Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar陰陽合歷, is formed on the movement of the moon. It defines界定 Chinese 24 solar terms節(jié)氣, traditional holidays and helps to choose a lucky day選定良辰吉日 before important activities such as?

marriage proposal訂婚,?
wedding結(jié)婚,?
praying for pregnancy求子,
traveling出行.

閏年
Leap Years

The Chinese calendar features 12 months有12個月份. However, an extra month is inserted in the calendar when a leap year occurs每逢閏年時要添加一個月. Therefore, leap years in the Chinese calendar have 13 months, unlike leap years in the Gregorian calendar公歷 in which an extra day is included添加一天. A leap month is added to 添加the Chinese calendar approximately every three years (7 times in 19 years). The name of the leap month is the same as the previous lunar month閏月的名稱與之前的陰歷月份名稱相同. A leap year in the Chinese calendar does not necessarily不一定 fall at the same time a leap year occurs in the Gregorian calendar.

The Chinese calendar's origins can be traced as far back as追溯到 the 14th century BCE. The Shang oracle bones甲骨文 give evidence of a lunisolar calendar which has been much modified but persists to this day 延續(xù)至今. It is believed that the Emperor Huangdi (Huang Ti or Huang Di)黃帝 introduced the calendar between 3000 and 2600 BCE, or around 2637 BCE.

黃歷，又稱老黃歷、皇歷，是在中國農(nóng)歷基礎(chǔ)上產(chǎn)生出來的，帶有每日吉兇宜忌的一種萬年歷。黃歷相傳是由軒轅黃帝創(chuàng)制，故稱為黃歷。黃歷主要內(nèi)容為二十四節(jié)氣，每天的宜忌、干支、值神、星宿、月相、吉神兇煞等。

黃歷是古時帝王遵循的一個行為規(guī)范的書籍，并由欽天監(jiān)計算頒訂，因此也稱皇歷；這里面不但包括了天文氣象、時令季節(jié)而且還包含了人民在日常生活中要遵守的一些禁忌，其內(nèi)容指導中國勞動農(nóng)民耕種時機，故又稱農(nóng)民歷；中國民間俗稱為通書；但因通書的“書”字跟“輸”字同音，因避忌故又名通勝。

在現(xiàn)代，黃歷的主要內(nèi)容包括：公歷、農(nóng)歷和干支歷三套歷法，二十四節(jié)氣與禮拜天（星期）、宜忌、沖煞、方位、流年、太歲、三元九運、玄空九星等等。

China resisted the Gregorian calendar抵制使用公歷 until 1912 but it was not widely used throughout the country until the Communist victory in 1949. This widespread change occurred on October 1, 1949, when Mao Zedong, who led the People's Republic of China, ordered that the year should be in accord with保持一致 the Gregorian calendar.

天干地支
Heavenly Stems & Earthly Branches

Although China has adopted the Gregorian calendar in common with most other countries in the world for official and business purposes, the traditional Chinese calendar continues to define the dates of festivals界定節(jié)日 and is used for horoscopes占卜. The calendar has a very long history going back to the Xia追溯到 (21st century BC - 16th century BC) and Shang Dynasty (16th century BC - 11th century BC). It is based on a unique combination of astronomy and geography through observation and exploration. It is also referred to as the Lunar, Yin, Xia or the old Chinese calendar.陰歷、夏歷或老黃歷

Following its creation in the Xia Dynasty, succeeding reigns continued to use the calendar but modified it from time to time. The Han Dynasty rulers instituted the Taichu calendar, while during Tang Dynasty the Huangji calendar was introduced and it was adopted by Japan, Korea and Vietnam. With the founding of the Republic of China in 1912, the Gregorian calendar was brought into use開始使用公歷. Although ethnic groups such as Tibet and Dai have their own calendars, in essence本質(zhì)上來講 they resemble that of the Han people與漢族的很相似. Islam reckons its own religion festivals according to the Islamic Calendar.

The calendar has links with natural sciences such as agriculture and astronomy天文學, solar terms節(jié)氣, the four seasons and traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival. There are links also with the 'Five Elements'五行 of which the ancient Chinese believed the physical universe物質(zhì)世界 to be composed namely, metal, wood, water, fire and earth金木水火土. Finally, of course, is Chinese Zodiac屬相 - the symbolic animals生肖 associated with each year on a 12-year cycle.

Rules for Calculation

Each time the moon moves into line with the earth and the sun a new month begins and this is called 'Chu Yi'初一 or 'Shuo Ri' (the first day of a lunar month)朔日. The longest day of a year or Summer Solstice夏至 falls on在哪一天 the 21st or 22nd of June, and the shortest day is the Winter Solstice冬至 on either December 21, 22, or 23. Using these two annual events the year was divided into in 24 equal parts, each forming the 24 solar terms. The month with its first day nearest the Beginning of Spring (the first solar term)立春 is the first lunar month, and on that day the Spring Festival is held春節(jié) and this varies不固定，介于之間 between January 20th and February 20th.

In China, there are public holidays公休假日on 7 legal festivals法定節(jié)日 in a year, namely New Year's Day元旦, Chinese New Year (Spring Festival)春節(jié), Qingming Festival清明節(jié), May Day五一勞動節(jié), Dragon Boat Festival端午節(jié), Mid-Autumn Festival端午節(jié), and National Day國慶節(jié).

