Chinese calendar
Encyclopedia
The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar
calendar
, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar
with those of a solar calendar
. It is not exclusive to China
, but followed by many other Asian cultures as well. In most of East Asia
today, the Gregorian calendar
is used for day-to-day activities, but the Chinese calendar is still used for marking traditional East Asian holidays such as the Chinese New Year
(the Spring Festival ), the Duan Wu festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival
, and in astrology
, such as choosing the most auspicious date for a wedding or the opening of a building. Because each month follows one cycle of the moon
, it is also used to determine the phases of the moon.
In China, the traditional calendar is known as the "agricultural calendar" while the Gregorian calendar is known as the "common calendar" . Another name for the Chinese calendar is the "Yin
Calendar" in reference to the lunar aspect of the calendar, whereas the Gregorian calendar is the "Yang
Calendar" in reference to its solar properties. The Chinese calendar was also called the "old calendar" after the "new calendar" , i.e., the Gregorian calendar, was adopted as the official calendar. For more than two thousand years, since the time of Emperor Wu of Han
the month containing the winter solstice
has almost always been the 11th month. (This means the new year starts on the second new moon after the winter solstice unless there is an 11th or 12th intercalary month, in which case it starts on the third new moon.) A calendar using this new year is often referred to as "the Xia
Calendar" , following a comment in the Shiji which states that under the Xia Dynasty, the year began on the second new moon after the winter solstice. At times under some other dynasties in ancient China, the month with the winter solstice was the 12th or the 1st month.
The year 2011 in the Chinese calendar is the Year of the Rabbit. It began on February 3, 2011 and will end on January 22, 2012. According to traditional beliefs, some form of the calendar has been in use for almost five millennia. Based on archaeological evidence some form of it has been in use for three and a half millennia. The year 2011 is reckoned in the seldom-used continuously numbered system as 4708 or 4648 (depending on the epoch used, see Continuously numbered years).
s of the Shang Dynasty
(late second millennium BCE), which seem to describe a lunisolar year of 12 months, with a possible intercalary 13th, or even 14th, added empirically to prevent calendar drift. The Sexagenary cycle
for recording days was already in use. Tradition holds that, in that era, the year began on the first new moon after the winter solstice.
Early Eastern Zhou texts, such as the Spring and Autumn Annals
, provide better understanding of the calendars used in the Zhou dynasty
. One year usually had 12 months, which were alternately 29 and 30 days long (with an additional day added from time to time, to catch up with "drifts" between the calendar and the actual moon cycle), and intercalary months were added in an arbitrary fashion at the end of the year.
These arbitrary rules on day and month intercalation caused the calendars of each state to be slightly different, at times. Thus, texts like the Annals will often state whether the calendar they use (the calendar of Lu) is in phase with the Royal calendar (used by the Zhou kings).
Although tradition holds that in the Zhou, the year began on the new moon which preceded the winter solstice
, the Spring and Autumn Annals
seem to indicate that (in Lu at least) the Yin calendar (the calendar used in Shang dynasty
, with years beginning on the first new moon after the winter solstice
) was in use until the middle of the 7th century, and that the beginning of the year was shifted back one month around 650 BCE.
By the beginning of the Warring States, progress in astronomy and mathematics allowed the creation of calculated calendars (where intercalary months and days are set by a rule, and not arbitrarily). The sìfēn 四分 (quarter remainder) calendar, which began about 484 BCE, was the first calculated Chinese calendar, so named because it used a solar year of 365¼ days (the same as the 1st century BCE Julian Calendar
of Rome
), along with a 19-year (235-month) Rule Cycle, known in the West as the Metonic cycle
. The year began on the new moon preceding the winter solstice, and intercalary months were inserted at the end of the year.
In 256 BCE, as the last Zhou king ceded his territory to Qin, a new calendar (the Qin calendar) began to be used. It followed the same principles as the Sifen calendar, except the year began one month before (the second new moon before the winter solstice, which now fell in the second month of the year). The Qin calendar was used during the Qin dynasty
, and in the beginning of the Western Han dynasty
.
introduced reforms that have governed the Chinese calendar ever since. His Tàichū calendar of 104 BCE had a year with the winter solstice
in the 11th month and designated as intercalary any calendar month (a month of 29 or 30 whole days) during which the sun does not pass a principal term (that is, remained within the same sign of the zodiac
throughout). The solar year of the Taichu calendar was defined as days and the lunar month as days. Because the sun's mean motion was used to calculate the jiéqì (or seasonal markings) until 1645, this intercalary month was equally likely to occur after any month of the year. The conjunction of the sun and moon (the astronomical new moon) was calculated using the mean motions of both the sun and moon.
, when chronologists began to use true motions modeled using two offset opposing parabola
s (with small linear and cubic components). Unfortunately, the parabolas did not meet smoothly at the mean motion, but met with a discontinuity or jump.
With the introduction of European astronomy into China via the Jesuits
, the motions of both the sun and moon began to be calculated with sinusoids
in the 1645 Shíxiàn calendar of the Qing dynasty
, made by the Jesuits Adam Schall
and Giacomo Rho
. The true motion of the sun was now used to calculate the jiéqì, which caused the intercalary month to often occur after the second through the ninth months, but rarely after the tenth through first months. A few autumn-winter periods have two or three calendar months where the sun stays within one sign, interspersed with one or two calendar months where the sun enters two signs of the zodiac.
was adopted by the nascent Republic of China
effective January 1, 1912 for official business, but the general populace continued to use the traditional calendar. The status of the Gregorian calendar was unclear between 1916 and 1921 while China was controlled by several competing warlord
s each supported by foreign colonial powers. From about 1921 until 1928 warlords continued to fight over northern China, but the Kuomintang
or Nationalist government controlled southern China and used the Gregorian calendar. After the Kuomintang reconstituted the Republic of China October 10, 1928, the Gregorian calendar was officially adopted, effective January 1, 1929. The Peoples Republic of China has continued to use the Gregorian calendar since 1949.
outside of Nanjing using Chinese standard time at a longitude of 120°E (GMT+8h). This shifted the midnight marking the beginning of each day in both the traditional and Gregorian calendars by plus 14 minutes 20 seconds. This shift meant that any dark moon which formerly occurred just before midnight Beijing local time now occurred just after midnight Chinese standard time, causing the first day of a lunar month to occur one day later. However, unlike the official tables, most public calendars relied on the old Wannian Shu (Long-term (lit. "10,000-year) Calendar；simplified Chinese: 万年书; traditional Chinese: 萬年書) last published in 1910 using Beijing time until they were forced to adopt the official traditional calendar using Chinese standard time when the two disagreed. In 1953 public calendars placed the dark moon and the first day of a lunar month on August 9, whereas the official traditional calendar placed it on August 10, which caused public calendars in most of the People's Republic of China to use the official tables and standard time after 1953. In 1978 the dates were respectively September 2 and 3, causing public calendars in the Hong Kong and Canton areas to do the same after 1978. In 1989 the dates were August 1 and 2, which caused Taiwan to do the same after 1989.
from always being the second new moon after the winter solstice, or that cause the holiday to occur after the Rain Water jieqi. An exception will occur in 2033–2034, when the winter solstice is the second solar term in the 11th month. The next month is a no-entry month and so is intercalary, and a twelfth month follows which contains both the Aquarius and Pisces solar terms (deep cold and rain water). The Year of the Tiger thus begins on the third new moon following the Winter Solstice, and also occurs after the Pisces (rain water) jieqi, on February 19.
Another occurrence was in 1984–85, after the sun had entered both Capricorn at 270° and Aquarius at 300° in month 11, and then entered Pisces at 330° during the next month, which should have caused it to be month 1. The sun did not enter any sign during the next month. In order to keep the winter solstice in month 11, the month which should have been month 1 became month 12, and the month thereafter became month 1, causing Chinese New Year to occur on February 20, 1985 after the sun had already passed into Pisces at 330° during the previous month, rather than during the month beginning on that day.
A lunar month is always either 29 or 30 days long, because the length of the synodic month (the cycle of the phases of the Moon) is approximately 29.53 days. The length of time the Sun is in one of the signs of the tropical Zodiac varies from about 30 days at perihelion to about 32 days at aphelion, because each sign represents an equal 30° geometrical expanse of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and this orbit is an ellipse instead of a perfect circle, and is governed by Kepler's Second Law.
On those occasions when a dual-entry month does occur, it always occurs somewhere between two months that do not have any entry (non-entry months), because the maximum length of a lunar month is only very slightly greater than the minimum length of time the Sun spends in an astrological sign. It usually occurs alone and either includes or is near the winter solstice
, because the Earth is at aphelion on or around July 4, and at perihelion, when the Sun moves the most quickly through astrological signs, on or around January 3, which is not far from the winter solstice, which takes place on or around December 22.
The fact that the winter solstice is required to fall in month 11 (rule 4) fixes the start and end points of the span between the occurrences of month 11 in two successive years. Therefore, it is possible to apply the rule that the first of the 12 months between two occurrences of month 11 in which the Sun enters no new astrological sign is to be taken as the intercalary month (rule 5) in an unambiguous fashion. In 1984–85, the month immediately before the dual-entry month 11 was a non-entry month that was designated as an intercalary month 10. All months from the dual-entry month to the non-entry month that is not to be intercalary are sequentially numbered with the nearby regular months (rule 2). The last phrase of rule 5, choosing the first of two non-entry months between months 11, has not been required since the last calendar reform, and will not be necessary until the Chinese year spanning the Western years 2033–34, when two dual-entry months will be interspersed among three non-entry months, two of which will be on one side of month 11. The leap 11th month produced is a very rare event.
Exceptions such as these are rare. Fully 96.6% of all months contain only one entry into a zodiacal sign (have one principal term or cusp), all obeying the numbering rules of the jiéqì table, and 3.0% of all months are intercalary months (always non-entry months between principal terms or cusps). Only 0.4% of all months are either dual-entry months (have two principal terms or cusps) or neighboring months that are renumbered.
It is only after the 1645 reform that this situation arose. Then it became necessary to fix one month to always contain its principal term and allow any other to occasionally not contain its principal term. Month 11 was chosen, because its principal term (the winter solstice) forms the start of the Chinese Solar year (the sui).
