(0 = 1 BCE, -1 = 2 BCE, -2 = 3 BCE and so on. BCE = before common era, CE = common era.)
Julian dates at noon:
In the Spring and Autumn period (722 BCE – 481 BCE), China was divided into many states. Each state used its own calendar. In this period, we only have fragmented information about the calendar used by the Lu state from the chronicle Chunqiu revised by Confucius. This calendar is called Chunqiu here. The Chunqiu calendar here is reconstructed based on the information in Section 3.5 of the book Zhōng Guó Gǔ Dài Lì Fǎ (《中国古代历法》 or Ancient Chinese Calendars and Almanacs) written by Zhāng Péiyú (張培瑜), Chén Měidōng (陳美東), Bó Shùrén (薄樹人), and Hú Tiězhū (胡鐵珠), published by China Science Press (Beijing) in March 2008. Our computation method is explained on our Chunqiu Calendar page.
In addition to the Chunqiu calendar, three calendars Zhou, Yin and Xia (three of the gǔliùlì or ancient six calendars) are also provided for reference, although it is believed that they were developed in a later period. The calendars in gǔliùlì here are reconstructed based on the information in Section 3.6 of the book Ancient Chinese Calendars and Almanacs mentioned above. Our computation method is explained on our ancient six calendars page.
The calendar that is currently shown is the calendar. You can select a different calendar by clicking one of the buttons below.
In the Warring States period (480 BCE – 222 BCE), China was divided into many states. Each state used its own calendar. It was believed that there were six versions of calendars used by the states at that time. They are collectively called gǔliùlì or ancient six calendars. These six calendars were Zhou, Lu, Huangdi, Yin, Xia and Zhuanxu. They were all based on a similar algorithm. However, the first month of a year was not the same. The epoch (used to specify the initial data for the lunar conjunction and winter solstice) used in each calendar was also different. The calendars in gǔliùlì here are reconstructed based on the information in Section 3.6 of the book Zhōng Guó Gǔ Dài Lì Fǎ (《中国古代历法》 or Ancient Chinese Calendars and Almanacs) written by Zhāng Péiyú (張培瑜), Chén Měidōng (陳美東), Bó Shùrén (薄樹人), and Hú Tiězhū (胡鐵珠), published by China Science Press (Beijing) in March 2008. Our computation method is explained on our ancient six calendars page.
The calendar that is currently shown is the calendar. You can select a different calendar by clicking one of the buttons below.
Currently shown dynasty is . Click a button below to choose a different dynasty.
Currently shown dyansty is . Click a button below to choose a different dynasty.
Currently shown dyansty is . Click a button below to choose a different dynasty.
Currently shown dynasty is . Click a button below to choose a different dynasty.
The information in the calendar table is explained in the diagram below. The example is taken from January, 2017.
The month and date in the Chinese calendar is denoted by MM-DD in the calendar table. For example, 12-29 means the 29th day in the 12th month of the Chinese calendar. A Chinese year usually has 12 months. Each month can have 30 days (long month) or 29 days (short month). To keep the calendar in sync with seasons, a leap (intercalary) month is added about every three years so that the year has 13 months. A leap month works in a similar way as a leap day in the Gregorian calendar, but an extra month is inserted in the year instead of an extra day. The leap month is indicated by the same number as the previous month, but a "leap" is added before the number. For example, there was a leap month after month 6 in the Chinese year in 2017. The month is denoted by "leap 6".
A Chinese year is labelled by its sexagenary year cycle. Sexagenary cycle is also used to label the month and date in the Chinese calendar. Sexagenary month cycles are rarely used and they are provided only after 105 BCE. A brief introduction to the sexagenary cycle is given on this page.
For simplicity, the symbols Q0, Q1, Q2 and Q3 are used to represent "new moon", "first quarter", "full moon" and "third quarter". At the bottom of each month, the Gregorian/Julian dates of the four moon phases and 24 solar terms occurring in the month are listed. The times are given in the China standard time (meridians of 120° East). A brief introduction to the 24 solar terms is given on this page.
Solar and lunar eclipses associated with the new moons and full moons are indicated with links to pages describing the eclipse circumstances. For more information about solar and lunar eclipses, visit my Eight Millennia of Eclipses website.
Calendrical solar terms are listed for years before 1734. They refer to the 24 solar terms calculated according to the calendar at that time. They were defined by píngqì (i.e. the mean motion of the Sun) before 1645 and dìngqì (i.e. the motion of the true Sun) in and after 1645. The 24 solar terms listed above these calendrical solar terms are based on the current definition (which is also based on dìngqì) and are calculated by a modern method using JPL's DE441 ephemeris. Times are given in the China standard time (meridians of 120° East). The difference between píngqì and dìngqì is explained on our solar term page. The dates of the calendrical solar terms after 1733 were mostly the same as the dates calculated using the modern method and therefore they are omitted, except when there were discrepancies.
Gregorian calendar is shown on Oct. 15, 1582 and afterwards. Julian calendar is shown before Oct. 15, 1582. Proleptic Julian calendar is shown before 8 CE (CE = common era).
Julian dates are the number of days and fractions counting from the time origin at noon on January 1, 4713 BCE (before common era). Hence Julian dates at noon are integers. A time zone is not specified here and it is assumed that the time origin (noon on January 1, 4713 BCE) and the time at noon on any day are both in the same time zone. Julian dates at noon will be shown at the bottom of each day if enabled. I also created the web-based Julian and sexagenary date calculator.
You can enter the year using the URL query string "?y=[year]". For example, to show the calendar for 1850, use the (relative) URL index.html?y=1850. This won't work if the y parameter in the query string is not a number or is outside the range [-721, 2200].
The Chinese calendar on this website are computed using the methods described here.