五四青年節(jié)Youth Day
六一兒童節(jié) Children's Day
八一建軍節(jié)Army Day of the Chinese People's Liberation Army
有半天假Women have half day off on Women's Day.

Young people over 14 years of age have a half day off on Youth Day. Children under 14 years old have a day off on Children's Day.

現(xiàn)役軍人Active members of the army have a half-day off on Army Day.
植樹節(jié)Arbor Day
教師節(jié)Teachers' Day

屬相延伸閱讀
Chinese Zodiac Origins — Why 12 Animals

The 12 animals were chosen deliberately, after many revisions. The zodiac animals are either closely related to ancient Chinese people’s daily lives, or have lucky meanings.
The ox, horse, goat, rooster, pig, and dog are six of the main domestic animals raised by Chinese people.六大家畜 The other six animals: rat, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, and monkey are all loved by the Chinese people. 喜愛的動物

Why the 12 Zodiac Animals Are in That Order

The 12 Chinese Zodiac animals are in a fixed order according to Chinese Yin and Yang Theory and perceived attributes人們認為它們具有的特性.
The yin or the yang of the animals is defined based on the odd or even number 奇數(shù)和偶數(shù)of their claws (or toes, hoofs)爪子、腳趾或蹄子. The animals are then arranged in an alternating (complementary) yin-yang sequence.奇、偶數(shù)交替排序
Usually an animal has the same number of claws on its front and rear legs前后腿. However, the rat has four toes on its fore legs and five on its hind legs.老鼠很特殊，前腿有四個腳趾，后退有五個腳趾

As the old saying goes, “a thing is valued in proportion to its rarity”物以稀為貴, so the Rat ranks first of the 12 zodiac animals因此老鼠列12生肖之首. It uniquely combines the attributes of odd (yang) and even (yin). 4+5=9, and yang is dominant, so the Rat is classified as odd (yang) overall. 鼠總體上被歸為“陽”
Each animal has symbolic meanings象征意義 given to it by the ancient Chinese. These animal attributes動物特性 come in six contrasting pairs分為對比鮮明的六組 that must be harmonized必須進行調(diào)和, like yin and yang, and are the primary factor governing the order of the zodiac是屬相排序的主要因素.

Rat?? ?Wisdom?? ?without industriousness leads to triviality.
Ox?? ?Industriousness?? ?Industriousness without wisdom leads to futility.?
第一組是老鼠和牛，老鼠代表智慧，牛代表勤奮。智慧和勤奮一定要緊緊結(jié)合在一起。如果光有智慧，不勤奮，那就變成小聰明：而光是勤奮，不動腦筋，那就變成愚蠢。這兩者一定要結(jié)合。這是祖先對我們第一組的期望和要求，也是最重要的一組?！?/p>

Tiger?? ?Valor?? ?Valor without caution leads to recklessness.
Rabbit?? ?Caution?? ?Caution without valor leads to cowardice.
第二組是老虎和兔子。老虎代表勇猛，兔子代表謹慎。勇猛和謹慎一定要緊緊結(jié)合在一起才能作到膽大心細。如果勇猛離開了謹慎，就變成了魯莽，而沒了勇猛，就變成了膽怯。這一組也非常重要，所以，放在第二位置上。通過這一組，我也可以告訴你們這些西方人，當我們炎黃人表現(xiàn)出謹慎的時候，千萬不要以為炎黃人沒有勇敢的一面

Dragon?? ?Strength?? ?Strength without flexibility leads to fracture.
Snake?? ?Flexibility?? ?Flexibility without strength leads to compromise.
第三組是龍和蛇，代表剛猛，蛇代表柔韌。所謂剛者易折，太剛了容易折斷，但是，如果只有柔的一面就易失去主見，所以，剛?cè)岵俏覀兊淖嬗??！?/p>

Horse?? ?Forging ahead?? ?Forging ahead without unity leads to abandonment.
Goat?? ?Unity?? ?Unity without forging ahead leads to stagnation.
馬和羊，馬代表勇往直前，羊代表和順。如果一個人只顧自己直奔目標，不顧及周圍環(huán)境，必然會和周圍不斷磕碰，最后不見得能達到目標。但是，一個人光顧及和順，他可能連方向都沒有了。所以，勇往直前的秉性，一定要和和順緊緊結(jié)合在一起，這是祖先對我們的第四組期望

Monkey?? ?Changeability?? ?Changeability without being constant leads to foolishness.
Rooster?? ?Being constant?? ?Being constant without changeability leads to woodenness.
猴子和雞。猴子代表靈活，雞定時打鳴，代表恒定。靈活和恒定一定要緊緊結(jié)合在一起。如果你光靈活，沒有恒定，再好的政策也得不到收獲。一方面具有穩(wěn)定性，保持整體和諧和秩序，另一方面又能在變通中前進，這才是最根本的要旨?！?/p>

Dog?? ?Fidelity?? ?Fidelity without amiability leads to rejection.
Pig?? ?Amiability?? ?Amiability without fidelity leads to immorality.
狗和豬。狗代表忠誠，豬代表隨和。如果一個人太忠誠，不懂得隨和，就會排斥他人。反過來，一個人太隨和，沒有忠誠，這個人就失去原則。無論是對一個民族的忠誠，還是對自己理想的忠誠，一定要與隨和緊緊結(jié)合在一起，這樣才容易保持內(nèi)心深處的平衡?！?/p>