). Most Chinese people notice that their Chinese and Western birthdays often fall on the same day on their 19th, 38th birthday and so on. However, a 19-year cycle with a certain set of intercalary months is only an approximation, so an almost identical pattern of intercalary months in subsequent cycles will eventually change after some multiple of 19 years to a quite different 19-year cycle.
(see also Twelve Animals section) is only used in naming years—it is not used in the actual calculation of the calendar. In fact, the Chinese have a very different constellation system
.
In modern China, the lunar months are typically simply numbered, following the standard practice with the solar months. However, the old names for the first (正月, p
Zhēngyuè or , p
Yuányuè, both meaning "first month") and last (t 臘月, s 腊月, p
Làyuè) months are still used as well.
Among the many variant series for naming months is the following, which mostly uses flower names.
. This system began in 841 BCE during the Zhou dynasty
. Prior to this, years were not marked at all, and historical events cannot be dated exactly.
In 841 BCE, the King Li of Zhou
was ousted by a civilian uprising , and the country was governed for the next 14 years by a council of senior ministers, a period known as the Regency . In this period, years were marked as First (second, third, etc.) Year of the Regency.
Subsequently, years were marked as regnal years, e.g., the year 825 BCE was marked as the 3rd Year of the Xuan King Jing of Zhou
. This system was used until early in the Han dynasty, when the Wen Emperor of Han
instituted regnal names. After this, most emperors used one or more regnal names to mark their reign. Usually, the emperor would institute a new name upon accession to the throne, and then change to new names to mark significant events, or to end a perceived cycle of bad luck. In the Ming
and Qing
dynasties, however, each emperor usually used only one regnal name for his reign.
This system continued until the Republic of China
, which counted years as Years of the Republic
, beginning in 1912. Thus, 1912 is the 1st Year of the Republic, 1949 the 38th, and 2011 the 100th. This system is still commonly used in Taiwan
. In 1949 the People's Republic of China
chose to use the Common Era
system (equivalently, AD/BC system), in line with international standards.
. This system is based on two forms of counting: a cycle of 10 Heavenly Stems
and a cycle of 12 Earthly Branches
. Each year is named by a pair of one stem and one branch called a Stem-Branch ( gānzhī). The Heavenly Stems are associated with Yin Yang and the Five Elements
. Recent 10-year periods began in 1984, 1994, and 2004. The Earthly Branches are associated with the 12 signs of the zodiac
. Each Earthly Branch is also associated with an animal, collectively known as the Twelve Animals. Recent 12-year periods began in 1984, 1996 and 2008.
Within the Heavenly Stems system the year is advanced up by one per year, cycling back to year one after the last (year ten). Similarly the Earthly Branches also advances by one per year, cyclically. Since the numbers 10 (Heavenly Stems) and 12 (Earthly Branches) have a common factor of 2, only 1/2 of the 120 possible stem-branch combinations actually occur. The resulting 60-year (or sexagesimal) cycle takes the name jiǎzǐ after the first year in the cycle, being the Heavenly Stem of jiǎ and Earthly Branch of zǐ. The term "jiǎzǐ" is used figuratively to mean "a full lifespan"—one who has lived more than a jiǎzǐ is obviously blessed. (Compare the Biblical "three-score years and ten.")
At first, this system was used to mark days, not years. The earliest evidence of this was found on oracle bone
s dated c.1350 BCE in the Shang Dynasty
. This system of date marking continues to this day, and can still be found on Chinese calendars today. Although a stem-branch cannot be used to deduce the actual day in historical events, it can assist in converting Chinese dates to other calendars more accurately.
Around the Han Dynasty
, the stem-branch cycle also began to be used to mark years. The 60-year system cycles continuously, and determines the animal or sign under which a person is born (see Chinese Zodiac). These cycles were not named, and were used in conjunction with regnal names
declared by the emperor
. For example: (Kāngxī rényín) (1662 AD) is the first (rényín) year during the reign of (Kāngxī
), regnal name of an emperor of the Qing Dynasty
The months, days and hours can also be denoted using Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, though they are commonly addressed using Chinese numerals instead. In Chinese astrology
, four Stem-Branch pairs form the Eight Characters ( bāzì).
" or starting point for the Chinese calendar. Tradition holds that the calendar was invented by Emperor Huang-di
in the 61st year of his reign in what is now known under the proleptic Gregorian calendar as 2637 BCE. Many have used this date as the epoch, i.e. the first year of the first sixty-year (sexagesimal) cycle, of the Chinese calendar, but others have used the date of the beginning of his reign in 2697 BCE as the epoch. Since these dates are exactly sixty years apart, it does not matter which is used to determine the stem/branch sequence or the astrological sign for any succeeding year. That is, 2006 is a bingxu year and the Year of the Dog regardless of whether years are counted from 2637 BCE or 2697 BCE.
For the most part, the imposition of a continuous numbering system on the Chinese calendar was of interest mostly to Jesuit missionaries and other Europeans who assumed that calendars obviously had to be continuous. However, in the early 20th century, some Chinese Republicans
began to advocate widespread use of continuously numbered years, so that year markings would be independent of the Emperor's regnal name
. (This was part of their attempt to delegitimise the Qing Dynasty
.) When Sun Yat-sen
became the provisional president of the Republic of China, he sent telegrams to leaders of all provinces and announced the 13th day of 11th Month of the 4609th year of the Yellow Emperor's reign (corresponding to 1 January 1912) to be the 1st year of the Republic of China. His choice was adopted by many overseas Chinese
communities outside Southeast Asia
such as San Francisco's Chinatown.
of the full 60-year cycle.
Notes
1 The beginning of each zodiac year should correspond to the first day of the lunar year.
2 As discussed above, there is considerable difficulty in establishing a basis for the chronology of the continuous year numbers. The numbers listed here are too high by 60 if an epoch of 2637 BCE is accepted. They may be too low by 1 if an epoch of 2698 BCE is accepted. That is, according to some sources, Gregorian 2006 (Chinese 4703) could alternatively correspond to 4643, or perhaps 4704. Chinese Americans in the United States
use the epoch of 2698 BCE as the basis for numbering the years, and therefore Gregorian 2006 is numbered as 4704 and so forth for previous and subsequent years.
3 In any case, the correspondence between a lunisolar Chinese year and a solar Gregorian year is of course not exact. The first few months of each Gregorian year—those preceding Chinese New Year—belong to the previous Chinese year. For example, January 1 – January 28, 2006 correspond to yǐyǒu or 4702. Thus, it might be more precise to state that Gregorian 2006 corresponds to 4702–4703, or that continuous Chinese 4703 corresponds to 2006–2007.
. The first unit, Hour of Zi , begins at 11 p.m. of the previous day and ends at 1 a.m. Traditionally, executions of condemned prisoners occur at the midpoint of Hour of Wu , i.e., noon.
A second system subdivided the day into 100 equal parts, ke
, each of which equalling 14.4 minutes or about one quarter of a standard Western hour. This was used for centuries, making the Chinese first to apply decimal time
– long before the French Republican Calendar
. However, because 100 could not be divided equally into the 12 "double hours", the system was changed to variously 96, 108, and 120 ke in a day. During the Qing Dynasty
, the number was officially settled at 96, making each ke exactly a quarter of a Western hour. Today, ke is often used to refer to a quarter of an hour.
The 12 animals ( shí'èr shēngxiào, "twelve birth emblems" or colloquially shí'èr shǔxiàng, "twelve signs of belonging") representing the 12 Earthly Branches
are, in order, the Rat
, Ox
, Tiger
, Rabbit
, Dragon
, Snake
, Horse
, Goat, Monkey
, Rooster
, Dog
, and Pig
.
A legend
explains the sequence in which the animals were assigned. Supposedly, the 12 animals fought over the precedence of the animals in the cycle of years in the calendar, so the Chinese gods held a contest to determine the order. All the animals lined up on the bank of a river and were given the task of getting to the opposite shore. Their order in the calendar would be set by the order in which the animals managed to reach the other side. The cat wondered how he would get across if he was afraid of water. At the same time, the ox wondered how he would cross with his poor eyesight. The calculating rat suggested that he and the cat jump onto the ox's back and guide him across. The ox was steady and hard-working so that he did not notice a commotion on his back. In the meanwhile, the rat sneaked up behind the unsuspecting cat and shoved him into the water. Just as the ox came ashore, the rat jumped off and finished the race first. The lazy pig came to the far shore in twelfth place. And so the rat got the first year named after him, the ox got the second year, and the pig ended up as the last year in the cycle. The cat finished too late to win any place in the calendar, and vowed to be the enemy of the rat forevermore.
The term Jiéqì is usually translated as "Solar Terms" (lit. Nodes of Weather). Each node is the instant when the sun reaches one of 24 equally spaced points along the ecliptic
, including the solstice
s and equinox
es, positioned at 15 degree
intervals. Because the calculation is solar-based, these jiéqì fall around the same date every year in solar calendar
s (for example, the Gregorian Calendar
), but do not form any obvious pattern in the Chinese calendar. The dates below are approximate and may vary slightly from year to year due to the intercalary rules (i.e. system of leap years
) of the Gregorian calendar. Jiéqì are published each year in farmers' almanac
s. Chinese New Year
is usually the new moon
closest to lìchūn.
In the table below, these measures are given in the standard astronomical convention of ecliptic longitude, zero degrees being positioned at the vernal equinox point. Each calendar month under the heading "M" contains the designated jiéqì called a principal term, which is an entry into a sign of the zodiac, also known as a cusp. Here term has the archaic meaning of a limit, not a duration. In Chinese astronomy, seasons are centered on the solstices and equinoxes, whereas in the standard Western definition, they begin at the solstices and equinoxes. Thus the term Beginning of Spring and the related Spring Festival fall in February, when it is still very chilly in temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.
