2024 is the Year of the Dragon, but the starting point of the Year of the Dragon is not January 1, 2024. When does the Year of the Rabbit and the Year of the Dragon switch between the genus?Is it New Year's Day, Spring Festival, or the beginning of spring?
1.Solar and lunar calendars
The solar calendar, also known as the "solar calendar", is a calendar based on the sun's cycle, reflecting the change of the sun's position on the ecliptic, with the earth revolving around the sun 36524 days for a return year, with an average of 30 per month437 days.
The months and days of the solar calendar are basically consistent with the position of the sun on the ecliptic, so the cold and warm changes of the four seasons can be seen according to the date of the solar calendar.
However, the date of the solar calendar does not match the law of the moon's roundness, for example, there may be a full moon on the 1st, and there may be no moon on the 15th.
The lunar calendar, also known as the "lunar calendar", is a calendar formulated according to the laws of the moon, reflecting the changes of the moon's circle and absence, so the month corresponds more accurately to the moon's round and absence. The moon is missing for a month, and the moon is missing for 12 weeks, for a year, a total of 35436 days.
In order to complement each other's strengths, our ancestors used the "summer calendar", which is now the "lunar calendar", which is a lunisolar calendar. That is, the year follows the solar calendar, and the month follows the lunar calendar, adding the concept of the 24 solar terms, and using the "intercalation method" to adapt the average calendar year and the return year.
2.Gregorian calendar and dry calendar
According to normal standards, there are only three types of current calendars: the solar calendar, the lunar calendar, and the luni-solar calendar, and the internationally accepted Gregorian calendar is only one of the solar calendar.
The Gregorian calendar was originally called the ** year, also known as the Western calendar or Western Yuan, which was first made by the Italians who reformed the old calendar. It was approved by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, so it is also called the "Gregorian calendar".
The Gregorian calendar begins with the year of Jesus' birth, the first year of the Common Era. The year 2024 is the two thousand and twenty-fourth year after the birth of Jesus.
The "New Year's Day" in modern people refers to January 1 of the Gregorian calendar, and the lunar calendar in traditional culture in 2024 will not start until the first day of the first lunar month, that is, the Spring Festival, from February 10 of the Gregorian calendar.
The "Year of the Dragon" in the genus refers to the year of Jiachen, which belongs to the category of "Ganzhi calendar", which is an ancient solar calendar. When the stem branch calendar uses 60 sets of different sexagenary branches to mark the year, month and day, the sexagenary branches are matched in pairs in turn, and they are combined into 60 basic units, 60 in a cycle, and the cycle repeats.
Its main content is December built and the 24 solar terms, "built" reflects the direction of the Big Dipper bucket handle, in a year, the bucket handle rotates to point to the 12 Chen, that is, "December build", such as the first month of the month, February refers to Mao, etc.
The division of December is based on the festival, for example, the beginning of spring and the beginning of the sting belong to the month of Yin, and the beginning of spring is the beginning of the month of Yin;The period between heavy snow and light cold belongs to the sub-month, and heavy snow is the beginning of the sub-month, etc. The Ganzhi calendar takes the Yin month as the first month of the year, and the beginning of the Spring Festival is the beginning of the year of the Ganzhi calendar.
3.When does the Year of the Dragon begin?
As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, in the book "On Balance", there has been a complete record of the zodiac, which is one of the unique symbols of our traditional culture. The zodiac is also a concrete representation of the twelve earthly branches, which correspond to the twelve zodiac signs.
They are: Zi Rat, Ugly Cow, Yin Tiger, Mao Rabbit, Chen Long, Si Snake, Wu Ma, Wei Yang, Shen Monkey, Youji, Hu Dog and Hai Pig.
For example, 2022 is the year of Renyin, and the earth branch corresponds to the zodiac tiger, so this year is the year of the tiger;2024 is the year of Jiachen, and the earthly branch corresponds to the zodiac dragon, so 2024 is the year of the dragon.
Therefore, the "Year of the Dragon", as well as the switch between the two zodiac signs of the rabbit and the dragon, will not start on January 1, 2024, nor in our Spring Festival, but should start with the beginning of the Yin month and the beginning of the Spring Festival.
That is, from February 4 of the Gregorian calendar, the year of the dragon will officially begin. Strictly speaking, people born before this should not belong to the "dragon", but should belong to the "rabbit", and only those born after February 4 can be considered dragons. Treasure Author Creation Project 5