The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, which is based on exact astronomical observations of the sun's longitude and the moon's phases. Chinese lunisolar calendars takes into account both the phases of the moon and the season. First perfected around 500 BCE ,the Chinese calendar shares an established history , and plays an important role in the world and especially in Asian cultures.

Where does the Chinese Luni-solar Calendar originates from ?

The Chinese calendar dates as far back as the 14th century BCE. The Shang oracle bones give evidence of a lunisolar calendar which has been much modified but persists to this day. It is believed that the Emperor Huangdi introduced the calendar around 2637 BCE. It is also thought that his minister Ta Nao prepared the first calendar, which is translated as “the Chinese Luni-

solar Calendar is modified and improved over time to adapt to practical use . It was not until 1912 that China stopped its resistance to the Gregorian calendar, but it was not widely used throughout the country until the Communist victory in 1949, when Mao Zedong, the chairman of People's Republic of China, ordered that the year should be in accord with the Gregorian calendar.

Why is Chinese Luni-solar Calendar is so important ?

Even though the Gregorian calendar is widely used in the world , for most East Asians today it is used for day-to-day activities .However, the Chinese calendar is still used for marking traditional East Asian holidays such as the Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival , which is the beginning for several lunisolar calendars), the Dragon Boat festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In astrology, the Chinese lunisolar calendar is used to choose the most auspicious date for weddings or other significant enterprises, such as a new

construction project or an opening of a new business.

Chinese lunisolar calendar guides agriculture production, and is usually a year divided into the four seasons namely Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. This is sufficient for most people but for the purpose of agriculture and Chinese metaphysics study. Therefore, each season is further divided into 6 sub-seasons, giving a total of 24 sub-seasons. These sub-seasons possess descriptive and vivid names such as rain water, insects awaken, corn rain and corn sprouting which remind farmers of the right time for planting and harvesting!

Chinese lunisolar calendar is also used to determine the phases of the moon, each month follows one cycle of the moon, facilitating the research of astronomy.

Why intercalary months are inserted into the Chinese calendar ?

The Chinese calendar uses intercalary months to correct the deviations of the calendrical year from the astronomical year. Because the Chinese calendar is mainly a lunar calendar, its standard year is 354 days, whereas the astronomical year is approximately 365? days. To prevent this deviation from building up over time, an extra month is necessary. Thus, the intercalary month serves a valuable purpose in ensuring that the year in the Chinese calendar remains approximately in line with the astronomical year.

The Chinese calendar year has nine main festivals, in which seven are determined by the lunisolar calendar, and two derived from the solar agricultural calendar. Farmers used an agriculture calendar with its twenty-four terms, to determine when to plant crops, for the the lunisolar traditional calendar is not so accurate. The two special holidays are the Qingming

Festival and the Winter Solstice Festival, falling upon the respective solar terms.