Chinese calendar

nóng lì · agricultural calendar

A traditional lunisolar calendar whose months follow lunar phases and whose year is adjusted with leap months.

A familiar bridge

Start from something known.

A lunisolar planner: lunar months are reconciled with the solar year through leap-month rules.

Worked example

See the term in position.

A date can have a Gregorian form and a Chinese lunar form, including a leap-month marker in some years.

Cultural context

What surrounds the word.

The system also uses solar terms and sexagenary cycles. Four Pillars calculations can use calendar boundaries that differ from the popular Lunar New Year boundary.

Boundary

What it does not mean.

Calling it a “lunar calendar” is convenient but incomplete because solar terms and leap-month rules also shape the year.

Inside the portrait

How this term appears here.

Lunar date facts are generated alongside the Gregorian date without replacing the Four Pillars year boundary.