CHINESE From the time of the emperor Yao, upwards of 2,000 years B.C., the Chinese had two different years—a civil year, regu lated by the moon, and an astronomical year, which was solar. The civil year consisted in general of twelve months or lunations, but occasionally a thirteenth was added to preserve its correspon dence with the solar year. Even at that early period the solar or astronomical year consisted of 365+ days, like our Julian year, arranged in the same manner, a day being intercalated every fourth year. The civil day begins at midnight and ends at the midnight following.
Since the accession of the emperors of the Han dynasty, 206 B.C., the civil year of the Chinese has begun with the first day of that moon in the course of which the sun enters into the sign of the zodiac which corresponds with our sign Pisces. From the same period also they have employed, in the adjustment of their solar and lunar years, a period of nineteen years, twelve of which are common, containing twelve lunations each, and the remaining seven intercalary, containing thirteen lunations. It is not, however, precisely known how they distributed their months of thirty and twenty-nine days, or, as they termed them, great and small moons.
The Chinese divide the time of a complete revolution of the sun with regard to the solstitial points into twelve equal portions, each corresponding to thirty days, ten hours, thirty minutes. Each of these periods, which is denominated a tsieh, is sub divided into two equal portions called chung-ki and tsie-ki, the chung-ki denoting the first half of the tsieh, and the tsie-ki the latter half. The tsieh are thus strictly portions of solar time, and give their name to the lunar months, each month or lunation having the name of the chung-ki or sign at which the sun arrives during that month. As the tsieh is longer than a synodic revolu tion of the moon, the sun cannot arrive twice at a chung-ki during the same lunation ; and as there are only twelve tsieh, the year can contain only twelve months having different names. It must happen sometimes that in the course of a lunation the sun enters into no new sign ; in this case the month is intercalary, and is called by the same name as the preceding month, with the addition of the word jun (intercalary). (X.)