Calendars, Asian

In addition to the Gregorian calendar, the solar, or sun-based, standard international calendar of today, a variety of traditional calendars are in common use throughout Asia, depending on the country as well as the religion of the users. The lunar calendar is used mainly for cultural and astrological purposes. Characteristic of lunar calendars generally, the date that marks the beginning of a new year can vary. For those who live in an agricultural society, a solar-based calendar is best suited so that events occur at the same time each year according to planting/ harvesting. Yet most calendars were based on the lunar year, which follows the cycles of the moon. The Chinese calendar, and subsequently others in use on the Asian continent, became a lunisolar calendar, one that follows both the sun and the moon, so that, for example, the solar calendar would number the months, while the lunar calendar would be useful for marking dates such as holidays.

Differences among Asian calendars also reflect how cyclical dating and chronology were tied historically to the reign of an emperor or ruling dynasty in that country. Thus, the numbering of a year meant different things in different traditions. Another difference is that the lunar calendar is based on where the moon rises and the time when it rises, leading to different starts of the month in various latitudes. Again, this can cause confusion when using the moon to determine the start of a day, a month, or even a year.

Some of the more common, or well-known, Asian calendars are the Chinese, Japanese, and Singaporean, as well as specific ones such as the Kali Yoga and Parasurama calendars used in Southeast Asia. Today, however, while cultures continue to use their traditional calendars for marking holidays and cultural events, the day-to-day dating of events is based on the Gregorian calendar to ensure that time is observed consistendy across cultures.

The Chinese calendar has survived intact for nearly 5 millennia, partially because until the mid-1900s the calendar was considered sacred and thus one needed imperial authority to change it.

Over its long history, India has used many calendars and dating systems that can be split into two basic types—civil, which changed with each regime, and religious, as in the case of those maintained by the Hindus. Although each region had its own Hindu calendar (over 30 different ones), there are some common components. The earliest calendars in India began with a solar year of 360 days split into 12 lunar months, corrected by an intercalating month every 60 months. In 1200 CE, the Muslim calendar came into use for administrative purposes; it was replaced in 1757 with the Gregorian calendar by the British. Yet, throughout this time, each state maintained its own calendar used in daily interactions. Even when an Indigenous government took control in 1947, the difficulties of date interpretation throughout the country continued. Two general Hindu calendars remain in use: the Northern or the Vishnu calendar, which is based on the lunar month beginning with the full moon, while in the Southern calendar the lunar month begins with the new moon. In northern India, the lunar month begins with the full or waning moon, while Hindus in the south of India, the Siva, measure the month from the new or waxing moon. To help avoid some of the date interpretation problems, the two halves of the month are numbered separately, with each half being called a <>

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