The Traditional Calendar-The Agricultural Calendar

The agricultural calendar is China’s traditional calendar．The online Chinese learning culture textbooks can tell you that it is divided into 24 solar terms and selves as the guide to agricultural activities．This calendar used in vast areas of Chinese and is known as the farming calendar. It is also referred to as the summer calendar，old calendar，and Chinese calendar，but it is most commonly referred to as the lunar calendar．The calendar uses strict guide lines．following the waxing and waning of the moon．It also employs an intercalary month, to average the lengths of the solar years．Through Chinese learning online, the lunar and solar calendars make note of the relation between vin and yang. Until now，many Chinese all over the world，as well as North Koreans，South Koreans．and Vietnamese，still use the agricultural calendar to calculate traditional festivals such as the spring Festival，Mid-Autumn Festival，the Dragon Boat Festival，and the Pure Bright (tomb-sweeping) Festival．

     

The length of the agricultural calendar compared to the solar calendar is similar. If you take Chinese online learning lesson, you will know that a twelve-month solar year has more days than a lunar year．But lacks the thirteenth intercalary month．Ancient astronomers compiled the agricultural calendar such that specific days of the month mark the various phases of the moon．For example，on first day of the month the moon is dark, and then in about 15 days the moon becomes full，completing its cycle．At the same time，the agricultural calendar，noting the seasons，adopted a system of 19 years and 7 leap months in this way．For every 19 agricultural calendar years，there are l2 common years，each of which has 12 months，as well as seven leap years，each containing 13 months．The months of the agricultural calendar are composed of the same number of days as regular months，29 or 30，but a

leap month is added depending upon the circumstances of the solar term．

    The agricultural calendar is a substantial contribution of ancient China．Its main features are that anyone-day of the month embodies significant phases of the moon and that it is comprised of agricultural dates，including calculations of the tide (the tide being an effect of the moon’s gravity)．The calendar，called shi xianli in our Chinese learn online class (the state calendar)，was instituted in 1645 and was officially used by the late Ming and early Qing dynasty．

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