traditional Chinese calendar

E81628

The traditional Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar system that combines lunar months with solar terms to guide festivals, agriculture, and daily life in Chinese culture.

Aliases (1)

Statements (64)
Predicate Object
instanceOf lunisolar calendar
traditional calendar system
alignsWith apparent motion of the Sun
phases of the Moon
alsoKnownAs Chinese lunisolar calendar
agricultural calendar
yin calendar
averageYearLength about 354 days without leap month
about 383 to 385 days with leap month
basedOn lunar months
solar terms
coexistsWith Gregorian calendar in modern China
combinedCycleLength 60 years
culturalSignificance basis for many East Asian traditional practices
core element of Chinese cultural identity
definesFestival Double Ninth Festival
Dragon Boat Festival
Laba Festival
Lantern Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival
Qingming Festival
Qixi Festival
Spring Festival
Winter Solstice Festival
definesNewYear Chinese New Year
earthlyBranchesCycleLength 12 years
eraStart Yellow Emperor era (traditional)
governingPrinciple harmony between Heaven, Earth, and humanity
hasComponent 10 heavenly stems
12 earthly branches
12 zodiac animals
24 solar terms
leap month system
months
sexagenary cycle
years
heavenlyStemsCycleLength 10 years
influenced Japanese traditional calendar
Korean traditional calendar
Vietnamese traditional calendar
traditional Mongolian calendar
leapMonthDeterminedBy absence of mid-climate solar term in a lunar month
leapMonthRule inserts leap month in years with 13 lunar months
modernComputationBasedOn astronomical calculations
newYearOccursIn February
late January
primaryUse astrology
determining traditional Chinese festivals
fortune-telling
guiding agricultural activities
selecting auspicious dates
traditional medicine timing
regulatedBy imperial Chinese governments
solarTermCount 24
solarTermInterval 15 degrees of solar longitude
typicalMonthLength 29 days
30 days
usedIn China
Hong Kong
Macau
Taiwan
overseas Chinese communities
usesEpoch sexagenary cycle year count
zodiacCycleLength 12 years

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
traditional Chinese calendar ("Chinese lunisolar calendar")
alsoKnownAs
Metonic cycle
usedIn

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