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The Chinese calendar is a Lunisolar calendar i.e. it is based on different aspects of Solar calendar and Lunar calendar. Since China became 'Republic of China', in 1912, China has adopt the western Gregorian calendar (known as 'gōnglì' or 'xīnlì' i.e. new calendar as oppose to old calendar 'jìulì'). However, the previous version of the calendar (known as 'nónglì' and as Yin Calendar 'yīnlì') is still used to mark certain Chinese festivals such as Chinese New Year (the Spring Festival), Duan Wu, and the Mid-Autumn Festivals. The traditional Chinese calendar is also used to fix auspicious dates such as planning for a wedding or even the opening of a new building. As the duration of each month of the Chinese calendar is based on the lunar cycle, what phase of the moon can be determined on any day of the month. The Chinese lunar calendar was the longest running chronological calendar dating back 2600BC. It was started by emperor Huang Ti who introduced it with the 12 signs of the zodiac. |
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