中英雙語話中國民風民俗 第34期:陰曆與陽曆的起源之說
The Origin of Solar Calendar and Lunar Calendar
陰曆與陽曆的起源之說Although China has adopted the Gregorian calendar in common with most other countries in the world for official and business purposes,the traditional Chinese calendar continues to define the dates of festivals and is used for horoscopes. The calendar had a very long history going back to the Xia(21st century BC-16th Century BC) and Shang Dynasty(l6th century BC- llth century BC). It is based on a unique combination of astronomy and geography through observation and exploration. It is also referred to as the Lunar Calendar,Yin calendar,Xia calendar or the old Chinese calendar.
雖然中國已經採用了公曆，和大多數世界各國的其他官方和經營宗旨一樣，但傳統的中國曆法仍然繼續定義節日的日期，並用於八字。日曆有一個很長的歷史，可以追溯到夏朝（公元前21世紀 - 公元前16世紀）和商代（公元前16世紀-公元前11世紀）。它是根據天文和地理通過觀察和探索的獨特組合。它也被稱爲陰曆，殷歷，夏曆或舊中國曆。Following its creation in the Xia Dynasty succeeding reigns continued to use the calendar but modified it from time to time. The Han Dynasty rulers instituted the Taichu calendar,while during Tang Dynasty the Huangji calendar was introduced and it was adopted by Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Withthe founding of the Republic of China in 1912,the Gregorian calendar was brought into use. Although ethnic groups such as Tibet and Dai have their own calendars, in essence they resemble that of the Han people. Islam reckons its own religion festivals according to the Islamic Calendar.
繼在夏王朝成功建立的王朝繼續使用日曆，但不時修改。漢代統治者設立了太初曆，而在唐代使用皇極曆，並被日本，韓國和越南引進使用。隨着中國共和國在1912年成立，公曆被投入使用。雖然族羣如西藏和傣有自己的日曆，在本質上，他們表現得像是漢族人。伊斯蘭教根據伊斯蘭曆法算自己的宗教節日。
The calendar has links with natural sciences such as agriculture and astronomy,solar terms, the four seasons and traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival. There are links also with the Five Elements' of which the ancient Chinese believed the physical universe to be composed namely, metal,wood,water,fire and earth. Finally, of course, is sheng xiao- the symbolic animals associated with each year on a 12-year cycle.
日曆與自然科學，如農業、天文、節氣、四季和傳統節日有關，如春節。這也與五行有聯繫，古老的中國人相信物質世界是由五行組成的，即金，木，水，火，土。最後，當然，是生肖，12生肖中每年都有一個象徵性的動物12年循環。
