The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-20
CHINA's Antique CALENDAR.
A Very Good One Notwithstanding
Its Age.
From the New York Tribune.


From the New York Tribune
The sojourner in the Far East is some
times driven TO wonder why the Chinese
have calendar at all They view the
passing of time with superb indifference
punctuality If such thing were ever TO
enter into the Celestial calculation. would
be regarded as undignihed. Neverthe-
less, they have a calendar which Is by
no means bad one. when one considers
its immense antiquity. wise monarch
named Yao some time about 23OO b. C. re-
vised the calendar in use before that date
to the form in which II is found al pres
ent. volume would be needed TO ex-
plain all its peculiarities. but now that
dispatches are mentioning Chinese dates,
IL is well TO have some idea as to where
In the Celestial calendar differs from the
Gregoran.
The Chinese year is lunar and therefore
consists of 34 days. Before the time of
Yao tradition has II that the year consist
ed of $50 days. and that confusion had re-
suited. That ruler decreed thas time
should be measured by the moon and that
every nineteen years should contain seven
additional months-almost one extra
month every three years. This reckon
ing is excellent-it varies only about an
hour every nineteen years from the true
time.
Although, the year Is lunar fits begin
ming Is regarded by the sun. Thus the
new year comes between Jan! and Feb.
g. unlike the Mohammedan new year,
which is regulated entirely by the moon,
and comes az any time winter sum-
mer. The year is divided into twelve
lunar months, called by numbers. az first,
second and so on. The extra month that
comes about every three years, is not add
ed at the end, as one would suppose, but
is inserted anywhere. probably according
to some system too subtle for Western
minds. The months are sub-divided into
three parts. which are not again sub-di-
vided, 50 that "A Chinaman may speak of
an event without mentioning the exact
time within ten days. The days are also
numbered. so that exactness may be Sc
csured If a Chnaman should ever hap
pen 40 want such a thing. There Is no
week, but foreigners gradually teach
ing The meaning Of such a division. The
Chinese hour is 100 minutes long, but In
this instance again the foreigner is max
ing some impression on the ancient GUS
tom and the Chinese in and near the
treaty parts are familiar with the West
ern method 1t may be added. incident
ally. that Pekin is just about twelve
hours ahead of New York in point of time.
in cycles. as Occidentals do. but for some
extraordinary reason the cycle consists
Of sixty years. This cycle is very ancient
and probably has something 10 do with
old astrological superstitions. Another
method of numbering years Is by the
regins of the Emperors. The present year
Is the thirty-year of the seventy-sixth
cycle, or the year 4536 since the adoption
Of the present chronology Each year has
separate name, formed by some COM
bination OF ten stem characters Joined
with twelve branch" characters. These
are used in an ingenious way that could
be described only by lengthy article.
and would probably then be not quite in
telligibe 20 the Western mind. To go
straight to anything Is impossible to the
Oriental and the complicated system of
naming the years is proof OF Chinese In
genuity
OF late years II has been supposed that
the Chaldeans and Chinese had some in
tercourse at the time when Yao reformed
the calendar and that the two countries
worked together in making the change.
Certain IL Is that a similar event occur
red in Chaldea about the same time. But
whenever the calendar was adopted IL 10
likely for a long time TO withstand the
march of progress 1t is correct enough.
end the inconvenience does not worry the
Chinaman in the least