Clarification of Aspects of the Chinese Solar and Lunar Calendars
Brick Brewer
April 1999
This discourse is not from the perspective of either Feng Shui or Chinese Astrology. It is from the perspective of someone attempting to determine the role of the calendar regarding the Yi Jing. As such it does not seek to further the perspective of particular types of Feng Shui or Astrology, but seeks to discuss considerations pertinent to the calendar in general.

There has been considerable confusion differentiating the Chinese Solar and Lunar calendars.

In simple fashion, the Solar calendar is fixed to the Solstices (and the Equinoxes, and thus the Seasons) and is thereby aligned with the Sun. The Solstices, Equinoxes, Seasons and other annual phenomena form the basis for the 24 Breaths (also called seasons, seasonal markers, Jie Qi, Solar terms, etc.) of the Chinese calendar. The 24 Breaths may be combined in two different ways to result in months: if the odd-numbered Breaths are used as the markers of each pair of Breaths to form 12 periods (or months), the result is the Yi Jing hexagram calendar; if the even-numbered Breaths form the markers, they result in the months-as-animals (Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, etc.), which uses the same dates as Western Astrology (Pisces, Aries, Taurus, etc.). While using the 24 Breaths two different ways may appear to be confusing, the main point is that either way they are combined they are still Solar.

In one perspective appearance, the Solar calendar repeats itself year after year. It actually doesn't repeat, but its principles remain in force year-to-year, and thus it may be considered to be a perpetual calendar.

The Solar calendar offers a means by which years and seasons might be compared with each other because the Sun defines the year and thus the year (and its parts) may be compared directly over time. As such it was/is invaluable in agricultural timing and thus also marks and corresponds with the overall process of change occurring in steps, in this case, the steps as represented by the months and seasons comprising the year. It begins each year on either February 4 or 5 which is the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. As such it provides a matrix or foundation for the year, a solid and practical "map" proved in the reality of people's lives for thousands of years. Contrary to the Western calendar in which the Solstices and Equinoxes begin the seasons, the Chinese calendar utilizes the Solstices and Equinoxes in the middle of the seasons, thus February 4 or 5 is the start of Spring. In the Western calendar Spring starts 45 days later on the Spring Equinox, which is around March 21. The two systems share Solstice and Equinox dates, but not the dates for the start and end of the Seasons.

The Lunar calendar, however, is dependent on the Moon, whose actions are far from fixed in an annular way. Its months range from New Moon to New Moon. Versus the Solar calendar which has a variance of only two days when it may start the new year, the Lunar calendar can vary 28 days as to its beginning which falls between January 21 and February 19. Essentially this means the Lunar calendar is not the same year after year. The 28-day waxing and waning cycle is known, and does occur with regularity. However, often the cycle doesn't occur "in the same place" with respect to the previous year.

Depending on intercalary conditions, it is possible for an extra month to be inserted and thus for something occurring in "X" month to occur 28 days later than it did the previous year. The Lunar month and Lunar year (vs. their Solar counterparts) are more immediate or local in nature. They tend to relate more to the conditions of "now" rather than the conditions compared with similar times over the years.

There is an effort to synchronize the Lunar and the Solar, but the Lunar calendar is essentially different as viewed on a yearly basis. This means it is more based in the present, i.e. it is more "local" with regard to space and time.

When we look at these primary heavenly bodies, the Sun and the Moon, it becomes obvious that the Moon is closest to man. It may even be said that the Moon is particularly important for determining what action is most appropriate for any specific day. However, it is also true that the Sun brings with it a larger scope, a look away from the personal and toward the Cosmic.

At a very basic level the Moon receives its light from the Sun. More to our purpose here, the Lunar calendar is dependent upon the Solar cycles as a base upon which the Lunar year is officially begun. Additionally there is the fact that to more closely align with the Sun, the Lunar cycle requires the addition of intercalary months. And there is the fact that the Lunar year is set up to conform to the Solar, not the other way around. The Sun is Yang, the Moon is Yin.

Both the Lunar and the Solar approaches to time are important. The Chinese calendar is the only Lunisolar calendar in operation today. (Technically the Chinese converted to the Western calendar in 1912, but vestiges of the old ways still persist.) It blends two of the most important cycles together, resulting in the possibility of enlarging oneself and seeing oneself more in league with the pulse of the heavens.

But this fusion creates problems. World-wide it seems that the Chinese calendar is known as a Lunar calendar. But it is not. It is both a Lunar and a Solar calendar. In fact, a case could be made that it is more of a Solar calendar than a Lunar calendar.

A confusion also exists with regard to the way the Yi Jing is written about. There is a problem in recognized Yi Jing texts where the 24 Jie Qi -- the Breaths --are identified as being Lunar. They are not. They come from the cycle of the Sun. The annual cycle may be seen both in the cycle of the day and in the cycle of the Moon, but its origination is with the cycle of the Sun. The 24 Jie Qi (called chieh ch'i in the Yi Jing) are not Lunar, but are in fact Solar. The premise that the Jie Qi are lunar comes from the rather vague (and often incorrect) depiction in some books which erroneously appear to be accurate.

The bottom line is that both the Solar and Lunar cycles are heavenly cycles and both have their adherents for particular disciplines. And that seems to be the point.

The Yi Jing hexagram calendar is discussed extensively in "A History of Chinese Philosophy, Volume II" (available at Amazon.com, $39.95) by Fung Yu-lan. Yu-lan gives us many details and traces the Yi Jing calendar back as far as the first century, BC.

Speaking specifically about the Yi Jing calendar as it relates to the overall Chinese calendar, Frank Coolen on the Hexagram-8 I Ching List stated "It's a system." This statement clarifies confusion concerning the Chinese calendar.

When we look at the Chinese calendar through a particular perspective (i.e., the Yi Jing, the Yi Jing calendar, Feng Shui, Chinese Astrology, etc., we need to remember our view is colored by the discipline through which we look.

What is the ultimate decision about whether the Chinese calendar is either Lunar or Solar? It is what it is. However, it is germane to be able to differentiate when we are dealing with a system, when we are viewing things from within a system. For example, when we are using the Yi Jing we need to know we are dealing with a system, and we need to recognize that our views are being filtered through our exposure to that system.

Confusion arises when we lose sight of this. For instance, we may lose awareness that we are in the Yi Jing system and think the Chinese calendar is Solar only because the Solar influence on the Yi Jing is so evident. We may convince ourselves that we know something about the Chinese calendar when the reality is we are still within the system of the Yi Jing and are continuously viewing it through that focus.

It is tempting to forget that one is emphasizing the particular and to assume that one's view is of the universal (while one is still within the limitations of the particular). Yes, the Sun is the dominant heavenly body. It provides light for the Moon and for the Earth. Its cycles are replicated in the cycles of the Moon and the Day. Yes, it is pertinent to see the Chinese calendar as exemplifying utter simplicity and elegance. But one views this from the perspective of the system one is in.

We must realize we cannot encompass everything, we must isolate to be able to understand at all. That's called differentiation. We see the calendar as being Lunar or Solar from the viewpoint of the system which is our vantage point at the time. We champion this or that perspective according to our interpretation of the system of our focus.

Brick Brewer, © 1999, All Rights Reserved