Note: The third jiéqì was originally called (qǐzhé) but renamed to (jīngzhé) in the era of the Emperor Jing of Han
to avoid writing his given name (also written as , a variant of 啓).
and the Winter Solstice Festival, falling upon the respective solar terms, at ecliptic longitudes of 15° and 270°, respectively. As for all other calendrical calculations, the calculations use civil time in China, UTC+08
However, because of the complex astronomical knowledge required to calculate if and when an intercalary month needs to be inserted, to most people, it is simply a mystery. This has led to a superstition that intercalary months in certain times of the year bring bad luck.
The main purpose of the intercalary month is to correct for deviations of the calendrical year from the astronomical year. Because the Chinese calendar is mainly a lunar calendar, its standard year is 354 days, whereas the astronomical year is approximately 365¼ days. Without the intercalary month, this deviation would build up over time, and the Spring festival, for example, would no longer fall in Spring. Thus, the intercalary month serves a valuable purpose in ensuring that the year in the Chinese calendar remains approximately in line with the astronomical year.
The intercalary month is inserted whenever the Chinese calendar moves too far from the stage of progression of the earth in its orbit. Thus, for example, if the beginning of a certain month in the Chinese calendar deviates by a certain number of days from its equivalent in a solar calendar, an intercalary month needs to be inserted.
The practical benefit of this system is that the calendar is able to approximately keep in pace with the solar cycle, while at the same time retaining months that roughly correspond with lunar cycles. Hence the term lunisolar calendar. The latter is important because many traditional festivals correspond to significant events in the moon's cycle. For example, the mid-autumn festival is always on a day of the full moon.
the nation adopted the Gregorian calendar
, and simply shifted all traditional festivities onto an equivalent date. However, the Chinese calendar remains important as an element of cultural tradition, and for certain cultural activities.
Second, the 24 solar terms were important to farmers who would not be able to plan agricultural activities without foreknowledge of these terms. However, the 24 solar terms (including the solstice
s and equinox
es) are more predictable on the Gregorian calendar than the lunisolar calendar since they are based on the solar cycle. It is easier for the average Chinese farmer to organize their planting and harvesting with the Gregorian calendar.
However, one practical advantage of using a calendar where the months are lunar months is that the phases of the moon, and astronomical and tidal phenomena associated with them, such as spring and neap tides, fall on approximately the same day in each lunar month, and the times of high and low water and the tidal streams experienced in a certain location on a certain day of the lunar month are likely to be similar to those for the same place and lunar day in any month. For many years, therefore, mariners in East and South-East Asia have related their tidal observations to the Chinese calendar, so as to be able to provide quick, rule-of-thumb approximations of tides and tidal conditions from memory, based on the day of the Lunar month, without needing to refer to tide tables. Certain inshore passages on the China coast, for example, where there are strong tidal streams associated with spring tides, were regarded by mariners to be passable on certain days of the lunar month, and impassable on others.
and the Mid-Autumn Festival
, occur on new moons or full moons. The traditional Chinese calendar, as an element of traditional culture, has much cultural and nationalistic sentiment invested in it.
The calendar is still used in the more traditional Chinese households around the world to pick 'auspicious dates' for important events such as weddings, funerals, and business deals. A special calendar is used for this purpose, called Huang Li , literally "Imperial Calendar", which contains auspicious activities, times, and directions for each day. The calendar follows the Gregorian dates but has the corresponding Chinese dates. Every date would have a comprehensive listing of astrological measurements and fortune elements.
n calendars are very similar to if not identical to the Chinese calendar: the Korean calendar
is identical; the Vietnamese calendar
substitutes the cat for the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac; the Tibetan calendar
differs slightly in animal names, and the traditional Japanese calendar
uses a different method of calculation, resulting in disagreements between the calendars in some years. The Thai lunar calendar
also share a lot of similarities with the Chinese calendar.
The 12 year cycle, with the animal names translated into the vernacular, was adopted by the Göktürks
(its use there is first attested 584), and spread subsequently among many if not most Turkic peoples, as well as the Mongols
. A similar
calendar seems to have been used by the Bulgars
, as attested in the Nominalia of the Bulgarian Khans
and in some other documents. The main differences between the Bulgar and the Chinese calendar are the different calculating system, the tiger has been replaced with a wolf, and the dragon and monkey—with an unknown animal. Also, the Bulgar calendar is a solar one.
, Hulagu Khan
established an observatory in Maragheh
for the astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
at which a few Chinese astronomers were present, resulting in the Chinese-Uighur calendar that al-Tusi describes in his Zij-i Ilkhani
. The 12 year cycle, including Turkish/Mongolian translations of the animal names (known as sanawat-e turki سنوات ترکی,) remained in use for chronology, historiography, and bureaucratic purposes in the Persian and Turkish speaking world from Asia Minor to India and Mongolia throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods. In Iran it remained common in agricultural records and tax assessments until a 1925 law deprecated its use.
Lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will...
calendar
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...
, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar
Lunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...
with those of a solar calendar
Solar calendar
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun .-Tropical solar calendars:...
. It is not exclusive to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, but followed by many other Asian cultures as well. In most of East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
today, the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
is used for day-to-day activities, but the Chinese calendar is still used for marking traditional East Asian holidays such as the Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
(the Spring Festival ), the Duan Wu festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival , also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival or Zhongqiu Festival, is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese people. A description of the festival first appeared in Rites of Zhou, a written collection of rituals of the Western Zhou...
, and in astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, such as choosing the most auspicious date for a wedding or the opening of a building. Because each month follows one cycle of the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, it is also used to determine the phases of the moon.
In China, the traditional calendar is known as the "agricultural calendar" while the Gregorian calendar is known as the "common calendar" . Another name for the Chinese calendar is the "Yin
Yin and yang
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...
Calendar" in reference to the lunar aspect of the calendar, whereas the Gregorian calendar is the "Yang
Yin and yang
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...
Calendar" in reference to its solar properties. The Chinese calendar was also called the "old calendar" after the "new calendar" , i.e., the Gregorian calendar, was adopted as the official calendar. For more than two thousand years, since the time of Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
the month containing the winter solstice
Winter solstice
Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
has almost always been the 11th month. (This means the new year starts on the second new moon after the winter solstice unless there is an 11th or 12th intercalary month, in which case it starts on the third new moon.) A calendar using this new year is often referred to as "the Xia
Xia Dynasty
The Xia Dynasty is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian. The Xia Dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him...
Calendar" , following a comment in the Shiji which states that under the Xia Dynasty, the year began on the second new moon after the winter solstice. At times under some other dynasties in ancient China, the month with the winter solstice was the 12th or the 1st month.
The year 2011 in the Chinese calendar is the Year of the Rabbit. It began on February 3, 2011 and will end on January 22, 2012. According to traditional beliefs, some form of the calendar has been in use for almost five millennia. Based on archaeological evidence some form of it has been in use for three and a half millennia. The year 2011 is reckoned in the seldom-used continuously numbered system as 4708 or 4648 (depending on the epoch used, see Continuously numbered years).
Early history
The earliest evidence of the Chinese calendar is found on the oracle boneOracle bone
Oracle bones are pieces of bone normally from ox scapula or turtle plastron which were used for divination chiefly during the late Shang Dynasty. The bones were first inscribed with divination in oracle bone script by using a bronze pin, and then heated until crack lines appeared in which the...
s of the Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
(late second millennium BCE), which seem to describe a lunisolar year of 12 months, with a possible intercalary 13th, or even 14th, added empirically to prevent calendar drift. The Sexagenary cycle
Sexagenary cycle
The Chinese sexagenary cycle , also known as the Stems-and-Branches , is a cycle of sixty terms used for recording days or years. It appears, as a means of recording days, in the first Chinese written texts, the Shang dynasty oracle bones from the late second millennium BC. Its use to record years...
for recording days was already in use. Tradition holds that, in that era, the year began on the first new moon after the winter solstice.
Early Eastern Zhou texts, such as the Spring and Autumn Annals
Spring and Autumn Annals
The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The text is extremely concise and, if all the commentaries are excluded, about 16,000...
, provide better understanding of the calendars used in the Zhou dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
. One year usually had 12 months, which were alternately 29 and 30 days long (with an additional day added from time to time, to catch up with "drifts" between the calendar and the actual moon cycle), and intercalary months were added in an arbitrary fashion at the end of the year.
These arbitrary rules on day and month intercalation caused the calendars of each state to be slightly different, at times. Thus, texts like the Annals will often state whether the calendar they use (the calendar of Lu) is in phase with the Royal calendar (used by the Zhou kings).
Although tradition holds that in the Zhou, the year began on the new moon which preceded the winter solstice
Winter solstice
Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
, the Spring and Autumn Annals
Spring and Autumn Annals
The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The text is extremely concise and, if all the commentaries are excluded, about 16,000...
seem to indicate that (in Lu at least) the Yin calendar (the calendar used in Shang dynasty
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
, with years beginning on the first new moon after the winter solstice
Winter solstice
Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
) was in use until the middle of the 7th century, and that the beginning of the year was shifted back one month around 650 BCE.
By the beginning of the Warring States, progress in astronomy and mathematics allowed the creation of calculated calendars (where intercalary months and days are set by a rule, and not arbitrarily). The sìfēn 四分 (quarter remainder) calendar, which began about 484 BCE, was the first calculated Chinese calendar, so named because it used a solar year of 365¼ days (the same as the 1st century BCE Julian Calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
of Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
), along with a 19-year (235-month) Rule Cycle, known in the West as the Metonic cycle
Metonic cycle
In astronomy and calendar studies, the Metonic cycle or Enneadecaeteris is a period of very close to 19 years which is remarkable for being very nearly a common multiple of the solar year and the synodic month...
. The year began on the new moon preceding the winter solstice, and intercalary months were inserted at the end of the year.
In 256 BCE, as the last Zhou king ceded his territory to Qin, a new calendar (the Qin calendar) began to be used. It followed the same principles as the Sifen calendar, except the year began one month before (the second new moon before the winter solstice, which now fell in the second month of the year). The Qin calendar was used during the Qin dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
, and in the beginning of the Western Han dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
.
