【#文档大全网# 导语】以下是®文档大全网的小编为您整理的《Chinese Lunar Calendar》，欢迎阅读！
Chinese Lunar Calendar
发表日期：2003年1月21日 已经有826位读者读过此文
There are two basic sources for calendars presently in use: the monthly motion of the Moon (Lunar Calendar) and the yearly motion of the Sun (Solar Calendars). The difficulty with the Lunar calendar is that the seasons correlate with the Sun, not the Moon. Thus, Lunar calendars require elaborate adjustments or translations to relate to the seasons. The fact that calendars correlate with seasons is now primarily a matter of convenience, but in more ancient cultures, keeping track of the seasons was serious business: it could be a matter of survival to know things like the proper time to plant to ensure a bountiful harvest.
The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in the history, dating from 2600 B.C., when Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac(黄道). Like the Western calendar, the Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one, but with the start of the lunar year based on the cycles of the moon. Because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle February.
A Chinese calendar consists of both the Gregorian(罗马教皇的) and a lunar-solar cylindrical systems, with the latter dividing a year into twelve months, and each month in turn being equally divided into thirty-nine and a half days. The well-coordinated dual system calendar reflects Chinese ingenuity.
Even with the two cylindrical systems, the Chinese calendar will not be complete without a twenty-four solar terms closely related to the changes of Nature -- a very useful tool for farmers, providing information on the proper time for planting and harvesting. The Twenty-Four Terms(二十四节气)
The first fifteen days of the Chinese lunar month makes the first term, namely: Beginning of Spring(立春)
usually starts from the fourth or fifth of February. The first day is the Chinese New Year or the onset of the Spring Festival. Incidentally, New Year's Day of 2000 is February 5th.
The second fifteen days are named: Rain Water(雨水):
from the nineteenth or twentieth of February, a time when rainy seasons are setting in. In order come the following terms: Waking of Insects(惊蛰)
from the fifth or sixth of March, as the earth awakes from hibernation; Spring Equinox(春分)
from the twentieth or twenty-first of March; Pure Brightness(清明) from the fourth or fifth of April; Grain Rain(谷雨)
from the twentieth or twenty-first of April; Beginning of Summer(立夏) from the fifth or sixth of May; Grain Full(小满)
from the twentieth or twenty-first of May; Grain in Ear(芒种)
from the fifth or sixth of June; Summer Solstice(夏至)
from the twenty-first or second of June; Slight Heat(小暑)
from the sixth or seventh of July; Great Heat(大暑)
from the twenty-second or third of July; Beginning of Autumn(立秋)
from the seventh or eighth of August; Limit of Heat(处暑)
from the twenty-third or fourth of August; White Dew(白露)
from the seventh or eighth of September; Autumnal Equinox(秋分)
from the twenty-third or fourth of September; Cold Dew(寒露)
from the eighth or ninth of October; Frost's Descent(霜降)
from the twentieth-three or fourth of October; Beginning of Winter(立冬)
from the seventh or eighth of November; Slight Snow(小雪)
from the twenty-second or third of November;
Great Snow(大雪)
from the seventh or eighth of December; Winter Solstice(冬至)
from the twenty-second or third of December; Slight Cold(小寒)
from the fifth or sixth of January; and lastly Great Cold(大寒)
from the twentieth or twenty-first of January which brings the 24-term cycle to an end. On the Chinese Calendar, you will also find terminology like Tian Gan and Di Zhi (Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch), a peculiar Chinese way of marking the years in a sixty-year cycle. There is also a system that marks the years in a twelve-year cycle, naming each of them after an animal such as Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar.
本文来源：https://www.wddqxz.cn/26cf402c804d2b160a4ec05e.html
2022-05-28
