Time, History, and the Chinese Calendar BY: Amanda Caitlin David Mike

The Chinese Lunar Calendar China has only used the European since the twentieth century. Before then the Chinese used the lunar calendar exclusively. Today they still use the lunar calendar for certain Chinese festivals, like the Chinese new year. The Chinese Lunar Calendar as the name suggests, is based on the cycles of the moon. It is a yearly one like ours. The beginning of the lunar year can fall anywhere between late January and mid February. Dates back to 2600 BCE

The Stem-Branch Cycle Stem and branch system started out as a way that the Chinese marked days, but turned into another way that they also historically marked years, months, and hours. This system is based on two components: a cycle of 10 Heavenly Stems and a cycle of 12 Earthly Branches. One year is named by the combining of one stem and one branch, called a stem-branch. Over time each stem-branch became associated with a animal, which in turn named the year. So for example: instead of year one, the Chinese would say; The year of the horse. This is How the Zodiac was born.

The Zodiac The Zodiac is the system which the Chinese use to associate each year with an animal. Legend says the zodiac was created when the Jade emperor decided to hold a banquet for all of the animals on earth. Only 12 showed up. They were honored by being given a year. These became the 12 animals of the Zodiac. Mythically, those born in the year of a certain animal are said to posses the basic traits and personalities of that animal. Some of the zodiac animals are said to be unlucky, so chinese mothers try to avoid gving brith in those months (Ex. Year of the rat is supposed to be a rather bad one)

Dynasties Chinese did not record their history in the sense of: Modern, Medieval, and Ancient. Instead they recorded their history in Dynasties. A Dynasty is a succession of rulers coming from the same descent (or family). Chinese history consisted of 23 dynasties, and 8 major ones. Traditional Chinese historians recorded their history in Dynastic Cycles , or the rise, decline, and fall that was similar to all 23 dynasties. This would seem repetitive to us reading this, but the Chinese saw history simply as a way to reference how good and bad actions have consequences we can learn from.

All 23 Chinese Dynasties

Cool Fact The Chinese used the calendar to try and predict the gender of a pregnant woman’s baby before it was born by referencing the month of conception and the woman’s age. Chinese woman planned conception at certain times of the year to have sons. http://holodeck.com/pregnancy/chinese-cal.html