Solar Calendar - Yangli

Solar calendar charts the tropical year. It serves especially the farmers. It is used in Feng Shui, Four Pillars astrology, and in date selection.

Solar calendar measures the position of earth on ecliptic or the Yellow Path as Chinese named it, the plane of the Earth's annual revolution around the Sun. The first day of Chinese Solar year is Li chun or the Beginning of Spring, the first day of Yin month, which falls on 4^th or 5^th of February. The beginning of Solar month is called jie and the middle point of the month is called qi. Jie and qi divide the month into two terms of c. 15 days.

Solar year is divided into 24 periods:

Li chun

Spring Begins

15° Aquarius

Yu shui

Rain Water

0° Pisces

Jing zhe

Insects Awakening

15° Pisces

Chun fen

Spring Equinox

0° Aries

Qing ming

Clear Bright

15° Aries

Gu yu

Grain Rain

0° Taurus

Li xia

Summer Begins

15° Taurus

Xiao man

Small Surplus

0° Gemini

Mang zhong

Grain in Ear

15° Gemini

Xia zhi

Summer Solstice

0° Cancer

Xiao shu

Slight Heat

15° Cancer

Da shu

Great Heat

0° Leo

Li qiu

Fall Begins

15° Leo

Chu shu

Storage of Heat

0° Virgo

Bai lu

White Dew

15° Virgo

Qiu fen

Fall Equinox

0° Libra

Han lu

Cold Dew

15° Libra

Shuang jiang

Frost Falls

0° Scorpio

Li dong

Winter Begins

15° Scorpio

Xiao xue

Little Snow

0° Sagittarius

Da xue

Much Snow

15° Sagittarius

Dong zhi

Winter Solstice

0° Capricorn

Xiao han

Slight Cold

15° Capricorn

Da han

Great Cold

0° Aquarius

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Lunar Calendar - Yinli 

Chinese Lunar calendar measures the synodic month, the cycle of Moon from one New Moon to another.

Lunar year contains in principle 12 months, but in order to synchronize it with the Solar calendar, a 13^th month is added at intervals.

Chinese festivals are determined by the Lunar calendar. The well-known Chinese New Year is celebrated on the Lunar New Year, which according to the Solar calendar falls annually on different dates in January or February. In 2021 it is on February 12^th.

Lunar calendar is used in Ziwei Doushu (Purple Star Astrology).

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Stems and Branches - Ganzhi

Hours, days, months, and years are expressed with characters called Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches.

It is assumed that the Celestial Stems were originally days of a 10-day week. The ten stems correlate with Hetu or River Chart.

The cycle of Terrestrial Branches was originally associated with the c. 12-year cycle of Jupiter. Later they were used to count the 12 months of the year and the 12 double-hours of a day.

Each unit of time is described using a pair of stem and branch.

Celestial
Stem

Element

Hetu
Number

Jia

yang wood

3

Yi

yin wood

8

Bing

yang fire

7

Ding

yin fire

2

Wu

yang earth

5

Ji

yin earth

10

Geng

yang metal

9

Xin

yin metal

4

Ren

yang water

1

Gui

yin water

6

Terrestrial Branch

Animal
correspondence

Zi

Rat

Chou

Ox

Yin

Tiger

Mao

Rabbit

Chen

Dragon

Si

Snake

Wu

Horse

Wei

Goat

Shen

Monkey

You

Rooster

Xu

Dog

Hai

Pig

6-17-2002, 12 PM

Hour

Day

Month

Year

Celestial Stem

Gui

Bing

Bing

Ren

Terrestrial Branch

Si

Chen

Wu

Wu

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Five Melodic Elements - Nayin Wuxing

Each pair of stems and branches forms a unit, which has its own qi called a melodic element. Five melodic elements are used both in Feng Shui and astrology. They have poetic names, which describe different appearances of qi.

