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Chinese Calendar
 See another online live calendar.The Chinese calendar is actually a combination of the lunar and solar calendar? Surprising? Many Chinese don't even know this. This lunisolar calendar is commonly known as Xiàlì 夏历 or Nónglì 农历 to the Chinese. You can therefore hear the Chinese refer to the Chinese new year as Nónglì xīnnián 农历新年. Like the Gregorian Calendar, Chinese calendar has 12 months too. And each month has it's own zodiac animal following the order of the Earthly Branches and 60 Pillars. The new year begins on the Tiger month though, not the Rat month. The year ends on the Ox month, the 12th month.  The lunar calendar (阴历 Yīnlì) as the name suggests, tracks the moon phases. For example, every 15th of the month is the full moon. In the calendar above, you can see some Chinese numberings, those are the lunar calendar dates. February 1, 2010 is 十八 or 18th of the month. In the lunar calendar, the Chinese new year begins on 春节 (Chūnjié) or Spring Day. It is the first day of the first lunar month. Some calendar uses the Spring Day as the transition to a new Chinese zodiac year. However, in the Chinese astrology practices, including the art of name selection, the new year starts on the new solar year. The solar calendar (阳历 Yánglì) begins on the 4th of February every year. February 4 is the start of spring or 立春 Lìchūn.  Again, not many Chinese know about this. The actual Chinese zodiac year begins on this day. Follow the solar calendar. Not the lunar calendar. To be more precise, the new year starts on the sunrise of February 4. Why sunrise? It's the solar calendar, isn't it? To know the exact sunrise time, there is a book called the Ten Thousand Years Calendar that you can refer to. Most bookstores selling Chinese books will have it. For more details on the Chinese calendar, you can read on Wikipedia. It is quite comprehensive. In the art of Chinese name selection, look at which date of the Chinese calendar the baby and the parents were born in. This will give the zodiac years that will be important to determine the elements.  Learn more: Chinese Zodiac Calendar - Learn how to set up Chinese zodiac calendar in Microsoft Outlook. You can set up the Chinese lunar calendar too. Chinese New Year - Find out the Chinese new year dates according to lunar and solar calendars for year 2011 to 2020. And get to know which zodiac animal rules the year. Mid Autumn Festival - Moon cake Festival, celebrated on the 15th of the 8th Chinese lunar month every year. |
