New-York tribune., 1900-07-22
THE CHINESE CALENDAR.
A POSSIBLE REASON WHY THE DATES IN
CABLE DISPATCHES ARE SOME
TIMES CONFUSING.

The sojourner in the Far East is sometimes
driven to wonder why the Chinese have calen-
dar at all. They view the passing of time with
superb Indifference; punctuaity. if such thing
were ever to enter into the Celestia! calculation
would be regarded as undignified Nevertheless
they have a calendar which is by no means
bad one when considers its immense an
tiquity A wise monarch named Yao some time
about 23OO b. c. revised the calendar in use
Lefore that date to the form in which II Is FOUND
at present volume would be needed 10 eX-
plain all it's peculiarities, but now that dis
patches are mentioning Chinese dates it is as
we'll to have some idea as to wherein the Celes-
tial calendar differs from the Gregorian-
The Chinese year is lunar. and therefore con-
sists of 354 DAYS Before the time of YaO tradi-
ton has it that the year consisted of $50 days,
and that confusion had resulted. That ruler
decreed that time should be measured by the
moon and that every nineteen years should con-
tain seven additional months-almost one extra
month every three years. This reckoning is
excellent: it varies only about an hour every
nineteen years from the true time.
Although the year is lunar its beginning is
regulated by the sun. Thus the year comes
between January 2 and February 6, unlike the
Mahometan new year. which is regulated en-
tirely by the moon and comes at any time,
winter or summer. The year is divided into
twelve lunar months, called by numbers, as first,
second, and so on The extra month that comes
about every three years is not added at the end,
as one would suppose, but is inserted anywhere
probably according TO some system too subtle
for Western minds. The months are subdivlded
into three parts, which are not again subdl-
vided so that a Chinaman may speak of an
event without mentioning the exact time within
ten days. The days are also numbered, so that
ever happen TO want such a thing. There is no
week, but foreigners are gradually teaching the
I meaning of such division. The Chinese hour
is 100 minutes long but in this instance again
the foreigner is making some impression on the
/ ancient custom. and the Chinese in and near the
treaty ports familiar with the Western
method. 1t may be added, incidentally, that
Peking is just about twelve hours ahead Of
New-York in point of time.
The Chinese gather the years together into
cycles, as OccidentaIs do. but for some extraor-
binary reason the cycle consists of sixty years.
This cycle is very ancient and probably has
something to do with old astrological supersti-
tens. Another method of numbering years is
/ by the reigns of the emperors The present year
is the thirty-siXth year of the seventy-sxth
cycle. or the year 1886 since the adoption of the
present chronology.
Each year has a separate name, formed by
some combination of ten stem characters
Joined with twelve branch" characters These
used in ingenious way that could be
described only by lengthy article, and would
probably then be not quite Ineligible to the
Western mind. To &C straight to anything is
impossible to the Oriental. and the complicated
system of naming the years is proof of Chinese
ingenuity.
of late years it has been supposed that the
Chaldeans and Chinese had some intercourse AT
the time when Yao reformed the calendar. and
that the two countries worked together in max
ing the change. Certain it is that a similar
event occurred in Chaldea about the same time.
But whenever the calendar adopted it is
likely for long time to withstand the march
of progress. 1t is correct enough, and the in
convenience does not worry the Chnaman in
the least.