CALENDAR AND CONVENTIONS
What a date-only year reading can and cannot say
A year placement is one calendar label, not a complete personal chart.
Go deeper: the full reference
The idea in context
This calculator does not use birth time, birthplace or a converted instant. It does not calculate solar-term month, day or hour pillars, luck cycles, compatibility, health or life events. Symbolic examples are for reflection and never override a person's lived experience.
An example to picture
Two people with the same year placement can have different histories, choices and circumstances.
A question to sit with
Which part of this symbol is useful to reflect on without treating it as a rule?
Native app reference
The original examples describe Synastry’s date-only native year reader. This web guide does not calculate a placement or a Four Pillars chart.
Keep the calendar convention in view
The website offers these educational readings. Synastry’s native year reader uses a civil date and Lunar New Year; it is separate from a full Four Pillars or BaZi chart. Begin with the convention before comparing year labels.
Sources and conventions
These references identify the calendar or historical method used in this guide. Keep the named convention in view when comparing other traditions.
Hong Kong Observatory — Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables ↗ · Calendar reference covering 1901–2100, including leap months and cautions near midnight boundaries. The Synastry native reader uses its separately disclosed date-only Lunar New Year convention; this website provides the educational guide.
Connect the ideas
Begin with the year, not a full chart
Learn the calendar language used by Synastry’s native Chinese lunar-year reading, with its limits and conventions kept visible.
1 min readThe calendar convention in this guide
A Chinese lunar-year reading from an entered Gregorian calendar date.
1 min readA lunisolar calendar
Chinese calendar months follow lunar phases while the year stays aligned with seasons.
1 min readThe Lunar New Year boundary
This calculator changes the year placement on the first day of the first lunar month.
1 min read