CALENDAR FOUNDATIONS
Lunar New Year and Li Chun are different boundaries
Some Four Pillars traditions use the solar term Li Chun for the year pillar.
Go deeper: the full reference
What it means
Li Chun generally falls in early February and may precede or follow Lunar New Year. This calculator consistently uses Lunar New Year for a date-only year animal reading. It does not present a BaZi year pillar or settle differences among traditions.
An example
For a date between Li Chun and Lunar New Year, a BaZi source can name a different year pillar than this calculator.
A question to carry with you
Which convention is a source using before you compare two readings?
Find your own lunar-year placement
Use your birth date to find the year animal, stem, branch, stem phase and Yin/Yang. This calculator follows Chinese New Year; it does not calculate a full Four Pillars (BaZi) chart.
Connect the ideas
A 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 readThe sixty-year stem-branch cycle
Ten Heavenly Stems pair in order with twelve Earthly Branches to form sixty year names.
1 min readAn intercalary lunar month
Some lunar years repeat a month number to keep the calendar in seasonal alignment.
1 min read