Taichu calendar
The Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynastyHan Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
introduced reforms that have governed the Chinese calendar ever since. His Tàichū calendar of 104 BCE had a year with the winter solstice
Winter solstice
Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
in the 11th month and designated as intercalary any calendar month (a month of 29 or 30 whole days) during which the sun does not pass a principal term (that is, remained within the same sign of the zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
throughout). The solar year of the Taichu calendar was defined as days and the lunar month as days. Because the sun's mean motion was used to calculate the jiéqì (or seasonal markings) until 1645, this intercalary month was equally likely to occur after any month of the year. The conjunction of the sun and moon (the astronomical new moon) was calculated using the mean motions of both the sun and moon.
True sun and moon
Though the fact of the irregularity of the lunar orbit was known in the 1st century BCE, the starts of the months were calculated using the mean motions of both the sun and moon until 619, the second year of the Tang dynastyTang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
, when chronologists began to use true motions modeled using two offset opposing parabola
Parabola
In mathematics, the parabola is a conic section, the intersection of a right circular conical surface and a plane parallel to a generating straight line of that surface...
s (with small linear and cubic components). Unfortunately, the parabolas did not meet smoothly at the mean motion, but met with a discontinuity or jump.
With the introduction of European astronomy into China via the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, the motions of both the sun and moon began to be calculated with sinusoids
Trigonometric function
In mathematics, the trigonometric functions are functions of an angle. They are used to relate the angles of a triangle to the lengths of the sides of a triangle...
in the 1645 Shíxiàn calendar of the Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, made by the Jesuits Adam Schall
Johann Adam Schall von Bell
Johann Adam Schall von Bell was a German Jesuit and astronomer. He spent most of his life as a missionary in China and became an adviser to the Chinese emperor.- Life :...
and Giacomo Rho
Giacomo Rho
Giacomo Rho was an Italian Jesuit missionary in China.-Life:The son of a jurist, Rho entered the Society of Jesus at the age of twenty. While later proficient in mathematics, he was a poor student initially....
. The true motion of the sun was now used to calculate the jiéqì, which caused the intercalary month to often occur after the second through the ninth months, but rarely after the tenth through first months. A few autumn-winter periods have two or three calendar months where the sun stays within one sign, interspersed with one or two calendar months where the sun enters two signs of the zodiac.
Gregorian reform
The Gregorian calendarGregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
was adopted by the nascent Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
effective January 1, 1912 for official business, but the general populace continued to use the traditional calendar. The status of the Gregorian calendar was unclear between 1916 and 1921 while China was controlled by several competing warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
s each supported by foreign colonial powers. From about 1921 until 1928 warlords continued to fight over northern China, but the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
or Nationalist government controlled southern China and used the Gregorian calendar. After the Kuomintang reconstituted the Republic of China October 10, 1928, the Gregorian calendar was officially adopted, effective January 1, 1929. The Peoples Republic of China has continued to use the Gregorian calendar since 1949.
Standard time
Before 1929, the traditional calendar was calculated by the Central Observatory (formerly the Imperial Observatory) in Beijing using Beijing local time at a longitude of 116°25'E . From 1929 to 1949 it was calculated by the Institute of Astronomy in Nanjing and since 1949 by the Purple Mountain ObservatoryPurple Mountain Observatory
Purple Mountain Observatory , also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in Nanjing, China.The long time director of the observatory was Zhang Yuzhe Purple Mountain Observatory , also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory,...
outside of Nanjing using Chinese standard time at a longitude of 120°E (GMT+8h). This shifted the midnight marking the beginning of each day in both the traditional and Gregorian calendars by plus 14 minutes 20 seconds. This shift meant that any dark moon which formerly occurred just before midnight Beijing local time now occurred just after midnight Chinese standard time, causing the first day of a lunar month to occur one day later. However, unlike the official tables, most public calendars relied on the old Wannian Shu (Long-term (lit. "10,000-year) Calendar；simplified Chinese: 万年书; traditional Chinese: 萬年書) last published in 1910 using Beijing time until they were forced to adopt the official traditional calendar using Chinese standard time when the two disagreed. In 1953 public calendars placed the dark moon and the first day of a lunar month on August 9, whereas the official traditional calendar placed it on August 10, which caused public calendars in most of the People's Republic of China to use the official tables and standard time after 1953. In 1978 the dates were respectively September 2 and 3, causing public calendars in the Hong Kong and Canton areas to do the same after 1978. In 1989 the dates were August 1 and 2, which caused Taiwan to do the same after 1989.
Calendar rules
The following rules outline the Chinese calendar since 104 BCE. Note: the rules allow either mean or true motions of the Sun and Moon to be used, depending on the historical period.- The months are lunar months. This means the first day of each month beginning at midnight is the day of the astronomical dark moonDark moonA dark moon describes the Moon during that time that it is invisible against the backdrop of the Sun in the sky. The duration of a dark moon is between 1.5 and 3.5 days, depending on the orientation of the Earth and Sun....
. (This differs from a traditional Chinese "day" which begins at 11 p.m.). - Each year has 12 regular months, which are numbered in sequence (1 to 12) and have alternative names. Every second or third year has an intercalary month , which may come after any regular month. It has the same number as the preceding regular month, but is designated intercalary.
- Every other jiéqì of the Chinese solar year is equivalent to an entry of the sun into a sign of the tropical zodiac (a principal term or cusp).
- The sun always passes the winter solstice (enters Capricorn) during month 11.
- If there are 12 months between two successive occurrences of month 11, not counting either month 11, at least one of these 12 months must be a month during which the sun remains within the same zodiac sign throughout (no principal term or cusp occurs within it). If only one such month occurs, it is designated intercalary, but if two such months occur, only the first is designated intercalary. Note that for calendars before true motions of the sun were used for naming (i.e., before 1645), or in years where there is no double-cusp month in that year or the previous or following years (i.e., usually), the following rule suffices: a month with no principal term (or cusp) in it is designated intercalary.
- The times of the astronomical new moons and the sun entering a zodiac sign are determined using the time in the Chinese Time Zone by the Purple Mountain ObservatoryPurple Mountain ObservatoryPurple Mountain Observatory , also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in Nanjing, China.The long time director of the observatory was Zhang Yuzhe Purple Mountain Observatory , also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory,...
outside NanjingNanjing' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
using modern astronomical equations.
Correspondence with Western Zodiac
The zodiac sign which the sun enters during the month and the ecliptic longitude of that entry point usually determine the number of a regular month. Month 1 (正月 zhēngyuè), literally means principal month. All other months are literally numbered, second month, third month, and so on.| # | Chinese name | Long. | Zodiac sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 正月 zhēngyuè | 330° | Pisces |
| 2 | 二月 èryuè | 0° | Aries Aries (astrology) Aries is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the zero degree and the 29th degree of celestial longitude. The Sun enters Aries when it reaches the northern vernal equinox, which is usually on March 21 each year, and remains in this sign until around April 20... |
| 3 | 三月 sānyuè | 30° | Taurus Taurus (astrology) Taurus is the second astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 30th and 59th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between April 21 to May 21 each year... |
| 4 | 四月 sìyuè | 60° | Gemini Gemini (astrology) Gemini is the third astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the Zodiac between the 60th and 89th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between May 21 to June 20 each year... |
| 5 | 五月 wǔyuè | 90° | Cancer Cancer (astrology) Cancer is the fourth astrological sign in the Zodiac. It is considered a water sign and one of four cardinal signs. Cancer is ruled by the Moon. Individuals born when the Sun is in this sign are considered Cancerian individuals... |
| 6 | 六月 liùyuè | 120° | Leo Leo (astrology) Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Leo. In astrology, Leo is considered to be a "masculine", positive sign. It is also considered a fire sign and is one of four fixed signs ruled by the Sun.Individuals born when the Sun is in this sign are... |
| 7 | 七月 qīyuè | 150° | Virgo Virgo (astrology) Virgo is the sixth astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 150th and 179th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between August 23 to September 22 each year... |
| 8 | 八月 bāyuè | 180° | Libra Libra (astrology) Libra is the seventh astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Libra. In astrology, Libra is considered a "masculine", positive sign. It is also considered an air sign and is one of four cardinal signs... |
| 9 | 九月 jiǔyuè | 210° | Scorpio Scorpio (astrology) |Infobox align="right" style="border:3px solid white;"||style="text-align: center;"|Scorpio is the eighth astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 210th and 239th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between 24 October and... |
| 10 | 十月 shíyuè | 240° | Sagittarius Sagittarius (astrology) Sagittarius is the ninth astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 240th and 269th degree of celestial longitude... |
| 11 | 十一月 shíyīyuè | 270° | Capricorn |
| 12 | 十二月 shí'èryuè | 300° | Aquarius |
Exceptions
Some believe the above correspondence to be always true, but there are exceptions, which, for example, prevent Chinese New YearChinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
from always being the second new moon after the winter solstice, or that cause the holiday to occur after the Rain Water jieqi. An exception will occur in 2033–2034, when the winter solstice is the second solar term in the 11th month. The next month is a no-entry month and so is intercalary, and a twelfth month follows which contains both the Aquarius and Pisces solar terms (deep cold and rain water). The Year of the Tiger thus begins on the third new moon following the Winter Solstice, and also occurs after the Pisces (rain water) jieqi, on February 19.
Another occurrence was in 1984–85, after the sun had entered both Capricorn at 270° and Aquarius at 300° in month 11, and then entered Pisces at 330° during the next month, which should have caused it to be month 1. The sun did not enter any sign during the next month. In order to keep the winter solstice in month 11, the month which should have been month 1 became month 12, and the month thereafter became month 1, causing Chinese New Year to occur on February 20, 1985 after the sun had already passed into Pisces at 330° during the previous month, rather than during the month beginning on that day.
A lunar month is always either 29 or 30 days long, because the length of the synodic month (the cycle of the phases of the Moon) is approximately 29.53 days. The length of time the Sun is in one of the signs of the tropical Zodiac varies from about 30 days at perihelion to about 32 days at aphelion, because each sign represents an equal 30° geometrical expanse of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and this orbit is an ellipse instead of a perfect circle, and is governed by Kepler's Second Law.
