Chinese Calendar Introduction

Dating back to the Chinese Xia Dynasty (21st Century BC - 17th Century BC) and Shang Dynasty (17th Century BC - 1046 BC), Chinese calendar refers to any of the official and civil calendars greatly used in China.

In China, the official calendar (also the solar calendar) is the Gregorian calendar used for public and business affairs. For example, some Chinese public holidays including Chinese Labor Day, National Day, Women's Day, Children's Day, Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Army Day of the Chinese People's Liberation Army…are related to the Gregorian calendar.

The civil calendar of China refers to the lunisolar calendar. It is widely used in Chinese people’s daily life. The lunar calendar has links with the four seasons, some traditional Chinese festivals, solar terms (a calendar of twenty-four periods and climate to govern agricultural arrangements in China), 'Five Elements' (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) as well as the Chinese Zodiac. So, it’s also called the Chinese Farmer's Almanac calendar , Tung Shing or Tung Shu. You can easily find that many Chinese festivals such as the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), Tomb-sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival are calculated according to the Chinese lunar calendar. Also, the calendar is popular among the Chinese people for selecting some lucky days and hours for special occasions like wedding, engagement, funeral, residential relocation, traveling and more. So, it’s also a calendar used greatly in Feng Shui. It helps people to plan their schedule easily and at an early time.

Chinese Holidays

Following are some of the important Chinese holidays with meanings and exact dates:

Holidays Remarks 2022 2023
New Year's Day Celebrating the New Year Jan.1 Jan.1
Chinese Spring Festival Eve The day before the Spring Festival: family gathering for a reunion dinner, cleaning and decorating houses, setting firecrackers, etc. Jan.31 Jan.21
Chinese Spring Festival Family gathering and festivities for 3-15 days to celebrate the Chinese New Year Feb.1 Jan.22
Lantern Festival Eating yuanxiao, watching lanterns and fireworks, guessing lantern riddles Feb.15 Feb.5
Qingming Festival The day to sacrifice ancestors, sweep tombs of the deceased relatives and go out for traveling Apr.5 Apr.5
May Day A day for the working people worldwide May1 May1
Dragon Boat Festival The day to commemorate the death of the famous Chinese poet Qu Yuan: Eating Zongzi and dragon boat racing, etc. Jun.3 Jun.22
Double Seventh Festival Chinese Valentine's Day Aug.4 Aug.22
Ghost Festival Family members offer prayers to their deceased relatives Aug.12 Aug.30
Mid-Autumn Festival Family gathering to eat moon cakes and appreciate the bright full moon Sep.10 Sep.29
National Day Celebrating for the founding of the People's Republic of China Oct.1 Oct.1
The Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang Festival) Chinese Senior's Day Oct.4 Oct.23
Winter Solstice Eating dumplings and sweet soup balls Dec.22 Dec.22
Laba Festival Eating Laba rice porridge Dec.30
2022		 Jan.18， 2024

A 60-Year Cycle

The Chinese 60-year calendar cycle is based on the combinations of a cycle of ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. Each year is named by a pair of one stem and one branch.

