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Chinese Calendar

The Chinese calendar is a combination of solar and lunar calendars, meaning that it strives to have its years coincide with the tropical year and its months coincide with the synodic months. Although the People's Republic of China makes full use of the Gregorian calendar for all official civil purposes, a more ancient Chinese calendar is used to determine festivals. The Chinese calendar has been dated back to the 14th Century BC. One legend suggests that Emperor Huangdi invented the lunar calendar in 2637 BC, although this has never been confirmed. To determine the calendar you must first determine to date of the New Moon, which is the first day of the new month. Secondly, the dates of any time when the sun's longitude is a multiple of 30 degrees must be calculated.
The Chinese calendar is based on exact astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and the phases of the moon. Like the Western calendar, The Chinese Lunar Calendar is a yearly one, with the start of the lunar year being based on the cycles of the moon. Therefore, because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. The Lunar calendar is configured according to very exacting astronomical measurements relating to the longitude of the sun and the phases of the moon. It is a credit to the ancient Chinese astronomers that the principles behind their calculations are based firmly in advanced principles of what is commonly referred to as modern science.

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