Posted 2011/3/13
THE CHINESE LUNAR CALENDAR
The Chinese calendar is the traditional calendar used in China for thousands of years. The beginning of the Chinese calendar can be traced back to the 14th century B.C.E. Although the People's Republic of China uses the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes, a special Chinese calendar is used for determining festivals, religious and social holidays. If you buy a Chinese calendar today, it would be printed in both Chinese characters and Arabian numbers respectively. Chinese people around the world have long accepted the coexistence of two calendar systems.
A lunar month is determined by the period required for the moon to complete its full physic cycle of 29 and a half days, a standard that makes the lunar year a full 11 days shorter than its solar counterpart. This difference is made up every 19 years by the addition of seven lunar months. The 12 lunar months are further divided into 24 solar Divisions distinguished by the four seasons and times of heat and cold, all bearing close relationship to the yearly cycle of agricultural work.
The Chinese calendar is based on exact astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and the phases of the moon. This means that principles of modern science have had an impact on the Chinese calendar. Here are some important definitions of the Chinese calendar:
1) JIE: 24 JIE correspond to 24 different positions of the earth relative to the sun, so a full cycle of the 24 JIE corresponds to a full cycle of the earth around the sun. For example, one JIE, CHUN-FEN, always corresponds to the spring equinox, and another JIE, QIU-FEN, always corresponds to the autumn equinox. There are around 15 days between JIE.
2) YUE: It is similar to month. But 1 YUE contains the number of days for one cycle of the moon around the earth, which changes between 29 to 30 days. YUE starts at each new moon. There are roughly two JIE in every YUE, but not always.
3) NIAN: It is similar to year. 1 NIAN corresponds to 24 JIE but might have different number of YUE (normally 12, or more - extra leap month). Ancient Chinese had figured out (correctly) that there need to be 7 extra (leap) YUE for 19 NIAN. NIAN starts about 3 JIE before CHUN-FEN (spring equinox). Each year is also assigned to one of twelve animals. The first NIAN is 2698 BC.
The accuracy of JIE on Chinese calendar has always been the most important thing. It is because China has a long history of well-developed agriculture society for several thousand years. Farmers need to plan ahead for planting crops, which relates very closely with JIE.
