When is the Chinese New Year?
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There are many cultures that have made use of the regular cycles of the sun and moon to count time apart from China, but they are split into two sub-types – those that track the seasons of the year and those that track the position of the moon in the constellations. The Chinese “10,000 year” calendar does both, so there are in fact two Chinese New Years!
The Chinese calendar that astrologers like myself use today was developed firstly during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BCE), but has had constant tweaking and refinement by dynasties and governments over the millennia since. For instance the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–226 CE) rules for calculating the intercalary months are applied, time zones for precision calculation were moved from Beijing to Universal Coordinated Time (UTC).
How the Chinese Calendar Works and How It Compares With Other Calendars
Each month in the Chinese calendar starts with a new moon and the first month of the year marks a New Year cycle – the Chinese New Year celebration. The calendar year then ends with the last winter month.
A “Leap” or “Intercalary” month will occurs approximately every three years. Converting Chinese dates to other western dates is not that daunting these days.
The solar part of the calendar counts the time it takes the earth to go around the sun within a year, so the key difference you should understand between the Solar and Lunar calendars is the month calculation.
The Solar calendar has the same number of days each month, but the Lunar follows the moon cycle so the month lengths can change. This means that the Chinese lunar calendar has a different number of days every month and year as well as an extra month every 3 years or so.
The modern Chinese calendar includes:
- The Stem and Branch for the year, month and each day,
- There may be 12 or 13 months,
- Each month has 29 or 30 days,
- There can be between 354 or 355 days in a year if it has 12 months, or
- 383 or 384 days if the calendar has 13 months.
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Common Format for modern 10,000 year Calendars –
There will usually be additional information that tells the reader the start times of the Lunar and Solar months in Universal Coordinated Time, some will show the monthly Feng Shui Flying Stars, month and day Hexagrams for Xuan Kong Da Gua date selection and sometimes more.
The Lunar calendar is used for Chinese New Year and other types of celebrations, religious events and astrology. The Solar calendar is also used for astrology, as well as for Feng Shui purposes. You can find out your own solar Four Pillars BaZi chart here.
If you are studying BaZi and Feng Shui, learning to read the basics from the calendar shown above will give you short-cuts in your calculations, and allow you to do readings on the run.
Losing none of the essential information from the full-sized Ten Thousand Year Calendar, this mini-edition is an indispensable resource for students and practitioners on-the-go. Lugging around big volumes is simply no longer a must, as you can whip this essential reference anytime, anywhere. Handy, informative and convenient – all in your pocket.
Comprehensive references for Feng Shui, Chinese Astrology, and Yi Jing – such as Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star) Astrology Reference Charts, BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny) Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
•Xuan Kong Nine Palace Flying Star Charts for all 9 Periods
•Yearly, Monthly and Daily Flying Stars Charts
•Quick Reference Chart for Advanced Water Feng Shui Formulae
By iconic Feng Shui author Joey Yap.
To Sum Up
China has, over the years, relied on the sun and moon to define many occurrences. Understanding how the Chinese calendar works will help fathom many events that occur every season. The calendar has also been used to describe traditional festivals, zodiacs, understand 24 solar terms, choose a lucky date and five elements that make up the universe. The solar calendar used in China also predicts similar events like the Gregorian calendar that western astrologers use.
Resources
Here is a list of books, websites, services, courses that we recommend.
In this fully illustrated workbook, Dr. Karin Taylor Wu instructs you in the art of creating an individualized Chinese Four Pillar astrology chart. Detailed instructions show how your destiny is contained within your birth chart, and how to understand its changes over the whole lifespan. Dr Taylor Wu also explains the relationship between your individual BaZi chart and your personality, emotions, health, relationships, aptitudes, and life chances. With many examples, and worked exercises, including a detailed interpretation of actual charts and case studies, Dr Taylor Wu demonstrates how to bring the GanZhi principles to life.
Everyone has questions about their future, and here is where the art of unlocking the secret of your Chinese birth chart can reveal clear and deep insights about your destiny. In her new book “Secrets of Your Birth Chart”, Lillian Too breaks down the method of reading your own Paht Chee (BaZi) Four Pillars chart into easy-to-follow steps, and reveals in great depth all the influences that will shape the highs and lows of your future. Completely revised and fully-illustrated, this book also includes BRAND NEW chapters to address additional “Secret Stars” and “Clashes and Penalties” not available in any of her previous Paht Chee books!
By world-renowned Feng Shui expert Lillian Too.
This extensive book introduces a procedure to unravel our birth energy, explaining how the 22 codes (characters on the five elements) in the cosmic energy field, affect our life. From the elaborate illustrations on live examples of global celebrities, readers learn and pinpoint the codes enhancing their energy to succeed or causing their misfortune. Following the calendars of such energy flows, reader can then apply the knowledge to steer their lives by following the good flow and avoiding the negative one!
By world-renowned Lunar BaZi experts Lily Chung Ph.D. and Dr. Jin Peh.
Four Pillars of Destiny: Unlocking the Mysteries of Life is a compilation of real-life case studies and interviews with people from all walks of life, as conducted by Jerry King. Jerry will take you through his journey with stories about metaphysical practices in Asia and personal recollections about the people that he has encountered during his travels. Collectively, he offers solutions for how to live in harmony with yourself and with those around you. This insightful and original book focuses on the understanding and use of the Chinese astrological system, Four Pillars of Destiny. In contrast to many traditional Chinese astrology books, Jerry uses real-life examples to unearth the age-old question of destiny. This book is especially pertinent to readers whose interest in astrology is based on recognition of its spiritual significance and its value for enhancing self-knowledge.
By international Feng Shui and Four Pillars author and teacher Jerry King.
Though there are a number of well-written works on Chinese divination, there are none that deal with the three sophisticated devices that were employed by the Chinese Astronomical Bureau in the eleventh century and for hundreds of years thereafter. Chinese experts applied the methods associated with these devices to both weather forecasting and to the interpretation of human affairs. Hidden by a veil of secrecy, these methods have always been relatively little known other than by their names. The first work in any language to explore these three methods, known as sanshi (three cosmic boards), this book sheds light on a topic which has been shrouded in mystery for centuries, having been kept secret for many years by the Chinese Astronomical Bureau.
By Chinese science historian Ho Peng Yoke.
2 thoughts on “When is Chinese New Year?”
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