Chinese calendar

The lunar calendar

The Chinese calendar as that of many other civilizations is originally a lunar calendar. Ie it takes into account the progress of two major regulators of nature, sun and moon, and is based mainly on rules astronomical: the lunar.

Each month of a lunar year, twelve months long, begins with a new moon and lasts for twenty-nine to thirty days. The months have no particular designation, they are designated numerically according to their order of appearance in time. Some months, however, as they include twenty-nine or thirty days, are called "little month" or "long months".

The twelve lunar months a total of three hundred fifty-four days, with neither eleven days to coincide with the solar year.

The Chinese calendar

The Chinese solution was to insert an extra month every two to three years, which would be announced by the almanac. This month is not inserted at the end of the lunar year, ie it is not a thirteenth month properly appointed. It is interposed between two other months, so there are two sixth month, two thirds or so months. In this way the winter solstice always falls in the eleventh month, the spring equinox in the second, the summer solstice in the fifth and the autumn equinox in the eighth. For astrological considerations, the system can not apply intercalation between the twelfth and first months or in a period during which the sun passes from one zodiac sign to another. It follows a lunar calendar with the first day of the year fluctuates from year to year.

Fixing dates

Before the calendar reform in 104 BC, some dynasties established themselves on the day of New Year as the determination of the calendar has always been a royal prerogative, jealously guarded, which sometimes have political implications. Under the Zhou (1122 BC. AD-256 AD.) It fell to the eleventh month, however, that other vassal states, users of different schedules, have set an entirely different date. Thus when the calendar reform, it was determined that the year begin on the first moon after the sun out of the last three Winter signs, the Capricorn. New Year's Day always falls between twenty-one in January and February this twelfth (according to the solar calendar).

Since that first reform, there was very little change in the calendar, until the Republic of China in 1912 finally adopted the Gregorian calendar. At the same time, it was decided to give the New Year celebration called the "spring", to differentiate the Western New Year with Chinese New Year, since its date of celebration remains the lunar New Year, which opens precisely the spring season

Chinese calendar

Chinese wedding

What is the gift of traditional Chinese marriage ... In fact, there are three answers to this question.

It is the first gift that the groom's family to address the family of the bride. Then there are the gifts that the guests offer married. And finally, there are these that offer the bride and groom to their guests at the wedding.

Once the terms of the marriage debate, and the compatibility of the respective dates of birth confirmed by a dessert, the family of the young man address the present to the family of the bride. There is usually money, jewelry, cakes, delicatessen, wines and liqueurs. Gifts are sent over a period of several days, and in the Chinese tradition, they must be used to worship ancestors.

The gifts of the guests for the bride and groom are not as sophisticated. They are usually red envelopes containing cash.

In turn, the bride and groom offer small presents to their guests: Chinese biscuit, little pots of lavender, tea cups porcelain, small silk pouches filled with jasmine tea, bean shoots magical custom, confectionery, oil lamps, pots pourri, and many other small gifts, appreciated by the guests.

No respect, gifts are generally not open to the guests.

Chinese abacus

The abacus is an abacus (calculating tool) consists of a rectangular frame fitted with rods on which balls slide.

The abacus is linked to the system of decimal numeration each ball, according to the stem on which it is a unity, a dozen, a hundred ... bouliers Some include special balls worth 5 units, 5 tens, 5 hundreds ...

The bouliers used to perform calculations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. In expert hands, it is possible to perform other operations such calculations nth roots or conversion to different bases.

There are several types:

* The Chinese abacus or suan pan. It is used in China for over 8 centuries. There are an illustration on a book dating from the twelfth century. On each stem, there are 5 balls for a unit and 2 scoops of 5 units, separated by a central bar.
* The Japanese Soroban abacus. In Japan it appears to the fourteenth century probably imported from China. He gradually lost, compared to the Chinese abacus, two balls (a ball of value 1 and a ball of value 5).
* The Russian abacus or stchoty (Счёты), also used in some Iranian as Chorèbe and Turkey under the name coulba is composed of stems 10 balls worth 1
* The abacus-counter use French in French schools until the eighteenth century, probably variant of the Russian instrument.

It is remarkable in the era of the electronic calculator, the great importance that it retains computing across Asia. It is not uncommon to see Russian or Asian traders make a calculation with a calculator and check the results using the abacus. In expert hands, it is tremendously efficient. In 1945, a match between an accountant with a Japanese Soroban operator and a power calculator (Matsuzaki against Woods) was won by the soroban by a score of 4 to 1.
Playing a number

Each column is from the right, units, tens, hundreds etc.. The 5 balls below each worth 1 and 2 balls on top of the bar are worth 5 each.