Wood in the Forest
Wood of Poplar and Willow
Wood of Cedar and Pine
Wood on the Plain
Mulberry Wood
Pomegranate/Guava Wood

Fire in the Furnace
Fire on the Mountain
Fire of Lightning
Fire on the Mountainside
Fire of the Lamp
Fire in the Heaven

Earth at the Roadside
Earth of the Fortress
Earth on the Roof
Earth of the Wall
Earth on the Highway
Earth in the Sand

Gold at the Bottom of the Sea
Metal of the Sword
White Molten Metal
Metal in the Sand
Metal of Gold Foil
Metal of Bracelets and Hairpins

Water in the Stream
Water of Rain and Springs
Forever Running Water
Water of the Celestial River (Milky Way)
Riverwater
Oceanwater

6-17-2002, 12 PM

Hour

Day

Month

Year

Celestial Stem

Gui

Bing

Bing

Ren

Terrestrial Branch

Si

Chen

Wu

Wu

Melodic Element

Forever Running Water

Earth Buried in the Sand

Water of the Celestial River

Wood of Poplar and Willow

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Nine Stars - Jiuxing

Nine stars are associated with Big Dipper and Luoshu or Chart of River Luo. Hours, days, months, years, units of 20, 60 and 180 years are all described using the nine stars, which symbolize certain qualities of energy. Chinese call them also spirits. Nine-star timekeeping is mainly used in Feng Shui.

Yibai * 1-White

Tanlang - Greedy Wolf

Erhe * 2-Black

Jumen - Great Gate

Sanbi * 3-Jade

Lucun - Wealth Preserved

Silu * 4-Green

Wenqu - Literary Curve

Wuhuang * 5-Yellow

Lianzhen - Honesty

Liubai * 6-White

Wuqu - Military Windings

Qizi * 7-Red

Pojun - Destroying army

Babai * 8-White

Zuofu - Left Assistant

Jiuchi * 9-Purple

Youbi - Right Assistant

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28 Asterisms - Xiu Fendu

Chinese divided the sky into four quarters and named them as constellations: Azure Dragon (east), Red Bird (south), White Tiger (west), and Black Warrior or Turtle (north). Each of the constellations were further divided into seven asterisms. These asterisms divided the ecliptic - the Yellow Path - into 28 parts. By observing the position of Moon against the background of 28 asterisms, the Chinese were able to establish the position of the Sun. It is assumed that the division into 28 parts is based on the Saturn cycle of 28 years or Moon cycle of 28 days.

The asterisms occupy unequal segments of the sky. The Moon crosses the smallest of them in less than two hours while it takes over two days for it to travel through the largest asterism. Because of the inability by most practitioners in the past to calculate precisely the position of the Moon in relation to real asterisms, they assigned one day of the 28-day cycle of the Moon for each asterism. This is still in use in popular forms of predictions using 28 asterisms.

Asterisms were used for making weather forecasts. They were formerly one of the main factors in personal astrology, but they have lost their importance in astrological methods as practiced today. They are still used in some forms of Feng Shui.

Asterisms are most commonly used in a popular method of determining auspicious and inauspicious days for performing important activities. Find here some interpretations of 28 asterisms.

Qinlong

Green Dragon

Eastern Quarter
of the Sky

Jiao

Horn

Thursday

Kang

Neck

Friday

Di

Base

Saturday

Fang

House

Sunday

Xin

Heart

Monday

Wei

Tail

Tuesday

Ji

Winnowing Basket

Wednesday

Xuanwu

Black Warrior

Northern Quarter
of the Sky

Dou

Southern Dipper

Thursday

Niu

Ox

Friday

Nu

Maid

Saturday

Xu

Void

Sunday

Wei

Roof (Danger)

Monday

Shi

Room

Tuesday

Bi

Wall

Wednesday

Baihu

White Tiger

Western Quarter
of the Sky

Kui

Stride

Thursday

Lou

Tether

Friday

Wei

Stomach

Saturday

Mao

Pleiades

Sunday

Bi

Net

Monday

Zi

Beak

Tuesday

San

Orion

Wednesday

Zhuque
Zhuniao

Red Rice Sparrow or Red Bird

Southern Quarter
of the Sky

Jing

Well

Thursday

Gui

Ghost

Friday

Liu

Willow

Saturday

Xing

Stars

Sunday

Zhang

Bow

Monday

Yi

Wings

Tuesday

Zhen

Chariot

Wednesday

Some nations of South China developed their own method of timekeeping using 28 asterisms and 12 animals (Terrestrial branches). Instead of the cycle of 60 pairs of 10 stems and 12 branches of Ganzhi, they use 84 pairs of 28 asterisms and 12 animals. Even the asterisms are named after animals.

