The Beat February 2003

Our correspondent breaks down the Chinese calendar...or is it the other way around?

It has taken me a month, but I‘ve finally recovered from New Year‘s Eve. I remember soju and… Anyway, I‘m coming out of my haze only to find that we‘re on the eve of another New Year – the second in just two months. The difference of course is that this one is the Lunar, or Chinese. Asia isn‘t the only place you‘ll find a lunar calendar -- the Greeks and peoples of Islam use one as well – but the Chinese calendar is the only Lunisolar one you‘ll find. It‘s rather unusual; the months are based on the moon, while the year and days come from the sun.

Aside from dragon dancing, riots of color, fireworks and that the upcoming year is the Year of the Goat, I didn‘t know much about it and wanted to learn, but this was beginning to sound really complicated so I figured I’d better call on Beat Astronomer, Cranford Johnston. He removed a large, yellowed chart from his shoe and, between puffs on an oxygen tank, he wheezed and barked, taking me from the history, through mathematics and on to the mystical. Despite his missing lung, he tends to be long-winded, so what follows is a summary of what he said.

It begins in China a long, long time ago when somebody decided to combine the solar and lunar calendars. For thousands of years, nearly every dynasty wrote a new calendar. The current calendar was created by the Shiah dynasty (2183-1752 B.C.). There are twelve solar months, each broken in half for a total of 24 segments. The first day of the month is called a Segment Point, and the middle of the month is called a Center Point.

Just to confuse things, there‘s also a lunar system, where the length between two new moons is one month. The lunar months get their names from the solar month‘s Center Points.

Just to confuse things even more, there are two calendars in China – the Civil, which is posted by the government, and the Astronomical, which is used by government astronomers (and is more accurate). The Civil is even different from one time zone to the next. Go figure. But the real problem arises when a lunar month is longer than a solar. That necessitates the use of Intercalary months, similar to the Intercalary days (February 29th) we use in the Solar Calendar. Adjusting for the difference takes a form of algebraic lunacy that would make your math teacher proud.

“Over time the cycles overlap each other,” croaked Cranford. “If a lunar month begins and ends before a Center Point, it‘s an Intercalary Month. So, you have to add one Intercalary Month every three years, two every five years, and seven every nineteen years.” At this point my head was beginning to swim, so I told Cranford to just cut to the chase and give me the mystical stuff.

“So,” he gasped, “ya got your Yin ’n Yang, right?” These I knew of but didn‘t realize they also applied to the Zodiac. The Chinese Zodiac comprises twelve animals. Whether they get along with each other or not depends on their placement in the Zodiac Circle (see below). Animals opposite in the circle function as opposites (Yin and Yang) and thus should avoid each other. The twelve animals correspond to western astrological symbols, and also have particular personality characteristics, as well as representative elements.

The Astrological Calendar is made up of ten “Heavenly Stems” (Tian-Gan) and twelve “Earthly Branches” (Di-Zhi). In addition, the Zodiac is composed of one 24-hour period, broken into twelve 2-hour periods, called Shi-Chen. These are listed around the page, beneath each animal‘s ideogram, and represent the most prolific, prosperous, powerful or fortunate hours for that animal. The aura of each animal is positive or negative, which, according to Cranford, depends on, “a whole mess of shit.” Given what he‘d told me already I decided not to push my luck. If your sign is negative, it‘s no reason to jump off a bridge or anything. Nevertheless, I would be careful of…yourself, or something. The charts below will tell you what animal you are and who to stay away from. Beneath your ideogram you‘ll find the specific traits and Shi-Chen for your animal and perhaps for yourself. As for me – I think I‘ll just enjoy the fireworks.

Note: If you are confused, or have more questions you can: talk to Cranford or Sparky, or write to us at [email protected], and we‘ll try to track one of them down.

For some other info, check out:
http://www.chinese-zodiac-symbols.com, and http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com.