On those occasions when a dual-entry month does occur, it always occurs somewhere between two months that do not have any entry (non-entry months), because the maximum length of a lunar month is only very slightly greater than the minimum length of time the Sun spends in an astrological sign. It usually occurs alone and either includes or is near the winter solstice
Winter solstice
Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
, because the Earth is at aphelion on or around July 4, and at perihelion, when the Sun moves the most quickly through astrological signs, on or around January 3, which is not far from the winter solstice, which takes place on or around December 22.
The fact that the winter solstice is required to fall in month 11 (rule 4) fixes the start and end points of the span between the occurrences of month 11 in two successive years. Therefore, it is possible to apply the rule that the first of the 12 months between two occurrences of month 11 in which the Sun enters no new astrological sign is to be taken as the intercalary month (rule 5) in an unambiguous fashion. In 1984–85, the month immediately before the dual-entry month 11 was a non-entry month that was designated as an intercalary month 10. All months from the dual-entry month to the non-entry month that is not to be intercalary are sequentially numbered with the nearby regular months (rule 2). The last phrase of rule 5, choosing the first of two non-entry months between months 11, has not been required since the last calendar reform, and will not be necessary until the Chinese year spanning the Western years 2033–34, when two dual-entry months will be interspersed among three non-entry months, two of which will be on one side of month 11. The leap 11th month produced is a very rare event.
Exceptions such as these are rare. Fully 96.6% of all months contain only one entry into a zodiacal sign (have one principal term or cusp), all obeying the numbering rules of the jiéqì table, and 3.0% of all months are intercalary months (always non-entry months between principal terms or cusps). Only 0.4% of all months are either dual-entry months (have two principal terms or cusps) or neighboring months that are renumbered.
It is only after the 1645 reform that this situation arose. Then it became necessary to fix one month to always contain its principal term and allow any other to occasionally not contain its principal term. Month 11 was chosen, because its principal term (the winter solstice) forms the start of the Chinese Solar year (the sui).
Nineteen year cycle
The Chinese lunar calendar and the Gregorian Calendar often sync up every 19 years (Metonic cycleMetonic cycle
In astronomy and calendar studies, the Metonic cycle or Enneadecaeteris is a period of very close to 19 years which is remarkable for being very nearly a common multiple of the solar year and the synodic month...
). Most Chinese people notice that their Chinese and Western birthdays often fall on the same day on their 19th, 38th birthday and so on. However, a 19-year cycle with a certain set of intercalary months is only an approximation, so an almost identical pattern of intercalary months in subsequent cycles will eventually change after some multiple of 19 years to a quite different 19-year cycle.
Lunar Months
The Chinese zodiacChinese zodiac
The Shēngxiào , better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year mathematical cycle...
(see also Twelve Animals section) is only used in naming years—it is not used in the actual calculation of the calendar. In fact, the Chinese have a very different constellation system
Chinese constellation
Chinese constellations are the way the ancient Chinese grouped the stars. They are very different from the modern IAU recognized constellations. This is because the IAU was based on Greco-Roman astronomy instead of Chinese astronomy....
.
In modern China, the lunar months are typically simply numbered, following the standard practice with the solar months. However, the old names for the first (正月, p
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
Zhēngyuè or , p
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
Yuányuè, both meaning "first month") and last (t 臘月, s 腊月, p
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
Làyuè) months are still used as well.
Among the many variant series for naming months is the following, which mostly uses flower names.
| Chinese Lunar Months | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese name |
Simplified Chinese name |
Pinyin | Latin | Translation | Other names |
| Zhēngyuè | Primens | first month. | 、、、、、、、、、、 | ||
| Xìngyuè | Apricomens | apricot Apricot The apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation.- Description :... blossoms. |
、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Táoyuè | Peacimens | peach Peach The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach... blossoms. |
、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Méiyuè | Plumens | plum Plum A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one... ripens. |
、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Liúyuè | Guavamens | pomegranate Pomegranate The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as... blossoms. |
、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Héyuè | Lotumens | lotus Lotus - Botany :*Lotus , various botanical taxa*Lotus *Lotus Flower, Nelumbo nucifera- Motor cars :*Lotus Cars, a British motor vehicle manufacturer**Team Lotus, a British Formula One racing team that competed between 1954 and 1994... blossoms. |
、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Lányuè | Orchimens | orchid blossoms. | 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Guìyuè | Osmanthumens | osmanthus Osmanthus Osmanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, mostly native to warm temperate Asia but one species occurring in North America . It is sometimes included in Nestegis.They range in size from shrubs to small trees, 2-12 m tall... blossoms. |
、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Júyuè | Chrysanthemens | chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Etymology:... blossoms. |
、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Liángyuè | Benimens | good month. | 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Dōngyuè | Hiemens | winter month. | 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
| Làyuè | Ultimens | last month. | 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 | ||
Regnal years
Traditional Chinese years were not continuously numbered in the way that the BCE/CE (BC/AD) system is. More commonly, official year counting always used some form of a regnal yearRegnal year
A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule.The oldest dating systems were in regnal years, and considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a third, and...
. This system began in 841 BCE during the Zhou dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
. Prior to this, years were not marked at all, and historical events cannot be dated exactly.
In 841 BCE, the King Li of Zhou
King Li of Zhou
King Li of Zhou was the tenth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 877–841 BC or 857–842 BC ....
was ousted by a civilian uprising , and the country was governed for the next 14 years by a council of senior ministers, a period known as the Regency . In this period, years were marked as First (second, third, etc.) Year of the Regency.
Subsequently, years were marked as regnal years, e.g., the year 825 BCE was marked as the 3rd Year of the Xuan King Jing of Zhou
King Xuan of Zhou
King Xuan of Zhou was the eleventh sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 827-782 BC or 827/25-782 BC.He worked to restore royal authority after the Gong He interregnum. He fought the 'Western Barbarians' and another group on the Huai River to the southeast. In...
. This system was used until early in the Han dynasty, when the Wen Emperor of Han
Emperor Wen of Han
Emperor Wen of Han was the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. His given name is Heng.Liu Heng was a son of Emperor Gao of Han and Consort Bo, later empress dowager...
instituted regnal names. After this, most emperors used one or more regnal names to mark their reign. Usually, the emperor would institute a new name upon accession to the throne, and then change to new names to mark significant events, or to end a perceived cycle of bad luck. In the Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
and Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
dynasties, however, each emperor usually used only one regnal name for his reign.
This system continued until the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, which counted years as Years of the Republic
Minguo calendar
The Republic of China calendar is the method of numbering years currently used in the Republic of China . It was used in mainland China from 1912 until the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949....
, beginning in 1912. Thus, 1912 is the 1st Year of the Republic, 1949 the 38th, and 2011 the 100th. This system is still commonly used in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. In 1949 the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
chose to use the Common Era
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
system (equivalently, AD/BC system), in line with international standards.
Stem-branch cycle
The other system by which years are marked historically in China was by the stem-branch or sexagenary cycleSexagenary cycle
The Chinese sexagenary cycle , also known as the Stems-and-Branches , is a cycle of sixty terms used for recording days or years. It appears, as a means of recording days, in the first Chinese written texts, the Shang dynasty oracle bones from the late second millennium BC. Its use to record years...
. This system is based on two forms of counting: a cycle of 10 Heavenly Stems
Heavenly Stems
The ten Celestial or Heavenly Stems are a Chinese system of ordinals that first appear during the Shang dynasty, ca. 1250 BC, as the names of the ten days of the week. They were also used in Shang-period ritual as names for dead family members, who were offered sacrifices on the corresponding day...
and a cycle of 12 Earthly Branches
Earthly Branches
The Earthly Branches provide one Chinese system for reckoning time.This system was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit of Suìxīng . Astronomers rounded the orbit of Suixing to 12 years...
. Each year is named by a pair of one stem and one branch called a Stem-Branch ( gānzhī). The Heavenly Stems are associated with Yin Yang and the Five Elements
Five elements (Chinese philosophy)
The Wu Xing, also known as the Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, and the Five Steps/Stages, are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device, in many traditional Chinese fields....
. Recent 10-year periods began in 1984, 1994, and 2004. The Earthly Branches are associated with the 12 signs of the zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
. Each Earthly Branch is also associated with an animal, collectively known as the Twelve Animals. Recent 12-year periods began in 1984, 1996 and 2008.
Within the Heavenly Stems system the year is advanced up by one per year, cycling back to year one after the last (year ten). Similarly the Earthly Branches also advances by one per year, cyclically. Since the numbers 10 (Heavenly Stems) and 12 (Earthly Branches) have a common factor of 2, only 1/2 of the 120 possible stem-branch combinations actually occur. The resulting 60-year (or sexagesimal) cycle takes the name jiǎzǐ after the first year in the cycle, being the Heavenly Stem of jiǎ and Earthly Branch of zǐ. The term "jiǎzǐ" is used figuratively to mean "a full lifespan"—one who has lived more than a jiǎzǐ is obviously blessed. (Compare the Biblical "three-score years and ten.")
At first, this system was used to mark days, not years. The earliest evidence of this was found on oracle bone
Oracle bone
Oracle bones are pieces of bone normally from ox scapula or turtle plastron which were used for divination chiefly during the late Shang Dynasty. The bones were first inscribed with divination in oracle bone script by using a bronze pin, and then heated until crack lines appeared in which the...
s dated c.1350 BCE in the Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
. This system of date marking continues to this day, and can still be found on Chinese calendars today. Although a stem-branch cannot be used to deduce the actual day in historical events, it can assist in converting Chinese dates to other calendars more accurately.
Around the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
, the stem-branch cycle also began to be used to mark years. The 60-year system cycles continuously, and determines the animal or sign under which a person is born (see Chinese Zodiac). These cycles were not named, and were used in conjunction with regnal names
Chinese era name
A Chinese era name is the regnal year, reign period, or regnal title used when traditionally numbering years in an emperor's reign and naming certain Chinese rulers . Some emperors have several era names, one after another, where each beginning of a new era resets the numbering of the year back...
declared by the emperor
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
. For example: (Kāngxī rényín) (1662 AD) is the first (rényín) year during the reign of (Kāngxī
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...
