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The Chinese lunar year is divided into 12 months of 29 or 30 days. The calendar is adjusted to the
length of the solar year by the addition of extra months at regular intervals. The years are arranged in major cycles of 60
years. Each successive year is named after one of 12 animals. These 12-year cycles are continuously repeated. The Chinese New
Year is celebrated at the second new moon after the winter solstice and falls between January 21 and February 19 on the
Gregorian calendar. The year 2005 translates to the Chinese year 4702 - 4703.
If the Chinese calendar started in 2637 B.C.E., why is the current year 60 years too late? (e.g., in 1999, the
current year was 4697? and not 4637)? The Chinese calendar does not use a continuous year count! They used a 60 year cycle
and a system of regional years (starting with each emperor). Before the 1911 revolution, Sun Yat-sen wanted to establish a
republican alternative to the imperial reign cycles. According to Chinese tradition, the first year of the Yellow Emperor was
2698 B.C.E., so he introduced a counting system based on this. Under this system, 2000 is year 4698. An alternative system is
to start with the first historical record of the 60-day cycle from March 8, 2637 B.C.E. Based on this system, 2000 is year
4637. |
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| Rat |
Ox |
Tiger |
Cat
(Rabbit) |
Dragon |
Snake |
Horse |
Sheep
(Goat) |
Monkey |
Rooster |
Dog |
Pig |
| 1900 |
1901 |
1902 |
1903 |
1904 |
1905 |
1906 |
1907 |
1908 |
1909 |
1910 |
1911 |
| 1912 |
1913 |
1914 |
1915 |
1916 |
1917 |
1918 |
1919 |
1920 |
1921 |
1922 |
1923 |
| 1924 |
1925 |
1926 |
1927 |
1928 |
1929 |
1930 |
1931 |
1932 |
1933 |
1934 |
1935 |
| 1936 |
1937 |
1938 |
1939 |
1940 |
1941 |
1942 |
1943 |
1944 |
1945 |
1946 |
1947 |
| 1948 |
1949 |
1950 |
1951 |
1952 |
1953 |
1954 |
1955 |
1956 |
1957 |
1958 |
1959 |
| 1960 |
1961 |
1962 |
1963 |
1964 |
1965 |
1966 |
1967 |
1968 |
1969 |
1970 |
1971 |
| 1972 |
1973 |
1974 |
1975 |
1976 |
1977 |
1978 |
1979 |
1980 |
1981 |
1982 |
1983 |
| 1984 |
1985 |
1986 |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
| 1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
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The Early Chinese Calendar :
In China, the calendar was a sacred document, sponsored and promulgated by the reigning monarch. For more than two
millennia, a Bureau of Astronomy made astronomical observations, calculated astronomical events such as eclipses, prepared
astrological predictions, and maintained the calendar. After all, a successful calendar not only served practical needs, but
also confirmed the consonance between Heaven and the imperial court. Analysis of surviving astronomical records inscribed on
oracle bones reveals a Chinese lunisolar calendar, with intercalation of lunar months, dating back to the Shang dynasty of
the fourteenth century B.C.E. Various intercalation schemes were developed for the early calendars, including the
nineteen-year and 76-year lunar phase cycles that came to be known in the West as the Metonic cycle and Callipic cycle. From
the earliest records, the beginning of the year occurred at a New Moon near the winter solstice. The choice of month for
beginning the civil year varied with time and place, however. In the late second century B.C.E., a calendar reform
established the practice, which continues today, of requiring the winter solstice to occur in month 11. This reform also
introduced the intercalation system in which dates of New Moons are compared with the 24 solar terms. However, calculations
were based on the mean motions resulting from the cyclic relationships. Inequalities in the Moon's motions were incorporated
as early as the seventh century C.E., but the Sun's mean longitude was used for calculating the solar terms until 1644.
Years were counted from a succession of eras established by reigning emperors. Although the accession of an emperor
would mark a new era, an emperor might also declare a new era at various times within his reign. The introduction of a new
era was an attempt to reestablish a broken connection between Heaven and Earth, as personified by the emperor. The break
might be revealed by the death of an emperor, the occurrence of a natural disaster, or the failure of astronomers to predict
a celestial event such as an eclipse. In the latter case, a new era might mark the introduction of new astronomical or
calendrical models. Sexagenary cycles were used to count years, months, days, and fractions of a day using the set of
Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches. Use of the sixty-day cycle is seen in the earliest astronomical records. By
contrast the sixty-year cycle was introduced in the first century C.E. or possibly a century earlier. Although the day count
has fallen into disuse in everyday life, it is still tabulated in calendars. The initial year (jia-zi) of the current year
cycle began on 1984 February 2, which is the third day (bing-yin) of the day cycle.
