2024 is a leap year, and on the Gregorian calendar, February is 29 days, and a year without a leap year is called a common year, and on the Gregorian calendar, February in a common year is 28 days. In other words, a leap year is an extra day of the year, and the extra day is added to February.
"Leap year" is a method of intercalation on the Gregorian calendar, the purpose of which is to keep the Gregorian year in line with the earth's orbital cycle. I believe many friends know that China uses two calendars, one calendar is the Gregorian calendar, also known as the solar calendar, and the other calendar is the lunar calendar, but not the lunar calendar, that is, the lunisolar calendar.
The Gregorian calendar is also known as the solar calendar, which takes the solar return year as the cycle as the time of the year, so it is also called the solar calendar, which is common worldwide, therefore, it is also called the Gregorian calendar.
In ancient China, the lunar calendar was used, which was based on the cycle of the moon orbiting the earth as a period of one year, the sun was yang, and the moon was yin, so it was called yin. After all, the life of the ancients is not only farming, but also many tribes to hunt, grazing, etc., such as hunting, people to the characteristics of animals when to go out, to hunt beasts, this depends on the moon's profit and loss to judge, which is also a reason for the ancients to use the lunar calendar.
Later, although China was unified, the lifestyles of various tribes in the previous agricultural era were different, and the living habits they followed were also different, and the lunar calendar has been passed down. However, the lunar calendar is calculated based on the moon's orbit around the earth, which is about 354 days in a year. The solar calendar is calculated according to the earth's orbit around the sun, which is about 365 days in a year, which is basically consistent with the 24 solar terms.
Obviously, there is a big error between the lunar calendar and the 24 solar terms, and the 24 solar terms are the product of agricultural production guided by the agricultural people, so in order not to cause the 24 solar terms to be confused, so a leap month system is adopted, that is, a month is added in the appropriate year, which is the leap month.
Of course, the leap month is not added casually, it is also regulated. Since the leap month is also basically close to the solar calendar, it is said that the lunar calendar we use now is not a lunar calendar, but a lunisolar calendar. Speaking of which, some friends may say that it is not more convenient to use a calendar?Why bother?
You must know that China uses the two calendars in order to achieve unity with the world and strive for peaceful reunification. On the other hand, it is also for the sake of the old traditions and for the sake of the overall unity of the different living habits of many ethnic groups in our country.
Although the Gregorian calendar is very close to the sun's cycle, it is not an exact time, according to scientific calculations, the earth's cycle around the sun, each week is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds (36524,219 days), the remaining time is about one day in four years, so there is also a leap year, and the extra day is added to February, which is also the so-called 366th day of the Gregorian calendar leap year and 365th day of the ordinary year.
The method of calculating leap years is actually very easy for us to calculate, except for the previous century years, all the years that can be divided by four are leap years . The epoch refers to, for example, 1800 as the 18th century and 1900 as ......the 19th centuryAs for century years, only the number of centuries can be divided by 4, or the number of years can be divided by 400, is a leap year. For example, in 1700, 1800, and 1900, the number of centuries cannot be divided by 4, and the number of years cannot be divided by 400, which is not a leap year.
For the leap year, that's roughly it, as for the folk spread of the leap year leap month to wear red to avoid evil, in fact, there is no reason, leap year and leap month are a way to put the leap in the calendar not to be confused. The old tradition and old customs can not be said to be completely unreasonable, after all, it is everyone's psychological need to seek good fortune and avoid evil, the traditional customs of Naji Naxi have been circulating among the people, and many things in the world are "benevolent and wise", and it is good not to be superstitious!