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🌺 Chinese Calendar Basic

🌺 Lunisolar Calendar

The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, which means it is the combination of both the lunar and solar calendars

🌺 Leap Years and Months

There are 365.242 days in a solar year and 354.367 days in a lunar year. Leap years are used to synchronize the solar and lunar calendars so that both begin at approximately the same time each year. In the lunisolar calendar, there are 7 leap years in every 19-year cycle.

A Chinese leap year has 13 months, with the extra month referred to as the leap month. On average, there is a leap month every 2.7 years, and it can occur in any month of the leap year. A leap month may have 29 or 30 days and does not have an associated Heavenly Stem or Earthly Branch.

If a person is born on or before the 14th or 15th day of the leap month, the previous month (the month before the leap month) is considered their birth month. If a person is born on or after the 14th or 15th day of the leap month, the following month (the month after the leap month) is considered their birth month.

If a person is born in a leap month, always generate two Life Charts and compare the results to ensure accuracy, then choose the one that matches best.
Note: Solar terms are not used in Doushu Astrology.

🌺 Stems and Branches System (Sexagenary Cycle)

The Chinese calendar also uses the Stems and Branches system to record time. These are also called the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, or the Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches.

There are 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches. Each year, month, day, and shi-chen (one shi-chen equals two hours) is named by pairing one Heavenly Stem with one Earthly Branch. This produces 60 possible Stem-and-Branch combinations (10 × 12 = 60) in one cycle. The sequence repeats after each cycle, and this sixty-period sequence is called the sexagenary cycle.

One sexagenary cycle is called a Yuan (元). Three Yuans form a 180-period cycle, which consists of the Upper Yuan, Middle Yuan, and Lower Yuan. The 3-Yuan cycle for years is a 180-year cycle, typically used in Feng Shui but not in Doushu Astrology. In Doushu Astrology, both the year stem and year branch are used, but they are applied separately rather than in combination.

🌺 Stems and Branches Sequence Numbers

For easier memorization, this website uses stem and branch sequence numbers to refer to each stem and branch.
🌲 Heavenly Stems — 10 total, labeled h1 to h10.
🌿 Earthly Branches — 12 total, labeled e1 to e12.

Yin

Yang

The names of each Chinese year, month, day, and shi-chen in a sexagenary cycle start from Jia Zi (甲子), the first year, and end with Gui Hai (癸亥), the last year.

🛞Sexagenary Cycle

1 甲子 Jia Zi	2 乙丑 Yi Chou	3 丙寅 Bing Yin	4 丁卯 Ding Mao	5 戊辰 Wù Chen	6 己巳 Ji Si	7 庚午 Geng Wǔ	8 辛未 Xin Wei	9 壬申 Ren Shen	10 癸酉 Gui You
11 甲戌 Jia Xu	12 乙亥 Yi Hai	13 丙子 Bing Zi	14 丁丑 Ding Chou	15 戊寅 Wù Yin	16 己卯 Ji Mao	17 庚辰 Geng Chen	18 辛巳 Xin Si	19 壬午 Ren Wǔ	20 癸未 Gui Wei
21 甲申 Jia Shen	22 乙酉 Yi You	23 丙戌 Bing Xu	24 丁亥 Ding Hai	25 戊子 Wù Zi	26 己丑 Ji Chou	27 庚寅 Geng Yin	28 辛卯 Xin Mao	29 壬辰 Ren Chen	30 癸巳 Gui Si
31 甲午 Jia Wǔ	32 乙未 Yi Wei	33 丙申 Bing Shen	34 丁酉 Ding You	35 戊戌 Wù Xu	36 己亥 Ji Hai	37 庚子 Geng Zi	38 辛丑 Xin Chou	39 壬寅 Ren Yin	40 癸卯 Gui Mao
41 甲辰 Jia Chen	42 乙巳 Yi Si	43 丙午 Bing Wǔ	44 丁未 Ding Wei	45 戊申 Wù Shen	46 己酉 Ji You	47 庚戌 Geng Xu	48 辛亥 Xin Hai	49 壬子 Ren Zi	510 癸丑 Gui Chou
51 甲寅 Jia Yin	52 乙卯 Yi Mao	53 丙辰 Bing Chen	54 丁巳 Ding Si	55 戊午 Wù Wǔ	56 己未 Ji Wei	57 庚申 Geng Shen	58 辛酉 Xin You	59 壬戌 Ren Xu	60 癸亥 Gui Hai