the Rabbit. The other six are neutral: the Ox, Tiger, Snake, Horse, Goat and Pig.
Now take the Horse. Its secret friend is the Goat, its triangle partners are the Tiger and the Dog, its clash is the Rat, and its harm is the Ox. The neutral six are the Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Monkey, Rooster and Pig. The names change but the shape does not.
We also added up the scores. On this site's 1 to 5 scale, each sign's twelve matches total 37, an average of about 3.1. We checked this for all twelve signs, and the total is 37 every time. By the chart's own rules, no sign has a better or worse deal than any other.
Why it comes out equal
The triangle and clash rules come from counting around the wheel of twelve signs. A wheel looks the same from every seat, so those rules treat every sign alike. The secret friend and harm lists are fixed lists, but each sign appears in each list exactly once. So the totals have to match.
This is our explanation of why the counts match, not a claim about how the tradition was designed. The counts themselves are simply what the rules give when you add them up.
What this means when you read a result
- A clash is one of eleven. Every sign has exactly one clash partner. Landing on it says little about your life, only that this one pairing is the hardest on paper.
- Neutral is the biggest group. For nearly half of all pairings, the chart has nothing to say, and how it goes depends on the two people far more than on their birth years.
- A rating describes tradition, not your future. Plenty of "clash" couples are happy, and plenty of "secret friend" couples are not.
If you want to look at a specific pairing, try the compatibility pair calculator or open your sign's own page, such as Dragon or Horse.
Where the real differences come from
If the animals alone treat everyone the same, what makes one couple feel different from another? Two things sit on top of the animal chart. One is the element of each person's birth year, which can reinforce or restrain a match. Our guide to the five elements and compatibility explains how. The other is simply the two people, which no chart covers.
A note on these counts
These numbers come from the rules on this site's compatibility pages: secret friends, affinity triangles, clash pairs and harm pairs. Other traditions sort pairs differently, and some add further groups, so their counts would not match ours. We have only counted the rules we use. For the full background, read the compatibility guide.
Last checked: October 2026. This page is for entertainment and general interest. It is not advice about relationships, health, money or any other decision.