Chinese Calendar 2024

The Chinese Calendar

In China and many Chinese communities around the world, the Chinese calendar is used for traditional purposes by people of Chinese origin. The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, meaning it is a year-round calendar that includes both a sun year and a lunar year, and it is used to determine important festival dates.

Lunisolar Calendar

The calendar used in China is lunisolar. It is based on precise astronomical observations of the longitude of the Sun and the phases of the Moon. It strives to align its years with the tropical year and resembles the Jewish calendar to some extent.

An ordinary year has 353–355 days, whereas a leap year has 383–385 days. In both of these calendars, a common year has 12 months and a leap year has 13 months.

In Modern Society

Although the Chinese calendar originated in China, these days, the Gregorian calendar is used for civil purposes. However, the Chinese calendar is still observed among various Chinese communities around the world. It is used to determine festival dates, such as Lunar New Year, as well as auspicious dates, such as wedding dates. It is also used to determine Moon phases because it follows the Moon.

Counting the Years and the 60-Year Cycle

The years are not counted in an endless succession on the Chinese calendar. For each cycle of 60 years, a name made up of two parts is given to each year. A heavenly stem is the initial element:

• Jia (associated with growing wood)
• Yi (associated with cut timber)
• Bing (associated with natural fire)
• Ding (associated with artificial fire)
• Wu (associated with Earth)
• Ji (associated with earthenware)
• Geng (associated with metal)
• Xin (associated with wrought metal)
• Ren (associated with running water)
• Gui (associated with standing water)