Blue Dragon

Jiao

Crocodile

Long

Dragon

He

Badger

Tu

Rabbit

Hu

Fox

Hu

Tiger

Bao

Leopard

Black Warrior

Xiezhi

Unicorn,qirin

Niu

Ox

Bianfu

Bat

Shu

Rat

Yan

Swallow

Yayu

Pig

Zhu

Porcupine

White Tiger

Lang

Wolf

Gou

Dog

Zhi

Pheasant

Ji

Rooster

Wu

Crow

Hou

Monkey

Yuan

Gibbon

Red Bird

Bian

Tapir

Yang

Goat

Zhang

Muntjak

Ma

Horse

Lu

Deer

She

Snake

Qiuyin

Earth Worm

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12 Officers on Duty - Jianchu

Huainanzi, a book published in the time of Early Han-dynasty (206 - 25 B.C.E), describes a twelve day cycle of favourable and unfavourable days. The method is also called Dong Gong or ”Master Dong”, who is said to have elaborated on the meanings.

Jian

Establishment

Chu

Removal

Man

Fulfillment

Ping

Balance

Ding

Determination

Zhi

Rigidity

Po

Destruction

Wei

Danger

Cheng

Completion

Shou

Harvest

Kai

Opening

Bi

Closing

Find here some interpretations of Dong Gong.

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ASTROLOGY

Astrology is the way to calculate Heaven's luck in a person's life. Heaven's influence is reflected in time. When we are born, our fate is set and we are given certain kind of Heaven's luck, which can be desciphered with the help of astrology or numerology based on the moment of birth.

The Chinese idea of luck differes from the Western view. Luck is not of random occurence. It can be calculated from the birth time of a person. Thus it is possible to know, when one enjoys a lucky period and one can take advantage of it. In the same way one is able to prepare oneself for more demanding times of life.

What we call Chinese astrology is not astrology in the Western sense of the word. Astrological calculations are based on actual movements of Celestial bodies. Pythagoreans thought that all things are numbers. The Chinese shared this approach and aimed at explaining different phenomena by means of numerological calculations. Real stars lent their names to the ciphers, which were used to describe various manifestations of energy in changing time. Thus Chinese astrology should rightly be called numerology.

Numerological means are also used in Chinese medicine, because the methods give information about the person's inherent physical strengths and weakenesses. This helps the doctor to analyze the fundamental cause of any illness and to choose a fitting cure. Fate calculation is taken into account also in establishing the timing of treatment. For example acupuncture and moxibustion treatments should be performed at carefully calculated times so that most benefit can be derived from them.

The time of a person's birth is expressed by the means of Celestial stems and Terrestrial branches which form the Four Pillars. These are used to read the character, strengths and weaknesses, favourable and difficult periods, relationships, wealth potential, suitable lines of work, place of living etc. of a person.

Four Pillars is a valuable tool when performing a Feng Shui audit.

Zi Wei Dou Shu

Zi Wei Dou Shu resembles Western astrology in that it uses 12 houses to define areas of human life: parents, siblings, carreer, wealth etc. Like Western astrology, it uses stars and considers their placement in the houses and their relationships to each other. However, these stars are not actual celestial bodies or planets but numerological symbols of stars. Different schools of Zi Wei Dou Shu use varying amounts of stars, which can range from 36 to 118.

Zi Wei Dou Shu gives detailed information about a person's life.

Jiuxing

Nine stars are used to map out the character and fate of a person. The birth year is used to calculate ming gua or life number (fate number). In Bazhai (8 houses) Feng Shui this number is used to determine auspicious and inauspicious directions for the person. In Feixing (Flying Stars) Feng Shui the ming gua of a person is compared with the energy chart of the building. Thus it is possible to find out information about the run and timing of a person's life in any current place of living. For the Chinese ming gua is mainly a Feng Shui tool, which measures the relationship of a human with his environment, especially the harmony of human energy field (specifically the electro-magnetic field) with the energy field of earth.

The Japanese adopted the idea from the Chinese, but they developed the method more towards character analysis. The Japanese Nine Star Ki doesn't make a difference between male and female guas as does the original Chinese version. In addition to birth year gua, also the month and day guas are used to give a more detailed reading of a person's character.

Calculate your Ming Gua and your NineStar Ki chart here.

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 Päivi Vilkki