About the Rat year
Rat β the first animal of the Chinese zodiac cycle β is associated with cleverness, resourcefulness, and an uncanny ability to spot openings before anyone else moves. Famous Rats include Scarlett Johansson, Prince Harry, Mark Zuckerberg, Eminem, and Shakespeare (1564 was a Rat year). The Rat archetype is the survivor who turns scarcity into advantage β the late-night planner, the founder who reads the room two beats ahead, the operator who quietly compounds.
How Rat years are determined
On AstroTypeDB, a Rat year is calculated using the lunar new year β anyone born between roughly late January and the next lunar new year falls in the Rat cycle. Births before that year's Chinese new year belong to the previous animal, which is why we use a lunar lookup table rather than the bare Gregorian year.