The Chinese Calendar

The Chinese calendar differs significantly from the Western calendar.

The primary difference is that the months of the Chinese calendar are directly tied to the phases of the moon. These phases, however, do not fit in with the length of the year as measured by the Earth’s revolution around the sun.

The Western calendar is fixed in the sense that each New Year begins on solar/Western calendar date January first. Because the Chinese New Year must correlate with a moon phase, it falls as early as January 22nd and as late as February 19th on the Western calendar.

This has significant implications for Chinese Astrology. First, however, it’s important to understand the primary difference between Chinese and Western astrology. Chinese astrology focuses on the year sign, and Western astrology focuses on the month sign (Aquarius, Pisces, etc.).

 Chinese astrology does, however, have month signs. This can be confusing because the month signs have the same name as the year signs. Furthermore, when we say a Chinese sign corresponds to a Western sign, e.g., Ox to Capricorn, we do not mean the person was born in a Capricorn month. Rather, we mean the person’s Chinese year-sign traits roughly correspond to the traits of that Western sign.

Adding to the confusion is the fact we can’t know a person’s Western sign simply by knowing the person’s Chinese month sign. For example, a person born on the first day of the seventh month (July 1 in Western terminology) of the Chinese calendar year 1979 was actually born on August 23rd of the Western calendar. Since July 1st is Cancer and August 23 is Leo, it’s easy to see the confusion.

As with the months, neither do Chinese and Western years match exactly. Thus, even though we might know a person’s Chinese sign, we still cannot be sure of their year of birth. Conversely, if we know a person’s year of birth, we cannot be sure of their Chinese sign.

Let’s say someone was born in 1978 (Chinese year of the Horse) on the Western calendar. They would only be the Horse sign if born after February 6th; since, Chinese New Year was February 7th by the Western calendar. The Chinese Horse year 1978 actually has the Western calendar dates included in the period February 7, 1978 through January 27, 1979.

This is especially important when evaluating compatibility. Signs most compatible with the Horse (Tiger and Dog) are not nearly so compatible with the Snake, which is the sign of people born in 1978 but earlier than February 7th on the Western calendar.

    

The Chinese calendar differs significantly from the Western calendar. The primary difference is that the months of the Chinese calendar are directly tied to the phases of the moon. These phases, however, do not fit in with the length of the year as measured by the Earth’s revolution around the sun. The Western calendar is fixed in the sense that each New Year begins on solar/Western calendar date January first. Because the Chinese New Year must correlate with a moon phase, it falls as early as January 22nd and as late as February 19th on the Western calendar.

This has significant implications for Chinese Astrology. First, however, it’s important to understand the primary difference between Chinese and Western astrology. Chinese astrology focuses on the year sign, and Western astrology focuses on the month sign (Aquarius, Pisces, etc.). Chinese Astrology does, however, have month signs. This can be confusing because the month signs have the same name as the year signs. Furthermore, when we say a Chinese sign corresponds to a Western sign, e.g., Ox to Capricorn, we do not mean the person was born in a Capricorn month. Rather, we mean the person’s Chinese year-sign traits roughly correspond to the traits of that Western sign. Adding to the confusion is the fact we can’t know a person’s Western sign simply by knowing the person’s Chinese month sign.

For example, a person born on the first day of the seventh month (July 1 in Western terminology) of the Chinese calendar year 1979 was actually born on August 23rd of the Western calendar. Since July 1st is Cancer and August 23 is Leo, it’s easy to see the confusion. As with the months, neither do Chinese and Western years match exactly. Thus, even though we might know a person’s Chinese sign, we still cannot be sure of their year of birth. Conversely, if we know a person’s year of birth, we cannot be sure of their Chinese sign.

Let’s say someone was born in 1978 (Chinese year of the Horse) on the Western calendar. They would only be the Horse sign if born after February 6th; since, Chinese New Year was February 7th by the Western calendar. The Chinese Horse year 1978 actually has the Western calendar dates included in the period February 7, 1978 through January 27, 1979. This is especially important when evaluating compatibility. Signs most compatible with the Horse (Tiger and Dog) are not nearly so compatible with the Snake, which is the sign of people born in 1978 but earlier than February 7th on the Western calendar.