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Updated 2026-06-25

Tibetan Zodiac: the Dragon

Traits and the 2026 Fire Horse year outlook for the Dragon in the Tibetan-Mongolian (zurkhai) tradition.

Traits: Bold, charismatic, ambitious and lucky.

In the Fire Horse year (2026): Dragon traditionally thrives in the dynamic, expansive Fire Horse year.

The Dragon across the five elements

Over the 60-year cycle the Dragon appears once with each of the five elements — each pairing gives a different character:

Wood Dragonspring Fire Dragonsummer Earth Dragonthe turn of the seasons Metal Dragonautumn Water Dragonwinter

Years of the Dragon

Recent years of the Dragon: 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024. The Dragon returns every twelve years, each time carrying a different one of the five elements — which is why a 2024 Dragon and a 2012 Dragon are read differently in zurkhai.

Who the Dragon gets on with

In zurkhai compatibility the Dragon's closest match is the Rooster — its Liu He, or "six-harmony", partner. Its natural allies are the Rat and Monkey (together they form one of the four San He triangles), while its traditional opposite is the Dog, a pairing said to need extra care. These animal rules are only one of four parameters the app weighs — element, animal, menge and parkha — when it calculates full couple compatibility.

Check a couple's compatibility in the app. The animal match above is only one of four factors. The Zurkhai app for iPhone weighs all four — element, animal, menge and parkha — and gives any two birth dates a 1–5 star rating with a detailed reading. Check compatibility in the App Store →

Frequently asked

What is the Tibetan zodiac Dragon like?
Bold, charismatic, ambitious and lucky.
Which animals is the Dragon compatible with?
The Dragon's closest match is the Rooster; its allies are the Rat and Monkey; its traditional opposite is the Dog.
How does the Dragon fare in the Fire Horse year 2026?
Dragon traditionally thrives in the dynamic, expansive Fire Horse year.
How does the Tibetan zodiac work?
Tibetan astrology overlays a 12-year cycle of animals with a 5-element cycle (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). Each element governs two consecutive years, so 12 animals × 5 elements form a 60-year cycle before the same animal+element pairing repeats. Every year therefore carries both an animal and an element — 2026 is the Fire Horse. The system blends indigenous Bon astrology, Chinese-derived element/animal astrology, and Indian Kalachakra star astrology.

The Fire Horse year 2026 → · What is zurkhai? →

Animal/element traits and yearly outlooks are presented as traditional belief, not fact, and vary between astrologers and lineages.