branches. The solar calendar is used in Feng Shuiand in the Four Pillars of the Destiny
(Ba Ziastrology or Zi Ping). The lunar calendar is mainly used in the other branch of
the Chinese astrology, the Zi Wei Dou Shu.
The Chinese calendar is based on the sexagesimal cycle: there are 60 possible
combinations (binomials) of stems and branches. This periodicity of 60 years corre-
sponds to a new alignment of the Earth with the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus,
Mars and Jupiter. The first observation dates back to 2637 B.C.E., which became the
first year of the first cycle of 60 years. A period of 180 years is called a grand cycle and
corresponds to three cycles of 60 years (called inferior cycle, median cycle, and superi-
or cycle) and thus to nine periods of 20 years. The current grand cycle, the 26th one,
started on February 4, 1864, and will last until February 3, 2044. The period of 1984
through February 2004 is the seventh period of the current grand cycle.
The solar new year begins at the precise time when the Sun goes over the 15th
degree of Aquarius, Beijing time. This corresponds to February 4 (sometimes February
5). This date is called Li Chunand marks the beginning of Chinese spring. Each solar
month begins around the 4th or the 8th of the corresponding western month:
The first Chinese month = February (second Western month)
The second Chinese month = March (third Western month)
The eleventh Chinese month = December (twelfth Western month)
The twelfth Chinese month = January (first Western month)
The lunar new year is set on the winter solstice and can fall on any day between
January 21 and February 20. A lunar year comprises 12 moons of 29 days (short moon)
or 30 days (long moon), and regularly, a 13th moon must be inserted to make up the gap.
(A lunar calendar consists of moons, while a solar calendar consists of solar months.)—Michele DelemmeCHINESEZODIAC
In much the same way that popular astrology in the West is confined to a knowledge
of the 12 sun signs, most people’s awareness of Chinese astrology is confined to the 12
animal “year signs.” The earliest Chinese zodiac was a system of lunar mansions; the
12 animal signs were incorporated into the system much later. Some speculate that
these later signs originated outside of China proper, perhaps in northern central Asia.
The 12 signs of East Asian astrology derive not from the 12 months of the year, but
from the 12 years of the Jupiter cycle (Jupiter takes approximately a dozen years to
complete one orbit of the Sun). Despite the parallelism of 12 signs in each system,
attempts to correlate the Chinese zodiac with the Western zodiac have been problem-
atic, to say the least. The 12 animal signs are:
Rat: People born in 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996,
and 2008.
Ox: People born in 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997,
and 2009.
Tiger: People born in 1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998,
and 2010.Chinese Zodiac
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