How does the Tibetan calendar calculate time?

Tibetans have their own knowledge of astronomical calendars since ancient times, and they exchanged calendars with the Han nationality in the Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, which further promoted the cultural integration of the Han and Tibetan nationalities, and the Tibetan calendar was also perfected under such conditions.

Anyone who has been to Lhasa, Tibet knows that Tibetan calendars are published every year, and its compilation and calculation institutions and hospitals are combined into one, called "Menzikang", which translates into Chinese as "Medical Computing Bureau". This situation is formed and handed down from history. Tibetan calendar is a traditional calendar used by Tibetan people, with a history of 1000 years. It is also a treasure in the cultural treasure house of the motherland.

People who touch the Tibetan calendar will be absorbed by its strange names, such as 1980 is the year of the monkey and 198 1 is the year of the rooster. How is this arranged? It turns out that the Tibetan calendar still adopts the chronology of the trunk and branch at the beginning of the 9th century, but it is also a 60-year cycle to replace the ten-day trunk and branch with the five elements of Yin and Yang and the twelve branches with the zodiac. The twelve zodiac animals are mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. The order of the five elements is wood, fire, earth, gold and water, which are divided into yin and yang. The first year is Yang, the second year is Yin, Yang wood is A, Yin wood is B, Yang fire is C, Yin fire is D, and so on. The first year of 60 years begins with the Year of the Rabbit in Tibetan calendar 1027, such as 198 1, which is the 55th year of 60 years. In addition, there is a simple counting method of Tibetan calendar, which takes 12 years as a small period, that is, it is only calculated by twelve zodiac signs.

Tibetan calendar is a combination of yin and yang, 1 year,1February. Every month, there are major construction and minor construction, with 30 days for major construction and 29 days for minor construction. The first month is the beginning of the year, which is similar to the Han calendar. Because the leap month of Tibetan calendar is different from that of Han calendar, the monthly order of Tibetan calendar and Han calendar is often different by 1 month. The Tibetan calendar attaches more importance to the new moon than to the new moon. It must be fifteen, but the first day is not necessarily the first day. So there is sometimes a day difference between the Tibetan calendar and the Han Chinese lunar calendar.

The close relationship between Tibetan and Han nationalities goes back to ancient times. In 64 1 year, after Emperor Taizong married Songzan Gambu to Princess Wencheng, the daughter of the imperial clan, cultural contacts and exchanges between the two nations became more frequent. The calendar of Han nationality in Central Plains also spread to Tibetan areas, which promoted the development and perfection of Tibetan calendar. At present, there are many Tibetan languages about astronomical calendars, about 500 kinds, of which more than 100 kinds are translated or rewritten in Chinese.

There are other astronomical contents in the Tibetan calendar, such as calculating the solar eclipse, the zodiac, the twenty-eight nights and so on, and even the medium and long-term weather forecast in Tibet. Tibetans are very good at absorbing the cultural achievements of other nationalities or countries, are good at learning and constantly seek cultural progress. The development of their astronomical calendar knowledge also illustrates this point.