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Although the Gregorian calendar is used in the Peoples' Republic of China for administrative purposes, the traditional Chinese calendar is used for setting traditional festivals and for timing agricultural activities in the countryside. The Chinese calendar is also used by Chinese communities around the world.
The exact rule for determining the leap months are complicated. Chinese New Year will normally be the New Moon closest to the "Beginning of Spring". (The Beginning of Spring is halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox and usually falls on February 4.) Chinese New Year is normally the second New Moon after Winter Solstice. This can fall anywhere between 21st January and 21st February. Western cultures date the years from the birth of Jesus Christ (For example, 1994 means 1,994 years after the birth of Christ), and thus approach the progression of years from a linear point of view. In traditional China, dating methods were cyclical, meaning that the years repeat according to a pattern. The repetition pattern for the calendar is 60 years. This is made up of two cycles, known as the Stems and the Branches.
There are ten stems which are jia, yi, bing, ding, wu, ji, geng, xin, ren and gui. These words do not have English equivalents. The branches number twelve and they are (followed by the corresponding animal) zi (rat), chou (ox), yin (tiger), mao (hare), chen (dragon), si (snake), wu (horse), wei (sheep), shen (monkey), you (fowl), jia (dog) and hai (pig).
The 60 year cycle starts with both the Stem and Branch cycles set to one. The next year both are incremented so now stand at two. This continues until year eleven when the Stem cycle returns to one. In year thirteen the Branch cycle restarts while the Stem increments to three. This sequence continues until both cycles are back at one together. This will be year one of the next 60 year cycle. The years are named after the animals of the Branch, so the names form a twelve year cycle.
The 60 year cycle is shown in the tables below, together with the Gregorian year numbers for the current cycle.
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The years are only counted within the cycles, there is no count of the number of the cycle. Historical dates are defined by the name of the emperor who was reigning at the time together with the sixty year cycle number. The current cycle began on 2nd February 1984 AD.
Since the length of the lunar cycle is approximately 29.53 days, each month has either 29 or 30 days. There are twelve months in a year except when an intercalary month is added for adjustment. Months do not have names, only numbers. The normal year consists of 353, 354 or 355 days depending on when the new moon occurs. Leap years have 383, 384 or 385 days. The rules for governing when a new year starts and when a leap year is needed are complicated. The calculations for this are performed by the staff of the Purple Mountain Observatory, Academia Sinica, Nanjing, China.
Thanks to Helmer Aslaksen for help and guidance on the Chinese calendar.
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