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The Chinese Calendar

How many and which ones would you like ?. The Chinese Calendar. Chinese Lunar Calendar. Dates back to 2600 BC Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the Zodiac No. Not a Ford Zodiac ! Based, obviously, on cycles of the moon

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The Chinese Calendar

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  1. How many and which ones would you like ? The Chinese Calendar

  2. Chinese Lunar Calendar • Dates back to 2600 BC • Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the Zodiac • No. Not a Ford Zodiac ! • Based, obviously, on cycles of the moon • Start of year can fall between late January and the middle of February • This year it starts today, the 3rd of February

  3. Chinese Lunar Calendar • A complete calendar cycle takes 60 years • 5 cycles of 12 years • The calendar names each of the 12 cycles after an animal • Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed the earth • Only 12 turned up and they had years named after them

  4. Chinese Lunar Calendar • The batting order was decided by the order in which the animals got across a river • The rat got over first by hitching a ride on the back of the Ox and then jumping ashore before the Ox got ashore • The result of the race was as follows

  5. Race results / Corresponding Years

  6. Traditional Chinese Holidays 2011 • Chinese New Year Family gatherings and festivities last for 3-15 days 3rd Feb • Lantern Festival Tangyuan eating and lanterns show 17th Feb • Clear & Bright Festival Tomb sweeping 5th Apr • Dragon boat festival Dragon boat racing and zongzi eating 6th Jun • Night of Sevens Similar to St Valentine's day 6th Aug • Spirit festival Offer tributes and respect to the deceased 14th Aug

  7. Traditional Chinese Holidays 2011 • Moon Festival Family gathering & moon cake eating 12th Sep • Double Yang Festival Mountain climbing and flower shows 5th Oct • Xia Yuan Festival Pray for peaceful year to Water God 10th Nov • Winter solstice Festival Family gathering 22nd Dec • Kitchen God Festival Worship the Kitchen God with thanks 27th Jan

  8. Cultural Issues • The Chinese calendar remains culturally essential • It is used to select “auspicious dates” for example for weddings, funerals and business deals. A special calendar called “Huang Li” is used for these purposes • There have, however, been moves afoot to reform the traditional calendar due to its increasing irrelevance to modern life • The Gregorian calendar is much easier to compute

  9. Chinese Uighur Calendar • In 1258 when North China and the Islamic world were part of the Mongol Empire, Hulagu Khan established an observatory in Maragheh • There were some Chinese astronomers at the observatory and they developed the Chinese Uighur calendar • This involved a 12 year cycle, including Turkish/Mongolian translations of the animal names mentioned earlier

  10. Chinese Uighur Calendar • It remained in use for Chronology, Historical and Bureaucratic purposes in the Persian and Turkish speaking world from Asia Minor to India and throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods. • In Iran it remained common in agricultural records and tax assessments until 1925

  11. Chinese New Year Celebrations • Preparations begin about a month before New Year • People start buying presents, decoration materials, food and clothing • Chinese houses are cleaned from top to bottom, to sweep away any traces of bad luck • Doors and window panes are given a new coat of paint, usually red. • Doors and windows are decorated with paper cuts and couplets with themes such as happiness, wealth and longevity

  12. New Year's Eve • Traditions and rituals are carefully observed in everything from food to clothing • Dinner is usually a feast of seafood and dumplings, signifying different good wishes • Delicacies include prawns, for liveliness and happiness. Dried oysters for all things good • It is usual to wear something red to ward off evil spirits • After dinner the family play cards or board games

  13. New Year's Eve • At midnight the sky is lit by firework displays

  14. New Year's Day • An ancient custom “Hong Bao” (Red Packet) takes place • Married couples give children and unmarried adults money in red envelopes • The family then take greetings from door to door, firstly to relatives and then to neighbours

  15. Festival of Lanterns • This concludes the New Year celebrations • Singing, dancing and Lantern shows are the order of the day

  16. References • There is a plentiful supply of information about the Chinese Calendar and Chinese customs on the Internet • Wikipedia is a very useful source

  17. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKzNPxu_QBU http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/ChineseNewYear/ChineseNewYear.htm

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