Chinese Lunar Fortunetelling Calendar Questions and Answers

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How do we know Year 1999 is the 4696th Chinese year ?

Chinese believe that the first king of China was King Yellow (he was not the first emperor of China who completed the Great Wall). King Yellow became a king in 2697 B.C. , therefore 1999 Rabbit year is the 4696th Chinese year.

Detail : We need to know three things first.

  1. King Yellow used the calendar which the first day of the year was set on the winter solstice day.
  2. Chinese calendar system combines sun and moon system together. The beginning of the calendar should be the sun and the moon at the same position in the sky.
  3. Chinese calendar has a cycle of 60 counting system which is called Stem-Branch system. The first of 60 cycle is called Green (Wooden) Rat Male WoodMouseWooden Mouse (example Year 1984). Year 1999 is the Brown Rabbit which is the 16th of Stem-Branch system.

Chinese calendar should begin from that the year is the first year of 60 cycle and the month is the first month of 60 cycle and the day and time are the first of 60 cycle. That means year, month, day and time are named as Green Rat. Plus the sun is on the winter solstice position and the moon is on new moon day. The sun and the moon are in the same position (sun eclipse). The time is at midnight. A lot of Chinese books mention that such beginning date and time happened at the first year of King Yellow. Therefore, Chinese year is counted from 2697 B.C.

Actually, after computer's calculation, we find that

But that winter solstice day was not the Green Rat day. Even no Green Rat day in that Green Rat month. Was the sun eclipse happened at midnight ? No astronomical formula can calculate that accuracy for more than 4000 year ago. So I don't know the answer.

Anyway, there are 4695 years from the winter solstice of the first year of King Yellow to the winter solstice of 1998. Therefore Year 1999 is the 4696th Chinese Year.

Want to see the sky in 2697 B.C. over China ? Use the Sky Map or Sky View.

When are the Chinese New Year days in 2000-2004 ?

The Chinese New Year Day is the first day of the first Chinese month. The first day of a lunar month is the new moon day. The answer depends on where you live, because all our calendars come from the positions of the sun and the moon.

China Tine Zone (East longitude 120') PST/USA (West longitude 120')
Year New moon day Year New moon day
2000 2-05 21:03 2000 2-05 05:03
2001 1-24 21:07 2001 1-24 05:07
2002 2-12 15:41 2002 2-11 23:41
2003 2-01 18:48 2003 2-01 02:48
2004 1-22 05:05 2004 1-21 13:05
2005 2-09 06:28 2005 2-08 14:28

All other time zones, you can adjust the new year days by the time difference.

How can I know the animal name of my birth year ?

The first day of a Chinese traditional year is the Chinese New Year day. People, born on and after the Chinese New Year day, use the new animal name for their birth year. However, the first day of a Chinese Fortune-Telling calendar is the first day of spring. The first day of spring is the time the sun enters 315 degree on the tropical Zodiac. Actually Chinese who know the difference always use the fortune-telling calendar to determine their birth year. The Chinese New Year and the first day of spring are almost on different day each year.

1999 China PST/USA
New year day with new moon time 2-16  14:39 2-15  22:39
First day of spring with time 2-4  14:57 2-03  22:57

The following are the examples of Chinese birth years.

Animal Name Birth Date/Time Birth Place Calendar Type
Dog 2-15-99 Taiwan, China Traditional
Pig 2-15-99 California, USA Fortune-telling
Dog 2-4-99  12:00 Taiwan, China Fortune-telling
Pig 2-4-99  16:00 Taiwan, China Fortune-telling
Dog 2-3-99  12:00 California, USA Fortune-telling
Pig 2-4-99  00:00 California, USA Fortune-telling

Note: We need compare the hour and minute when using the fortune-telling calendar.

How to use the Predict Infant Gender Page?

Get the Predict Infant Gender page from Chinese Calendar Online menu.

Two things to determine the infant gender are the woman's Chinese age at the year of conception (pregnancy) and the Chinese lunar month of conception.

If a woman wasn't born in January or February, then her Chinese age is her actual age plus one.

If a woman was born in January or February, then from Predict Infant Gender page

  1. Click on woman's Chinese age, go to Calculate your Chinese Age on Certain Date page
  2. Select a Time Zone where she was born
  3. Enter her birthday
  4. Enter the date of Conception (pregnancy) in Age Year Line
  5. Click the Submit button, the woman age on the year of conception will be returned

To find out the Chinese lunar month of conception is from Predict Infant Gender page.

  1. Click on Chinese Lunar Month, go to Chinese Lunar Calendar Conversion page
  2. Select a Time Zone where she was pregnant
  3. Enter the date of Conception (pregnancy) in Solar Year line
  4. Click the Submit button, the Lunar Month will be returned

Then go back to Predict Infant Gender page, use woman's Chinese age and lunar month to find the infant gender from the chart. If the B in the chart, then the infant is the boy.

Why 1999 Chinese Moon Festival day is 9-24 in China and 9-23 in USA ?

Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th moon day of 8th Chinese lunar month (Chicken month) . Since the new moon day is the first day of a Chinese Lunar Month. The first day of 8th lunar month is 9-10-99 in China, so the moon festival is on 9-24-99. The first day of 8th lunar month is 9-9-99 in EST or PST, so the moon festival is on 9-23-99 in USA.

Time Zone Longitude New Moon Date & Time The 15th moon day
China East 120 9-10-99 06:02 a.m. 9-24-99
EST (USA) West 75 9-09-99 17:02 p.m. 9-23-99
PST (USA) West 120 9-09-99 14:02 p.m. 9-23-99

Click here for more information and the legends about the Chinese Moon Festival

How to convert Chinese Lunar Calendar before 1900?

Taiwanese National Education Research Center (In Chinese)

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