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Details of early Chinese Calendars :
One of the two methods that they used to make this calendar was to add an extra month of 29 or 30 days, which they
termed the 13th month, to the end of a regular 12-month year. There is also evidence that suggests that the Chinese developed
the Metonic cycle (see above Complex cycles) -- i.e., 19 years with a total of 235 months--a century ahead of Meton's first
calculation (no later than the Spring and Autumn period, 770-476 BC). During this cycle of 19 years there were seven
intercalations of months. The other method, which was abandoned soon after the Shang started to adopt it, was to insert an
extra month between any two months of a regular year. Possibly, a lack of astronomical and arithmetical knowledge allowed
them to do this. By the 3rd century BC, the first method of intercalation was gradually falling into disfavour, while the
establishment of the meteorological cycle, the erh-shih-ssu chieh-ch'i (Pinyin ershisi jieqi), during this period officially
revised the second method. This meteorological cycle contained 24 points, each beginning one of the periods named
consecutively the Spring Begins, the Rain Water, the Excited Insects, the Vernal Equinox, the Clear and Bright, the Grain
Rains, the Summer Begins, the Grain Fills, the Grain in Ear, the Summer Solstice, the Slight Heat, the Great Heat, the Autumn
Begins, the Limit of Heat, the White Dew, the Autumn Equinox, the Cold Dew, the Hoar Frost Descends, the Winter Begins, the
Little Snow, the Heavy Snow, the Winter Solstice, the Little Cold, and the Severe Cold. The establishment of this cycle
required a fair amount of astronomical understanding of the Earth as a celestial body, and without elaborate equipment it is
impossible to collect the necessary information. Modern scholars acknowledge the superiority of pre-Sung Chinese astronomy
(at least until about the 13th century AD) over that of other, contemporary nations.
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The 24 points within the meteorological cycle coincide with points 15º apart on the ecliptic (the plane of the
Earth's yearly journey around the Sun or, if it is thought that the Sun turns around the Earth, the apparent journey of the
Sun against the stars). It takes about 15.2 days for the Sun to travel from one of these points to another (because the
ecliptic is a complete circle of 360º), and the Sun needs 365 1/4 days to finish its journey in this cycle. Supposedly, each
of the 12 months of the year contains two points, but, because a lunar month has only 29 1/2 days and the two points share
about 30.4 days, there is always the chance that a lunar month will fail to contain both points, though the distance between
any two given points is only 15º. If such an occasion occurs, the intercalation of an extra month takes place. For instance,
one may find a year with two "Julys" or with two "Augusts" in the Chinese calendar. In fact, the exact length of the month in
the Chinese calendar is either 30 days or 29 days--a phenomenon which reflects its lunar origin. Also, the meteorological
cycle means essentially a solar year. The Chinese thus consider their calendar as yin-yang li, or a "lunar-solar calendar".
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Chinese New Year is the main holiday of the year for more than one quarter of the world's population. Although the
People's Republic of China uses the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes, a special Chinese calendar is used for determining
festivals. Various Chinese communities around the world also use this calendar. At right, a large dragon lantern glows at a
festival for Chinese New Year at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. Taipei, Taiwan. The beginnings of the Chinese calendar can be
traced back to the 14th century B.C.E. Legend has it that the Emperor Huangdi invented the calendar in 2637 B.C.E. 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. |
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About the year 2033 :
In the early 1990s, Chinese astronomers discovered that there was an error in the Chinese calendar for 2033. The
traditional calendar claimed that the leap month would follow the 7th month, while in fact it comes after the 11th month. It
is very unusual that the 11th month has a leap month, in fact it hasn't happened since the calendar reform in 1645 (before
1645, all months had the same probability for having a leap month). But many Chinese astronomers still claim that there will
never be a leap month after the 12th and 1st month. In addition, there will be a leap month after the 1st month in 2262 (in
fact, it should have happened in 1651, but they got the calculations wrong!) and there will be a leap month after the 12th
month in 3358. Since the Chinese calendar is an astronomical calendar, predictions require delicate astronomical
calculations, so my computations for 3358 should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
The Current Year in the Chinese Calendar :
The current 60-year cycle started on 2 Feb 1984. That date bears the name bing-yin in the 60-day cycle, and the first
month of that first year bears the name gui-chou in the 60-month cycle. This means that the year wu-yin, the 15th year in the
78th cycle, started on 28 Jan 1998. The 20th year in the 78th cycle, started on 1 Feb 2003. The following are dates for
Chinese/Lunar New Year's day: |
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| Chinese year |
Zodiac animal |
Gregorian calendar |
| 4693 |
Boar |
January 31, 1995 |
| 4694 |
Rat |
February 19, 1996 |
| 4695 |
Ox |
February 7, 1997 |
| 4696 |
Tiger |
January 28, 1998 |
| 4697 |
Hare/Rabbit |
February 16, 1999 |
| 4698 |
Dragon |
February 5, 2000 |
| 4699 |
Snake |
January 24, 2001 |
| 4700 |
Horse |
February 12, 2002 |
| 4701 |
Ram/Sheep |
February 1, 2003 |
| 4702 |
Monkey |
January 22, 2004 |
| 4703 |
Rooster |
February 9, 2005 |
| 4704 |
Dog |
January 29, 2006 |
| 4705 |
Boar |
February 18, 2007 |
| 4706 |
Rat |
February 7, 2008 |
| 4707 |
Ox |
January 26, 2009 |
| 4708 |
Tiger |
February 10, 2010 |
| 4709 |
Hare/Rabbit |
February 3, 2011 |
| 4710 |
Dragon |
January 23, 2012 |
| 4711 |
Snake |
February 10, 2013 |
| 4712 |
Horse |
January 31, 2014 |
| 4713 |
Ram/Sheep |
February 19, 2015 |
| 4714 |
Monkey |
February 9, 2016 |
| 4715 |
Rooster |
January 28, 2017 |
| 4716 |
Dog |
February 16, 2018 |
| 4717 |
Boar |
February 5, 2019 |
| 4718 |
Rat |
January 25, 2020 |
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