), regnal name of an emperor of the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
The months, days and hours can also be denoted using Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, though they are commonly addressed using Chinese numerals instead. In Chinese astrology
Chinese astrology
Chinese astrology is based on the traditional astronomy and calendars. The development of Chinese astrology is tied to that of astronomy, which came to flourish during the Han Dynasty ....
, four Stem-Branch pairs form the Eight Characters ( bāzì).
Continuously numbered years
There is no universally agreed upon "epochEpoch (reference date)
In the fields of chronology and periodization, an epoch is an instance in time chosen as the origin of a particular era. The "epoch" then serves as a reference point from which time is measured...
" or starting point for the Chinese calendar. Tradition holds that the calendar was invented by Emperor Huang-di
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor or Huangdi1 is a legendary Chinese sovereign and culture hero, included among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he reigned from 2697–2597 or 2696–2598 BC...
in the 61st year of his reign in what is now known under the proleptic Gregorian calendar as 2637 BCE. Many have used this date as the epoch, i.e. the first year of the first sixty-year (sexagesimal) cycle, of the Chinese calendar, but others have used the date of the beginning of his reign in 2697 BCE as the epoch. Since these dates are exactly sixty years apart, it does not matter which is used to determine the stem/branch sequence or the astrological sign for any succeeding year. That is, 2006 is a bingxu year and the Year of the Dog regardless of whether years are counted from 2637 BCE or 2697 BCE.
For the most part, the imposition of a continuous numbering system on the Chinese calendar was of interest mostly to Jesuit missionaries and other Europeans who assumed that calendars obviously had to be continuous. However, in the early 20th century, some Chinese Republicans
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
began to advocate widespread use of continuously numbered years, so that year markings would be independent of the Emperor's regnal name
Chinese era name
A Chinese era name is the regnal year, reign period, or regnal title used when traditionally numbering years in an emperor's reign and naming certain Chinese rulers . Some emperors have several era names, one after another, where each beginning of a new era resets the numbering of the year back...
. (This was part of their attempt to delegitimise the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
.) When Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
became the provisional president of the Republic of China, he sent telegrams to leaders of all provinces and announced the 13th day of 11th Month of the 4609th year of the Yellow Emperor's reign (corresponding to 1 January 1912) to be the 1st year of the Republic of China. His choice was adopted by many overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
communities outside Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
such as San Francisco's Chinatown.
Correspondence between systems
This table shows the stem/branch year names, correspondences to the Western (Gregorian) calendar, and other related information for the current decade. (These years are all part of the 79th sexagenary cycle, or the 78th if an epoch of 2637 BCE is accepted.) Or see this larger tableChinese calendar correspondence table
This table shows the stem/branch year names, correspondences to the Western calendar, and other related information for the current, 79th sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar ....
of the full 60-year cycle.
| sequence | Stem/ branch |
Year of the... [Note 1] |
Continuous [Note 2] |
Gregorian [Note 3] |
(chūnjié) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 5/3 | wùyín | Earth Tiger | 4696 | 1998 | January 28 |
| 16 | 6/4 | jǐmăo | Earth Rabbit | 4697 | 1999 | February 16 |
| 17 | 7/5 | gēngchén | Metal Dragon | 4698 | 2000 | February 5 |
| 18 | 8/6 | xīnsì | Metal Snake | 4699 | 2001 | January 24 |
| 19 | 9/7 | rénwǔ | Water Horse | 4700 | 2002 | February 12 |
| 20 | 10/8 | guǐwèi | Water Goat | 4701 | 2003 | February 1 |
| 21 | 1/9 | jiǎshēn | Wood Monkey | 4702 | 2004 | January 22 |
| 22 | 2/10 | yǐyǒu | Wood Rooster | 4703 | 2005 | February 9 |
| 23 | 3/11 | bǐngxū | Fire Dog | 4704 | 2006 | January 29 |
| 24 | 4/12 | dīnghài | Fire Pig | 4705 | 2007 | February 18 |
| 25 | 5/1 | wùzǐ | Earth Rat | 4706 | 2008 | February 7 |
| 26 | 6/2 | jǐchǒu | Earth Ox | 4707 | 2009 | January 26 |
| 27 | 7/3 | gēngyín | Metal Tiger | 4708 | 2010 | February 14 |
| 28 | 8/4 | xīnmăo | Metal Rabbit | 4709 | 2011 | February 3 |
| 29 | 9/5 | rénchén | Water Dragon | 4710 | 2012 | January 23 |
Notes
1 The beginning of each zodiac year should correspond to the first day of the lunar year.
2 As discussed above, there is considerable difficulty in establishing a basis for the chronology of the continuous year numbers. The numbers listed here are too high by 60 if an epoch of 2637 BCE is accepted. They may be too low by 1 if an epoch of 2698 BCE is accepted. That is, according to some sources, Gregorian 2006 (Chinese 4703) could alternatively correspond to 4643, or perhaps 4704. Chinese Americans in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
use the epoch of 2698 BCE as the basis for numbering the years, and therefore Gregorian 2006 is numbered as 4704 and so forth for previous and subsequent years.
3 In any case, the correspondence between a lunisolar Chinese year and a solar Gregorian year is of course not exact. The first few months of each Gregorian year—those preceding Chinese New Year—belong to the previous Chinese year. For example, January 1 – January 28, 2006 correspond to yǐyǒu or 4702. Thus, it might be more precise to state that Gregorian 2006 corresponds to 4702–4703, or that continuous Chinese 4703 corresponds to 2006–2007.
Solar year versus lunar year
There is a distinction between a solar year and a lunar year in the Chinese calendar because the calendar is lunisolar. A lunar year ( nián) is from one Chinese new year to the next. A solar year ( suì) is either the period between one Spring Equinox and the next or the period between two winter solstices (see Jiéqì section). A lunar year is exclusively used for dates, whereas a solar year, especially that between winter solstices, is used to number the months.Hours of the day
Under the traditional system of hour-marking, each day is divided into 12 units . Each of these units is equivalent to two hours of international time. Each is named after one of the 12 Earthly BranchesEarthly Branches
The Earthly Branches provide one Chinese system for reckoning time.This system was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit of Suìxīng . Astronomers rounded the orbit of Suixing to 12 years...
. The first unit, Hour of Zi , begins at 11 p.m. of the previous day and ends at 1 a.m. Traditionally, executions of condemned prisoners occur at the midpoint of Hour of Wu , i.e., noon.
A second system subdivided the day into 100 equal parts, ke
Ke (unit)
The ke is a traditional Chinese unit of decimal time lasting approximately a quarter of a western hour. Traditionally the ke divides a day into 100 equal intervals of 14.4 minutes . The ke is equivalent to the centiday , a non-SI prefixed unit...
, each of which equalling 14.4 minutes or about one quarter of a standard Western hour. This was used for centuries, making the Chinese first to apply decimal time
Decimal time
Decimal time is the representation of the time of day using units which are decimally related. This term is often used to refer specifically to French Revolutionary Time, which divides the day into 10 decimal hours, each decimal hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute into 100 decimal...
– long before the French Republican Calendar
French Republican Calendar
The French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871...
. However, because 100 could not be divided equally into the 12 "double hours", the system was changed to variously 96, 108, and 120 ke in a day. During the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, the number was officially settled at 96, making each ke exactly a quarter of a Western hour. Today, ke is often used to refer to a quarter of an hour.
12 animals
The 12 animals ( shí'èr shēngxiào, "twelve birth emblems" or colloquially shí'èr shǔxiàng, "twelve signs of belonging") representing the 12 Earthly Branches
Earthly Branches
The Earthly Branches provide one Chinese system for reckoning time.This system was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit of Suìxīng . Astronomers rounded the orbit of Suixing to 12 years...
are, in order, the Rat
Rat (zodiac)
The Rat is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Rat is associated with the earthly branch symbol 子...
, Ox
Ox (zodiac)
The Ox is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Ox is denoted by the earthly branch character 丑...
, Tiger
Tiger (zodiac)
The Tiger , is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Tiger is associated with the earthly branch symbol 寅.- Years and the Five Elements :...
, Rabbit
Rabbit (zodiac)
The Chinese Year of the Rabbit 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...
, Dragon
Dragon (zodiac)
The Dragon , is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, and the only animal that is legendary...
, Snake
Snake (zodiac)
The Snake is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Snake is associated with the earthly branch symbol 巳.-Years and the Five Elements:...
, Horse
Horse (zodiac)
The Horse is the seventh of the 12 animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Horse is associated with the earthly branch symbol 午.- Years and the Five Elements :...
, Goat, Monkey
Monkey (zodiac)
The Monkey is the ninth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Monkey is associated with the earthly branch symbol 申.-Years and the five elements:...
, Rooster
Rooster (zodiac)
The Rooster is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Rooster is represented by the earthly branch character 酉.- Years and associated Five Elements :...
, Dog
Dog (zodiac)
The Dog is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Dog is associated with the earthly branch symbol 戌...
, and Pig
Pig (zodiac)
The Pig , is the last of the 12 animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac. The Year of the Pig is associated with the earthly branch Hai .In Chinese culture, the pig is associated with fertility and virility...
.
A legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
explains the sequence in which the animals were assigned. Supposedly, the 12 animals fought over the precedence of the animals in the cycle of years in the calendar, so the Chinese gods held a contest to determine the order. All the animals lined up on the bank of a river and were given the task of getting to the opposite shore. Their order in the calendar would be set by the order in which the animals managed to reach the other side. The cat wondered how he would get across if he was afraid of water. At the same time, the ox wondered how he would cross with his poor eyesight. The calculating rat suggested that he and the cat jump onto the ox's back and guide him across. The ox was steady and hard-working so that he did not notice a commotion on his back. In the meanwhile, the rat sneaked up behind the unsuspecting cat and shoved him into the water. Just as the ox came ashore, the rat jumped off and finished the race first. The lazy pig came to the far shore in twelfth place. And so the rat got the first year named after him, the ox got the second year, and the pig ended up as the last year in the cycle. The cat finished too late to win any place in the calendar, and vowed to be the enemy of the rat forevermore.
