When did the Year of the Monkey begin to count?

The zodiac reflects a concept of time. The management time of each zodiac is average, that is, the time for the earth to make a circle around the sun, with a period of twelve years. When we understand that the Chu Zodiac is a concept of time, we will know why it is incorrect to set the dividing point of the two Zodiac at 0: 00 on the first day of the first month, because if we define it like that, a leap year will take care of one Zodiac 13 months, and the collocation of heavenly stems and earthly branches will be out of order.

China Gregorian calendar uses beginning of spring to determine the zodiac. The "lunar calendar" is the lunar calendar that began to be used in the Han Dynasty. The New Year is bounded by beginning of spring, beginning of spring is the first of the 24 solar terms, and the zodiac is based on beginning of spring. The correct calculation of the time of the zodiac should be "from the moment you give it to beginning of spring, to the end before you give it to beginning of spring the next year."

There are 10 dry days and 12 earthly branches between liujia concentration areas, that is, Zichou Yin Mao and Tatsumi Shen You Xu Hai at noon. This is a bit complicated, so the ancients thought of using animals to represent earthly branches, that is, the zodiac. Rats, ugly cows, silver tigers, hairy rabbits, dragons, snakes, afternoon horses, sheep, monkeys, chickens, dogs and porcupines. The zodiac is unique in Liu Jianian, China, and it should be counted from beginning of spring.

Traditional numerology and divination are based on "beginning of spring". Including the current folk fortune tellers, have always followed the traditional zodiac formula. Because the zodiac is the same as the earthly branch, it can't be determined by the current Spring Festival. For convenience, some people decide the zodiac directly according to the Spring Festival, so the tradition is gradually forgotten by many people, and the definition of the zodiac is also controversial.

To sum up, the zodiac is not divided by the solar calendar, nor by the lunar calendar, but by festivals. Dividing by season is the most accurate, because every month's solar terms will be adjusted in time according to the position of the earth.