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Chinese calendar

 Present-day China uses the Gregorian calendar for most purposes, but traditional festivals, such as Chinese New Year, take place according to the ancient Chinese calendar. Legend has it that this was started during the reign of Emperor Huangdi in 2637 BC, and relates to the positions of the Moon and Sun.


          Heavenly systems                 Earthly branches
          1 jia                                          1 zi (rat)

          2 yi                                           2 chou (ox)

          3 bing                                       3 yin (tiger)

          4 ding                                       4 mao (hare or rabbit)

          5 wu                                         5 chen (dragon) 

          6 ji                                           6 si (snake)

          7 geng                                      7 wu (horse)

          8 zxin                                       8 wei (sheep or ram)

          9 ren                                        9 shen (monkey)

          10 gui                                      10 you (rooster)

                                                          11 xu (dog)

                                                          12 hai (pig or boar)

 The ancient Chinese calendar follows a 60-year Cycle which combines a heavenly stem and earthly branch, represented by a Zodiac animal. The first year of the, cycle is Jia-zi and the second yi-chou, and so on; the 11th year is jia-xu, 12th yi-hai and 13th bing-zi. This continues until the 60th year (gui-hai) and then starts again. Each earthly branch is believed to be linked with certain qualities.

        

          Zodiac animal                                  Gregorian calendar
          Ox                                                         7 Feb 1997

          Tiger                                                      28 Jan 1998

          Hare                                                      16 Feb 1999

          Dragon                                                   5 Feb 2000

          Snake                                                     24 Jan 2001

          Horse                                                     12 Feb 2002

          Sheep                                                     1 Feb 2003

          Monkey                                                  22 Jan 2004

          Rooster                                                  9 Feb 2005

          Dog                                                       29 Jan 2006

          Pig                                                        18 feb 2007

          Rat                                                       7 Feb 2008

          Ox                                                        26 Jan 2009

          Tiger                                                    14 Feb 2010




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