Solar term
Chinese months follow the phases of the moon. As a result, they do not accurately follow the seasons of the solar year. To assist farmers to decide when to plant or harvest crops, the drafters of the calendar put in 24 seasonal markers, which follow the solar year, and are called jiéqì .The term Jiéqì is usually translated as "Solar Terms" (lit. Nodes of Weather). Each node is the instant when the sun reaches one of 24 equally spaced points along the ecliptic
Ecliptic
The ecliptic is the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun. In more accurate terms, it is the intersection of the celestial sphere with the ecliptic plane, which is the geometric plane containing the mean orbit of the Earth around the Sun...
, including the solstice
Solstice
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
s and equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
es, positioned at 15 degree
Degree (angle)
A degree , usually denoted by ° , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1⁄360 of a full rotation; one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians...
intervals. Because the calculation is solar-based, these jiéqì fall around the same date every year in solar calendar
Solar calendar
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun .-Tropical solar calendars:...
s (for example, the Gregorian Calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
), but do not form any obvious pattern in the Chinese calendar. The dates below are approximate and may vary slightly from year to year due to the intercalary rules (i.e. system of leap years
Leap Years
Leap Years is a 2001 drama television series that aired on the Showtime cable network. The show was created by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who had created the American version of the series Queer as Folk. It followed a group of friends in New York City...
) of the Gregorian calendar. Jiéqì are published each year in farmers' almanac
Almanac
An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...
s. Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
is usually the new moon
New moon
In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth...
closest to lìchūn.
In the table below, these measures are given in the standard astronomical convention of ecliptic longitude, zero degrees being positioned at the vernal equinox point. Each calendar month under the heading "M" contains the designated jiéqì called a principal term, which is an entry into a sign of the zodiac, also known as a cusp. Here term has the archaic meaning of a limit, not a duration. In Chinese astronomy, seasons are centered on the solstices and equinoxes, whereas in the standard Western definition, they begin at the solstices and equinoxes. Thus the term Beginning of Spring and the related Spring Festival fall in February, when it is still very chilly in temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.
| Ecliptic long. |
Chinese name | Gregorian date (approx.) |
Usual translation |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 315° | 立春 lìchūn Lichun The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Lìchūn or Risshun is the 1st solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 330°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly... |
February 4 | start of spring | spring starts here according to the Chinese definition of a season, see also Cross-quarter day |
| 330° | 雨水 yǔshuǐ | February 19 | rain water | starting at this point, the temperature makes rain more likely than snow |
| 345° | 驚蟄 jīngzhé (啓蟄 qǐzhé) Jingzhe Jīngzhé or Keichitsu is the 3rd of 24 solar terms in the traditional East Asian calendars. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 345° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 360°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial... |
March 5 | awakening of insects | when hibernating Hibernation Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate... insects awaken |
| 0° | 春分 chūnfēn Chunfen The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Chūnfēn or Shunbun is the 4th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 0° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 15°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at... |
March 20 | vernal equinox | lit. the central divide of spring (referring to the Chinese seasonal definition) |
| 15° | 清明 qīngmíng Qingming Traditional East Asian lunisolar calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Qīngmíng or Chīngmíng or Seimei is the 5th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 15° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 30°... |
April 5 | clear and bright | a Chinese festival where, traditionally, ancestral graves are tended |
| 30° | 穀雨 gǔyǔ or gǔyù Guyu The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Gǔyù or more commonly pronounced as Gǔyǔ, or Kokuu is the 6th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 30° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 45°... |
April 20 | grain rains | rain helps grain grow |
| 45° | 立夏 lìxià Lixia The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Lìxià or Rikka is the 7th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 45° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 60°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the... |
May 6 | start of summer | refers to the Chinese seasonal definition |
| 60° | 小滿 xiǎomǎn Xiaoman The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Xiǎomǎn or Shōman is the 8th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 60° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 75°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at... |
May 21 | grain full | grains are plump |
| 75° | 芒種 mángzhòng or mángzhǒng Mangzhong The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Mángzhǒng or more commonly pronounced as Mángzhòng, or Bōshu is the 9th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 75° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 90°... |
June 6 | grain in ear | lit. awns (beard of grain) grow |
| 90° | 夏至 xiàzhì Xiazhi The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms .-The tenth:Xiàzhì or Geshi is the 10th solar term, and marks the summer solstice. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 90° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 105°... |
June 21 | summer solstice Solstice A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes... |
lit. summer extreme (of sun's height) |
| 105° | 小暑 xiǎoshǔ Xiaoshu The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Xiǎoshǔ or Shōsho is the 11th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 105° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 120°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly... |
July 7 | minor heat | when heat starts to get unbearable |
| 120° | 大暑 dàshǔ Dashu The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Dàshǔ or Taisho is the 12th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 120° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 135°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at... |
July 23 | major heat | the hottest time of the year |
| 135° | 立秋 lìqiū Liqiu The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Lìqiū or Risshū is the 13th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 135° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 150°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at... |
August 7 | start of autumn | uses the Chinese seasonal definition |
| 150° | 處暑 chùshǔ Chushu The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Chǔshǔ or Shosho is the 14th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 150° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 165°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly... |
August 23 | limit of heat | lit. dwell in heat |
| 165° | 白露 báilù Bailu The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Báilù or Hakuro is the 15th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 165° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 180°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at... |
September 8 | white dew | condensed moisture makes dew white; a sign of autumn |
| 180° | 秋分 qiūfēn Qiufen The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Qiūfēn or Shūbun is the 16th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 180° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 195°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly... |
September 23 | autumnal equinox | lit. central divide of autumn (refers to the Chinese seasonal definition) |
| 195° | 寒露 hánlù Hanlu The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Hánlù or Kanro is the 17th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 195° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 210°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at... |
October 8 | cold dew | dew starts turning into frost |
| 210° | 霜降 shuāngjiàng | October 23 | descent of frost | appearance of frost and descent of temperature |
| 225° | 立冬 lìdōng Lidong The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Lìdōng or Rittō is the 19th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 225° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 240°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at... |
November 7 | start of winter | refers to the Chinese seasonal definition |
| 240° | 小雪 xiǎoxuě Xiaoxue The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Xiǎoxuě or Shōsetsu is the 20th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 240° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 255°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is... |
November 22 | minor snow | snow starts falling |
| 255° | 大雪 dàxuě | December 7 | major snow | season of snowstorms in full swing |
| 270° | 冬至 dōngzhì | December 22 | winter solstice Solstice A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes... |
lit. winter extreme (of sun's height) |
| 285° | 小寒 xiǎohán Xiaohan The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Xiǎohán or Shōkan is the 23rd solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 285° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 300°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly... |
January 6 | minor cold | cold starts to become unbearable |
| 300° | 大寒 dàhán | January 20 | major cold | coldest time of year |
Note: The third jiéqì was originally called (qǐzhé) but renamed to (jīngzhé) in the era of the Emperor Jing of Han
Emperor Jing of Han
Emperor Jing of Han was an emperor of China in the Han Dynasty from 156 BC to 141 BC. His reign saw the limit and curtailment of power of feudal princes which resulted in the Rebellion of the Seven States in 154 BC. Emperor Jing managed to crush the revolt and princes were thereafter denied rights...
to avoid writing his given name (also written as , a variant of 啓).
Holidays
The Chinese calendar year has nine main festivals, seven determined by the lunisolar calendar, and two derived from the solar agricultural calendar. (Farmers actually used a solar calendar, and its 24 terms, to determine when to plant crops, due to the inaccuracy of the lunisolar traditional calendar. However, the traditional calendar has also come to be known as the agricultural calendar.) The two special holidays are the Qingming FestivalQingming Festival
The Qingming Festival , Pure Brightness Festival or Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice , usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar...
and the Winter Solstice Festival, falling upon the respective solar terms, at ecliptic longitudes of 15° and 270°, respectively. As for all other calendrical calculations, the calculations use civil time in China, UTC+08
| Date | English | Chinese | Vietnamese | Remarks | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| month 1 day 1 |
Chinese New Year Chinese New Year Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration... (Spring Festival) |
chūnjié |
Tết Nguyên Đán Tet Tet can mean:*Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese new year**Tet Offensive, a military campaign that began in 1968*Têt in Roussillon, France*Equal temperament, abbreviated as 12-TET, 19-TET and so on... (元旦) |
Family gathering and festivities for 3–15 days | Feb 7 | Jan 26 | Feb 14 | Feb 3 | Jan 23 |
| month 1 day 15 |
Lantern Festival Lantern Festival The Lantern Festival ; is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the Chinese calendar, the last day... |
yuánxiāojié |
Tết Thượng Nguyên (上元) | Tangyuan eating and lanterns |
Feb 21 | Feb 9 | Feb 28 | Feb 17 | Feb 6 |
| April 4 or 5 |
Qingming Festival Qingming Festival The Qingming Festival , Pure Brightness Festival or Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice , usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar... (Clear and Bright) |
qīngmíngjié |
Tết Thanh Minh (清明) | Tomb sweeping | Apr 4 | Apr 4 | Apr 5 | Apr 5 | Apr 4 |
| month 5 day 5 |
Dragon Boat Festival Dragon Boat Festival Duanwu Festival, also known as Dragon Boat Festival and the Double Fifth, is a traditional and statutory holiday originating in China and associated with a number of East Asian and Southeast Asian societies... |
duānwǔjié |
Tết Đoan Ngọ (端午) | Dragon boat Dragon boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft traditionally made, in the Pearl River delta region of southern China - Guangdong Province, of teak wood to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China different woods are used to build these traditional watercraft... racing and zongzi Zongzi Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. Laotians, Thais, and Cambodians also have similar traditional dishes. In the Western world, they are also known as rice... eating |
Jun 8 | May 28 | Jun 16 | Jun 6 | Jun 23 |
| month 7 day 7 |
Night of Sevens Qi Xi Qixi Festival , also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; thus its name. It inspired Tanabata in Japan, Chilseok in Korea, and Thất Tịch in Vietnam... |
qīxī |
Thất tịch | For lovers, like Valentine's Day | Aug 7 | Aug 26 | Aug 16 | Aug 6 | Aug 23 |
| month 7 day 15 |
Ghost Festival Ghost Festival The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries... (Spirit Festival) |
zhōngyuánjié |
(中元) or Le Vu Lan (禮盂蘭) |
Offer tributes and respect to the deceased | Aug 15 | Sep 3 | Aug 24 | Aug 14 | Aug 31 |
| month 8 day 15 |
Mid-Autumn Festival Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival , also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival or Zhongqiu Festival, is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese people. A description of the festival first appeared in Rites of Zhou, a written collection of rituals of the Western Zhou... (Moon Festival) |
zhōngqiūjié |
Tết Trung Thu (中秋) | Family gathering and moon cake eating | Sep 14 | Oct 3 | Sep 22 | Sep 12 | Sep 30 |
| month 9 day 9 |
Double Ninth Festival Double Ninth Festival The Double Ninth Festival , observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the East Han period .... (Double Yang) |
chóngyángjié |
Tết Trùng Cửu (重九) | Mountain climbing and flower shows |
Oct 7 | Oct 26 | Oct 16 | Oct 5 | Oct 23 |
| month 10 day 15 |
Xia Yuan Festival | xiàyuánjié |
Tết Hạ Nguyên (下元) | Pray for a peaceful year to the Water God | Nov 12 | Dec 1 | Nov 20 | Nov 10 | Nov 28 |
| Dec 21 or 22 |
Winter Solstice Festival | dōngzhì |
Lễ hội Đông Chí | Family gathering | Dec 21 | Dec 21 | Dec 22 | Dec 22 | Dec 21 |
| month 12 day 23 |
Kitchen God Kitchen God In Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen God, named Zao Jun or Zao Shen , is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family with the addition of being celebrated... Festival |
xièzào |
Tết Táo Quân (竈君) | Worshipping the kitchen god with thanks | Jan 31 | Jan 19 | Feb 7 | Jan 27 | Jan 17 |
Purpose of the intercalary months
Most people, upon using or studying the Chinese calendar, are perplexed by the intercalary month because of its seemingly unpredictable nature. As mentioned above, the intercalary month refers to additional months added to the calendar in some years to correct for its deviation from the astronomical year, a function similar to that of the extra day in February in leap years.However, because of the complex astronomical knowledge required to calculate if and when an intercalary month needs to be inserted, to most people, it is simply a mystery. This has led to a superstition that intercalary months in certain times of the year bring bad luck.
