Chinese calendar

Chinese calendar has been in continuous use for more than 2000 years, old folks says it was start from Xia Dynasty, which was 2200BC to 1600BC. Chinese calendar predates the International Calendar (based on the Gregorian Calendar) we use at the present day which goes back only some 425 years.


The calendar measures time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in months, years and centuries, entirely based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars.


There are three ways to name a Chinese year:

1, By an animal . 2008 is known as the Year of the Rat.
There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years. More.

2, By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch).
This year is the year of Wu Zhi. In the 'Stem-Branch' system(it's another big topic), the years are named in 60-year cycles, and the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years.
2008 is the 9th year in the current 60-year cycle.

3, Current year is Year 4705 by the Chinese calendar. this was believe begin from "Huang Di" or " Yellow Emperor", The father of Chinese civilization.