Chinese Calendar
The Chinese calendar describes every day in several systems at once: the lunar calendar date, the year, month and day pillars, the solar term and the indicators from the Tong Shu almanac — the Day Officer, the lunar mansion and the day spirit. All of it is calculated by the rules of the tradition.
Today: November 7, 2026 in the Chinese Calendar
November 7, 2026 is a Saturday; in the Chinese lunar calendar it is day 29 of the 9th month of the Year of the Fire Horse (九月廿九). The day pillar is 乙酉 (Yi You), a Wood Rooster day, number 22 in the sixty-day cycle. The Day Officer is Open and the day spirit is Vermilion Bird: a Black Path day. At 17:52 Beijing time, the “Start of Winter” solar term begins. It opens the solar month 己亥, and from that minute the month pillar in BaZi changes.
What's in the Calendar
- Lunar date: the day and month in the Chinese lunisolar calendar, plus the date of the New Year.
- Pillars of the year, month and day: signs of the sexagenary cycle, the same as in BaZi.
- Solar term: one of the twenty-four, with its exact start time.
- Day Officer: one of the twelve “spirits” of the Tong Shu almanac, with the traditional lists of what the day is good and bad for.
- Lunar mansion, one of twenty-eight, and the day spirit: Yellow Path or Black Path.
- Clash: the animal for which the day is traditionally unlucky, and the Sha direction.
- The twelve hours of the day: the pillar, spirit and clash of each.
The “Whole month” mode shows the same information as a day-by-day table.
Every day of 2026 and 2027 has its own page, linked from the month tables. To pick a day for a specific undertaking — moving house, a wedding, opening a business — use date selection: it checks each day against the almanac's rules and against birth dates.
Lunar and Solar Calendars
The Chinese calendar is lunisolar. A month begins on the day of the new moon in Beijing time, and a year has twelve or thirteen months. The extra, leap month is inserted where the Sun passes no principal term during the whole month. That's why the New Year floats between January 21 and February 20.
In parallel, the year is divided into twenty-four solar terms of 15° of the ecliptic each. The astrological year and months are counted by them: the year begins at Lichun, around February 4, and the Tiger month runs from Start of Spring to Awakening of Insects. Hence two different “New Years”: the festive one and the astrological one.
The Twelve Day Officers
The officer — jianchu in Chinese, “establish and remove” — is determined by the day branch relative to the month branch. On the day the two branches match, Establish rules, and the rest follow in a cycle. On the first day of a new solar month the officer repeats: this is a rule of the almanac, not an error.
| Day Officer | Character | Traditionally good for |
|---|---|---|
| Establish | 建 | starting projects, business meetings, travel |
| Remove | 除 | cleaning, clearing out clutter, medical treatment |
| Full | 满 | celebrations, shopping, stocking up |
| Balance | 平 | repairs, settling disputes |
| Stable | 定 | weddings, contracts, hiring |
| Initiate | 执 | construction, planting |
| Destruction | 破 | demolition and dismantling only |
| Danger | 危 | cautious everyday tasks |
| Success | 成 | weddings, opening a business, moving house |
| Receive | 收 | harvesting, shopping |
| Open | 开 | opening a business, study, moving house |
| Close | 闭 | wrapping things up, saving |
Mansions and the Day Spirit
The twenty-eight lunar mansions — sections of the sky along the Moon's path — follow one another day by day in an unbroken cycle tied to the week: the Horn mansion always falls on a Thursday. By tradition, half of the mansions are auspicious and half are not.
The day spirit is one of twelve, from Azure Dragon to Hooked Array. Six of them make up the “Yellow Path,” the auspicious days, and six the “Black Path.” The almanac uses the same scheme to rate the hours within a day.
An Honest Look at the Method
The calendar here is calculated precisely: new moons and solar terms from astronomical tables, cycles by the rules of the tradition. But the almanac's recommendations remain a tradition: there's no verifiable evidence that a wedding on a Success day is happier than one on a Destruction day. It's a handy aid for planning and a part of the culture, not a forecast.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Chinese New Year fall on a different day every year?
It's tied to the new moon: it's the second new moon after the winter solstice, or less often the third. That's why the date floats between January 21 and February 20.
How is the lunar date different from the month pillar?
A lunar month begins at the new moon, while the month pillar begins at a jie solar term. Their boundaries don't coincide: the eighth lunar month and the Rooster month overlap but are not the same.
Which time zone is the calendar calculated in?
Beijing time, as in Chinese almanacs. For dates close to a change of solar term or a new moon, the day may shift in other time zones.
All Pages in This List
Day-by-day tables for every month: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December 2026; January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December 2027.