The main purpose of the intercalary month is to correct for deviations of the calendrical year from the astronomical year. Because the Chinese calendar is mainly a lunar calendar, its standard year is 354 days, whereas the astronomical year is approximately 365¼ days. Without the intercalary month, this deviation would build up over time, and the Spring festival, for example, would no longer fall in Spring. Thus, the intercalary month serves a valuable purpose in ensuring that the year in the Chinese calendar remains approximately in line with the astronomical year.
The intercalary month is inserted whenever the Chinese calendar moves too far from the stage of progression of the earth in its orbit. Thus, for example, if the beginning of a certain month in the Chinese calendar deviates by a certain number of days from its equivalent in a solar calendar, an intercalary month needs to be inserted.
The practical benefit of this system is that the calendar is able to approximately keep in pace with the solar cycle, while at the same time retaining months that roughly correspond with lunar cycles. Hence the term lunisolar calendar. The latter is important because many traditional festivals correspond to significant events in the moon's cycle. For example, the mid-autumn festival is always on a day of the full moon.
Relevance of the calendar today
There have been calls for reform in recent years from experts in China, because of the increasing irrelevance of the Chinese calendar in modern life. They point to the example in Japan, where during the Meiji RestorationMeiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
the nation adopted the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
, and simply shifted all traditional festivities onto an equivalent date. However, the Chinese calendar remains important as an element of cultural tradition, and for certain cultural activities.
Practical uses
The original practical relevance of the lunisolar calendar for date marking has largely disappeared. First, the Gregorian calendar is much easier to compute and more in line with international standards. Its adoption for official purposes has meant that the traditional calendar is rarely used for date marking. This, in turn, means that it is more convenient to remember significant events such as birth dates by the Gregorian rather than the Chinese calendar.Second, the 24 solar terms were important to farmers who would not be able to plan agricultural activities without foreknowledge of these terms. However, the 24 solar terms (including the solstice
Solstice
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
s and equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
es) are more predictable on the Gregorian calendar than the lunisolar calendar since they are based on the solar cycle. It is easier for the average Chinese farmer to organize their planting and harvesting with the Gregorian calendar.
However, one practical advantage of using a calendar where the months are lunar months is that the phases of the moon, and astronomical and tidal phenomena associated with them, such as spring and neap tides, fall on approximately the same day in each lunar month, and the times of high and low water and the tidal streams experienced in a certain location on a certain day of the lunar month are likely to be similar to those for the same place and lunar day in any month. For many years, therefore, mariners in East and South-East Asia have related their tidal observations to the Chinese calendar, so as to be able to provide quick, rule-of-thumb approximations of tides and tidal conditions from memory, based on the day of the Lunar month, without needing to refer to tide tables. Certain inshore passages on the China coast, for example, where there are strong tidal streams associated with spring tides, were regarded by mariners to be passable on certain days of the lunar month, and impassable on others.
Cultural issues
The Chinese calendar remains culturally essential today. For example, most of the traditional festivals, such as Chinese New YearChinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
and the Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival , also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival or Zhongqiu Festival, is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese people. A description of the festival first appeared in Rites of Zhou, a written collection of rituals of the Western Zhou...
, occur on new moons or full moons. The traditional Chinese calendar, as an element of traditional culture, has much cultural and nationalistic sentiment invested in it.
The calendar is still used in the more traditional Chinese households around the world to pick 'auspicious dates' for important events such as weddings, funerals, and business deals. A special calendar is used for this purpose, called Huang Li , literally "Imperial Calendar", which contains auspicious activities, times, and directions for each day. The calendar follows the Gregorian dates but has the corresponding Chinese dates. Every date would have a comprehensive listing of astrological measurements and fortune elements.
Influence
Other traditional East AsiaEast Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n calendars are very similar to if not identical to the Chinese calendar: the Korean calendar
Korean calendar
The traditional Korean calendar is a lunisolar calendar, like the traditional calendars of other East Asian countries. Dates are calculated from Korea's meridian, and observances and festivals are based in Korean culture....
is identical; the Vietnamese calendar
Tet
Tet can mean:*Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese new year**Tet Offensive, a military campaign that began in 1968*Têt in Roussillon, France*Equal temperament, abbreviated as 12-TET, 19-TET and so on...
substitutes the cat for the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac; the Tibetan calendar
Tibetan calendar
The Tibetan calendar is a lunisolar calendar, that is, the Tibetan year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years, so that an average Tibetan year is equal to the solar year.The Tibetan New Year...
differs slightly in animal names, and the traditional Japanese calendar
Japanese calendar
On January 1, 1873, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar. Before 1873, the Chinese style lunisolar calendar had been in use since 7th century. Japanese eras are still in use.-System:...
uses a different method of calculation, resulting in disagreements between the calendars in some years. The Thai lunar calendar
Thai lunar calendar
The Thai lunar calendar , or Dai calendar , Tai calendar, is Thailand's version of the lunisolar Buddhist calendar used in the southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos and Burma, for calculating lunar-regulated holy days...
also share a lot of similarities with the Chinese calendar.
The 12 year cycle, with the animal names translated into the vernacular, was adopted by the Göktürks
Göktürks
The Göktürks or Kök Türks, were a nomadic confederation of peoples in medieval Inner Asia. Known in Chinese sources as 突厥 , the Göktürks under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan The Göktürks or Kök Türks, (Old Turkic: Türük or Kök Türük or Türük; Celestial Turks) were a nomadic confederation of...
(its use there is first attested 584), and spread subsequently among many if not most Turkic peoples, as well as the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
. A similar
Bulgar calendar
The Bulgar calendar was a calendar system used by the Bulgars, a seminomadic people, originally from Central Asia, who from the 2nd century onwards dwelled in the Eurasian steppes north of the Caucasus and around the banks of river Volga...
calendar seems to have been used by the Bulgars
Bulgars
The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....
, as attested in the Nominalia of the Bulgarian Khans
Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans
The Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans is a short manuscript containing the names of some early Bulgar rulers, their clans, the year of their ascending to the throne according to the cyclic Bulgar calendar and the length of their rule, including the times of joint rule and civil war...
and in some other documents. The main differences between the Bulgar and the Chinese calendar are the different calculating system, the tiger has been replaced with a wolf, and the dragon and monkey—with an unknown animal. Also, the Bulgar calendar is a solar one.
Chinese-Uighur calendar
In 1258, when both North China and the Islamic world were part of the Mongol EmpireMongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
, Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü, Hulegu , was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia...
established an observatory in Maragheh
Maragheh
Maragheh also Romanized as Marāgheh and Marāghen) is a city in and the capital of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 146,405, in 38,891 families....
for the astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Khawaja Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Ṭūsī , better known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , was a Persian polymath and prolific writer: an astronomer, biologist, chemist, mathematician, philosopher, physician, physicist, scientist, theologian and Marja Taqleed...
at which a few Chinese astronomers were present, resulting in the Chinese-Uighur calendar that al-Tusi describes in his Zij-i Ilkhani
Zij-i Ilkhani
Zīj-i Īlkhānī or Ilkhanic Tables is a Zij book with astronomical tables of planetary movements. It was compiled by the Persian astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi in collaboration with his research team of astronomers at the Maragha observatory...
. The 12 year cycle, including Turkish/Mongolian translations of the animal names (known as sanawat-e turki سنوات ترکی,) remained in use for chronology, historiography, and bureaucratic purposes in the Persian and Turkish speaking world from Asia Minor to India and Mongolia throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods. In Iran it remained common in agricultural records and tax assessments until a 1925 law deprecated its use.
Calendars
Calendar conversion
- Chinese Lunar calendar with Chinese Festivals (1901–2049)
- Western-Chinese calendar converter (since 1912)
- 2000-year Chinese-Western calendar converter From 1 AD to 2100 AD. Useful for historical studies. Put the western year 年 month 月day 日in the bottom row and click on 執行.