Many people believe that the lunar calendar is something exclusive to the Chinese culture. On the contrary there have been a number of Asian cultures that have been making use of the lunar calendar for hundreds of years. The Chinese lunar calendar is however taken as a major aspect of their culture and it is something that is still in practice now.
Actually, the Chinese lunar calendar also uses some of the features of the solar calendar. Therefore, it is not incorrect torefer to it as a lunisolar calendar. This calendar has been around for hundreds of years where people from numerous cultures have used it to measure time. However, the Chinese receive their due credit as being among the first civilizations that utilized the lunar calendar in a practical manner.
Even though the Chinese people still utilize the lunar calendar presently, their country primarily uses the Gregorian calendar, which all countries in the world accept in running their daily affairs.
The people of China use the lunar calendar specifically to mark important traditional occasions and holidays. These occasions include the Chinese New Year's Day, the Duan Wu Festivals and their Mid-Autumn festival. They still use the guidance of the lunar calendar to mark these special traditional holidays.
There is however another use of the lunar calendar that goes beyond the selecting the dates of important traditional events. The Chinese also use the lunar calendar to calculate an auspicious date to hold a special event like a marriage ceremony or opening up a new business. Furthermore the lunar calendar is also a measure for the different phases of the moon since the new month always begins with the new moon.
The lunar calendar is commonly called the agricultural calendar by the locals. The Gregorian calendar however is called the common calendar because it is according to that which the locals conduct their routine affairs. The lunar calendar also goes by the name Yin calendar in traditional Chinese language. The solar calendar is but basically considered to be the Yang calendar in this respect. The two the calendars are also known as the old and the new calendar respectively.
The Chinese lunar calendar records the current year as number 4706 in the Earth Rat's year. This year is given this name since the calendar assigns the rat as the animal symbol in the starting years of the 12-year repetitive cycle present in the lunar calendar of the Chinese.
The practicality of the Chinese lunar calendar stands in question with respect to its relevance to modern use. The lunisolar calendar poses a number of drawbacks when it comes to date selecting when compared with the much simpler to use Gregorian calendar. Furthermore the utilization of the Gregorian calendar coincides with the global move which makes communication and functioning much more comprehensive than always having to calculate between the two.
The fact that the lunar calendar is not very efficient in terms of date marking makes the Gregorian calendar the perfect option. This has led the Gregorian calendar to replace the lunar calendar entirely. Nevertheless, a large amount of calendars that the Chinese print, have in those dates that appear in the traditional lunar and those that appear in the Gregorian calendar that all countries of the world use.
Actually, the Chinese lunar calendar also uses some of the features of the solar calendar. Therefore, it is not incorrect torefer to it as a lunisolar calendar. This calendar has been around for hundreds of years where people from numerous cultures have used it to measure time. However, the Chinese receive their due credit as being among the first civilizations that utilized the lunar calendar in a practical manner.
Even though the Chinese people still utilize the lunar calendar presently, their country primarily uses the Gregorian calendar, which all countries in the world accept in running their daily affairs.
The people of China use the lunar calendar specifically to mark important traditional occasions and holidays. These occasions include the Chinese New Year's Day, the Duan Wu Festivals and their Mid-Autumn festival. They still use the guidance of the lunar calendar to mark these special traditional holidays.
There is however another use of the lunar calendar that goes beyond the selecting the dates of important traditional events. The Chinese also use the lunar calendar to calculate an auspicious date to hold a special event like a marriage ceremony or opening up a new business. Furthermore the lunar calendar is also a measure for the different phases of the moon since the new month always begins with the new moon.
The lunar calendar is commonly called the agricultural calendar by the locals. The Gregorian calendar however is called the common calendar because it is according to that which the locals conduct their routine affairs. The lunar calendar also goes by the name Yin calendar in traditional Chinese language. The solar calendar is but basically considered to be the Yang calendar in this respect. The two the calendars are also known as the old and the new calendar respectively.
The Chinese lunar calendar records the current year as number 4706 in the Earth Rat's year. This year is given this name since the calendar assigns the rat as the animal symbol in the starting years of the 12-year repetitive cycle present in the lunar calendar of the Chinese.
The practicality of the Chinese lunar calendar stands in question with respect to its relevance to modern use. The lunisolar calendar poses a number of drawbacks when it comes to date selecting when compared with the much simpler to use Gregorian calendar. Furthermore the utilization of the Gregorian calendar coincides with the global move which makes communication and functioning much more comprehensive than always having to calculate between the two.
The fact that the lunar calendar is not very efficient in terms of date marking makes the Gregorian calendar the perfect option. This has led the Gregorian calendar to replace the lunar calendar entirely. Nevertheless, a large amount of calendars that the Chinese print, have in those dates that appear in the traditional lunar and those that appear in the Gregorian calendar that all countries of the world use.
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zodiac calendars from China are based on animal signs. Click on the hyperlink for more details about utilising Chinese lunar calendars
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