The Chinese calendar is ancient and dates back over 4,000 years. The government uses the western, or Gregorian, style for its daily Chinese calendar, but the Chinese lunar calendar is followed for festivals and in some communities. More than twenty-five percent of world population uses it, as well as celebrates Chinese New Year.
The Chinese calendar itself is intricately designed by using computations combining the phases of the moon in conjunction with the position of the earth to the sun. Each month begins with the new moon. Most years contain twelve months but in the case that there are thirteen new moons in a cycle, a Leap Year is added. A new cycle begins every sixty years with the Chinese calendar.
For westerners trying to decipher the Chinese lunar calendar can be tricky and visa versa. Putting it in the most general terms, the years are named by a cycle of ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. The 60-year cycle we referred to is a combination of both. One lunar year encompasses the period between each Chinese New Year. The twelve earthly branches correspond to the twelve animals of the Chinese Lunar calendar.
The Chinese calendar has many interesting aspects. One interesting aspect of the Chinese lunar calendar is that couples can use it to choose the gender of their baby, thus it becomes a Chinese gender calendar. The only information you need is the age of the mother and the month of conception. Keep in mind that if the mother-to-be doesn’t know what it is, she must find out her lunar age. According to the chart, if a 24 year old (lunar years) woman conceives in September, the baby will be a girl. To save you a lot of time and energy in trying to make the prediction mathematically, there are many Chinese gender calendars already available in chart form. A great source for finding the gender chart and the lunar age conversion chart is on the Internet.
The belief in Chinese birth calendars is based on the discovery of a chart found in a royal tomb that was hundreds of years old. A gifted scientist was able to convert the chars into what is now the Chinese gender calendar. If you wish to see the original, it is on display at the Institute of Science in Beijing. You can find charts on the Internet but no one guarantees that the prediction will come true. You may also look up lucky baby names if you choose to. The Chinese baby calendar came into being over 300 years ago and all the days and months are based on the lunar cycles.
There is a lot of activity on the Internet regarding the Chinese baby calendar, as many people try to determine if their baby will be a boy or girl. A majority of nations see the birth of a boy as very desirable and the Chinese birth calendar is a good tool to help them plan. Interpreters can convert the Chinese calendar into the five basic elements. They look at the element under which the mother was born and look ahead to see the next year and month that the element will rule. In this way the parents can find the best time for conception in their Chinese birth calendar.