  Year Associated
Element		 Stem /
Branch		 Zodiac Sign Year
1924–1983 1984–2043
1 Feb 05 1924–Jan 23 1925 Yang Wood Jia Zi Rat Feb 02 1984–Jan 21 1985
2 Jan 24 1925–Feb 12 1926 Yin Wood Yi Chou Ox Jan 22 1985–Feb 08 1986
3 Feb 13 1926–Feb 01 1927 Yang Fire Bing Yin Tiger Feb 09 1986–Jan 28 1987
4 Feb 02 1927–Jan 22 1928 Yin Fire Ding Mao Rabbit Jan 29 1987–Feb 16 1988
5 Jan 23 1928–Feb 09 1929 Yang Earth Wu Chen Dragon Feb 17 1988–Feb 05 1989
6 Feb 10 1929–Jan 29 1930 Yin Earth Ji Si Snake Feb 06 1989–Jan 26 1990
7 Jan 30 1930–Feb 16 1931 Yang Metal Geng Wu Horse Jan 27 1990–Feb 14 1991
8 Feb 17 1931–Feb 05 1932 Yin Metal Xin Wei Sheep Feb 15 1991–Feb 03 1992
9 Feb 06 1932–Jan 25 1933 Yang Water Ren Shen Monkey Feb 04 1992–Jan 22 1993
10 Jan 26 1933–Feb 13 1934 Yin Water Gui You Rooster Jan 23 1993– Feb 09 1994
11 Feb 14 1934–Feb 03 1935 Yang Wood Jia Xu Dog Feb 10 1994–Jan 30 1995
12 Feb 04 1935–Jan 23 1936 Yin Wood Yi Hai Pig Jan 31 1995–Feb 18 1996
13 Jan 24 1936–Feb 10 1937 Yang Fire Bing Zi Rat Feb 19 1996–Feb 06 1997
14 Feb 11 1937–Jan 30 1938 Yin Fire Ding Chou Ox Feb 07 1997–Jan 27 1998
15 Jan 31 1938–Feb 18 1939 Yang Earth Wu Yin Tiger Jan 28 1998–Feb 15 1999
16 Feb 19 1939–Feb 07 1940 Yin Earth Ji Mao Rabbit Feb 16 1999–Feb 04 2000
17 Feb 08 1940–Jan 26 1941 Yang Metal Geng Chen Dragon Feb 05 2000–Jan 23 2001
18 Jan 27 1941–Feb 14 1942 Yin Metal Xin Si Snake Jan 24 2001–Feb 11 2002
19 Feb 15 1942–Feb 04 1943 Yang Water Ren Wu Horse Feb 12 2002–Jan 31 2003
20 Feb 05 1943–Jan 24 1944 Yin Water Gui Wei Sheep Feb 01 2003–Jan 21 2004
21 Jan 25 1944–Feb 12 1945 Yang Wood Jia Shen Monkey Jan 22 2004–Feb 08 2005
22 Feb 13 1945–Feb 01 1946 Yin Wood Yi You Rooster Feb 09 2005–Jan 28 2006
23 Feb 02 1946–Jan 21 1947 Yang Fire Bing Xu Dog Jan 29 2006–Feb 17 2007
24 Jan 22 1947–Feb 09 1948 Yin Fire Ding Hai Pig Feb 18 2007–Feb 06 2008
25 Feb 10 1948–Jan 28 1949 Yang Earth Wu Zi Rat Feb 07 2008–Jan 25 2009
26 Jan 29 1949–Feb 16 1950 Yin Earth Ji Chou Ox Jan 26 2009–Feb 13 2010
27 Feb 17 1950–Feb 05 1951 Yang Metal Geng Yin Tiger Feb 14 2010–Feb 02 2011
28 Feb 06 1951–Jan 26 1952 Yin Metal Xin Mao Rabbit Feb 03 2011–Jan 22 2012
29 Jan 27 1952–Feb 13 1953 Yang Water Ren Chen Dragon Jan 23 2012–Feb 09 2013
30 Feb 14 1953–Feb 02 1954 Yin Water Gui Si Snake Feb 10 2013–Jan 30 2014
31 Feb 03 1954–Jan 23 1955 Yang Wood Jia Wu Horse Jan 31 2014–Feb 18 2015
32 Jan 24 1955–Feb 11 1956 Yin Wood Yi Wei Sheep Feb 19 2015–Feb 07 2016
33 Feb 12 1956–Jan 30 1957 Yang Fire Bing Shen Monkey Feb 08 2016–Jan 27 2017
34 Jan 31 1957–Feb 17 1958 Yin Fire Ding You Rooster Jan 28 2017–Feb 15 2018
35 Feb 18 1958–Feb 07 1959 Yang Earth Wu Xu Dog Feb 16 2018–Feb 04 2019
36 Feb 08 1959–Jan 27 1960 Yin Earth Ji Hai Pig Feb 05 2019–Jan 24 2020
37 Jan 28 1960–Feb 14 1961 Yang Metal Geng Zi Rat Jan 25 2020–Feb. 11 2021
38 Feb 15 1961–Feb 04 1962 Yin Metal Xin Chou Ox Feb 12 2021–Jan 31 2022
39 Feb 05 1962–Jan 24 1963 Yang Water Ren Yin Tiger Feb 01 2022–Jan 21 2023
40 Jan 25 1963–Feb 12 1964 Yin Water Gui Mao Rabbit Jan 22 2023–Feb 09 2024
41 Feb 13 1964–Feb 01 1965 Yang Wood Jia Chen Dragon Feb 10 2024–Jan 28 2025
42 Feb 02 1965–Jan 20 1966 Yin Wood Yi Si Snake Jan 29 2025–Feb 16 2026
43 Jan 21 1966–Feb 08 1967 Yang Fire Bing Wu Horse Feb 17 2026–Feb 05 2027
44 Feb 09 1967–Jan 29 1968 Yin Fire Ding Wei Sheep Feb 06 2027–Jan 25 2028
45 Jan 30 1968–Feb 16 1969 Yang Earth Wu Shen Monkey Jan 26 2028–Feb 12 2029
46 Feb 17 1969–Feb 05 1970 Yin Earth Ji You Rooster Feb 13 2029–Feb 02 2030
47 Feb 06 1970–Jan 26 1971 Yang Metal Geng Xu Dog Feb 03 2030–Jan 22 2031
48 Jan 27 1971–Feb 14 1972 Yin Metal Xin Hai Pig Jan 23 2031–Feb 10 2032
49 Feb 15 1972–Feb 02 1973 Yang Water Ren Zi Rat Feb 11 2032–Jan 30 2033
50 Feb 03 1973–Jan 22 1974 Yin Water Gui Chou Ox Jan 31 2033–Feb 18 2034
51 Jan 23 1974–Feb 10 1975 Yang Wood Jia Yin Tiger Feb 19 2034–Feb 07 2035
52 Feb 11 1975–Jan 30 1976 Yin Wood Yi Mao Rabbit Feb 08 2035–Jan 27 2036
53 Jan 31 1976–Feb 17 1977 Yang Fire Bing Chen Dragon Jan 28 2036–Feb 14 2037
54 Feb 18 1977–Feb 06 1978 Yin Fire Ding Si Snake Feb 15 2037–Feb 03 2038
55 Feb 07 1978–Jan 27 1979 Yang Earth Wu Wu Horse Feb 04 2038–Jan 23 2039
56 Jan 28 1979–Feb 15 1980 Yin Earth Ji Wei Sheep Jan 24 2039–Feb 11 2040
57 Feb 16 1980–Feb 04 1981 Yang Metal Geng Shen Monkey Feb 12 2040–Jan 31 2041
58 Feb 05 1981–Jan 24 1982 Yin Metal Xin You Rooster Feb 01 2041–Jan 21 2042
59 Jan 25 1982–Feb 12 1983 Yang Water Ren Xu Dog Jan 22 2042–Feb 09 2043
60 Feb 13 1983–Feb 01 1984 Yin Water Gui Hai Pig Feb 10 2043–Jan 29 2044

