Korean calendar

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The traditional Korean calendar was based on the lunisolar calendar^[1] which was widely used in Korea. It is based on the Chinese calendar however, dates are calculated from Korea's meridian to reflect Korean agricultural environment and culture. The Gregorian Calendar was officially adopted in 1895, but traditional holidays and age-reckoning are still based on the old calendar.^[2] ^[3]

1 Features
2 History
3 Festivals
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Features

The Chinese zodiac of 12 Earthly Branches (animals), which were used for counting hours and years;
Ten Heavenly Stems, which were combined with the 12 Earthly Branches to form a sixty-year cycle;
Twenty-four solar terms (jeolgi 節氣 절기) in the year, spaced roughly 15 days apart;
Lunar months including leap months added every two or three years.

[edit] History

The traditional calendar designated its years via Korean era names from 536 to 963. Then Chinese era names were used until 1895 when the official use of the lunar calendar ceased.

As a result of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894–95, China's control ceased and the Gregorian calendar was adopted by the new Korean Empire on 1 January 1895, but with years numbered from the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty in 1393. From 1897, Korean era names were used for its years until Japan annexed Korea in 1910. Then Japanese era names were used to count the years of the Gregorian calendar used in Korea until Japanese occupation ended in 1945.

From 1952 until 1961 in South Korea, Gregorian calendar years were counted from the foundation of Gojoseon in 2333 BCE (regarded as year one), the date of the legendary founding of Korea by Dangun, hence these Dangi (단기) years were 4285 to 4294. This numbering may have been informally used for the years of the Korean lunar calendar before 1952 and since 1961.

[edit] Festivals

The Korean lunar calendar is used for the observation of traditional festivals, such as Korean New Year, Chuseok, and Buddha's Birthday. It is also used for jesa memorial days for ancestors and the marking of birthdays by older Koreans.