# How is the Chinese calendar used?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-chinese-calendar-used/225744>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 23, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-chinese-calendar-used/225744 "2004-01-23T12:10:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Claudio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Claudio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claudio)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-chinese-calendar-used/225744/1 "2004-01-23T12:10:26Z")

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Besides determining the Chinese New Year.

Are there other important dates?  
Is the calendar purely ceremonial or it is used in any practical sense?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-chinese-calendar-used/225744/2 "2004-01-23T12:53:46Z")

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The Chinese lunar calendar is used to determine festivals during the year. From [this page on Taiwan:](http://www.gio.gov.tw/info/festival_c/index_e.htm)

> [@](#):
>
> The lunar festivals developed from the customs of China’s past, and to the celebrants, these occasions are a time for recalling one’s cultural origins and remembering the wisdom of early ages. Such festivals include the Chinese New Year Festival, and Lantern Festival, all symbolic of discarding the old and ushering in the new; the Dragon Boat Festival, a time for warding off evil and strengthening the body; the Ghost Festival, when the outcasts from the underworld are given salvation; the Mid-Autumn Festival a celebration of the full moon and unity of mankind; and Double Ninth Festival is to remember the olders.