24 Solar Terms

The 24 solar terms is an important kind of calendar in China representing the seasonal changes and closely related to agricultural activities. Following are some important solar terms marking the beginning of seasons and climate changes. Want to see more and detailed info, please click: Twenty-four Solar Terms

Some of the Important Twenty-four Solar Terms:

Solar Terms 2022 Date 2023 Date Meanings
Start of Spring Feb. 4
(05:04)		 Feb. 4
(22:58)		 Spring begins.
Spring Equinox Mar. 20 Mar. 21 Day and night are equally long.
Pure Brightness Apr. 5 Apr. 5 It is warm and bright.
Start of Summer May 5
(20:23)		 May 6
(14:18)		 Summer begins.
Summer Solstice Jun. 21 Jun. 21 It has the longest daytime of the year.
Start of Autumn Aug. 7
(20:21)		 Aug. 8
(02:14)		 Autumn begins.
The End of Heat Aug. 23 Aug. 23 The hot summer is coming to an end.
Autumn Equinox Sep. 23 Sep. 23 The mid-point for the autumn season.
Start of Winter Nov. 7
(18:34)		 Nov. 8
(00:27)		 Winter begins.
Light Snow Nov. 22 Nov. 22 It begins to snow.
Heavy Snow Dec. 7 Dec. 7 It begins to snow heavily.
Winter Solstice Dec. 22 Dec.22 It has the shortest daytime of a year.
Lesser Cold Jan. 5, 2023 Jan. 5, 2024 It is getting colder.
Greater Cold Jan. 5, 2023 Jan. 20, 2024 It is the coldest time of a year.