Did people in ancient China use the lunar calendar?

It is not the lunar calendar in today's sense, but mainly the following.

Calendar is an important part of ancient astronomy in China. It includes not only the arrangement of years, months, days, hours and solar terms, but also the sun, months, planets, eclipses, shadows, missing engravings, the appearance of stars, the division of the sky and so on. Therefore, the ancient calendar in China has the nature of today's astronomical calendar.

Xia Zhengxiao is one of the oldest books in existence, and it is said to be an almanac of Xia Dynasty (about 2 1 century BC to16th century BC). It records the knowledge that people determine the farming season by observing the astronomical phenomena and phenology. It was originally an article in "Big Wear Li Ji" and later spread as a separate book. According to research, the text is only over 400 words. As far as astronomical knowledge is concerned, it records the monthly astrology in the order of twelve months, such as the stars that appear in the south in the morning and evening, the handle direction of Beidou, the position of the Milky Way in the sky, and the position where the sun reaches among the stars. In addition, there are monthly meteorological, phenological and agricultural activities to be done. For example, "In the first month, when the sting begins, the bow can be seen, and bucket handle hangs down at the beginning ..." Here, "Ju" and "Shen" are all star names, and "bucket handle" is the handle of the Big Dipper. Whether this book is an almanac of the Xia Dynasty is still inconclusive in academic circles, but it was written at the latest in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC to 476 BC). According to the astronomical phenomena reflected in the book, there are obviously materials from earlier times.

Since the Han Dynasty (205 BC-220 AD), there have been complete and systematic calendar works, including about * * * calendars 100 published and unpublished in various historical dynasties, most of which are included in the Annals of the Twenty-four Histories, which is a treasure house for studying China's calendars. Now choose a profile.

"San Li", Liu Xin (? -23), generally considered to be based on the calendar written by Deng Ping, Luo and others in the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (BC 104) with a slight modification. This is the earliest complete calendar in existence, and the basic contents of later calendars are generally available at this time. There are seven sections in the "three calendars": mother unification, mother training, five steps, unified skills, training skills, old-age skills and world classics. The basic constants and calculation methods of the movement of the sun and the moon include the tropic year, the length of the first lunar month, the number of months in a year, the solar eclipse cycle, the first lunar month and the calculation methods of solar terms. The basic constants and calculation methods of the walking star, including rendezvous period, operation dynamics, infection law, planetary position prediction, etc. The calculation method of star age is discussed. Shi jing talks about archaeological chronology. The "Three Calendars" also clearly stipulates that a leap is set in a neutral month, and a "Shangyuan" is chosen as the starting point of the calendar. These contents of these three calendars have a great influence on later calendars, and some of them are still in use today. Qian Daxin (1728- 1804), Li Rui (1773- 18 17), Dong Youcheng (1791-/.

The Dry Elephant Calendar was written by Liu Hong (about 135-2 10) in the 11th year of Jian 'an (AD 206). It has made new progress in the study of the moon's movement. It first proposed the movement of the perihelion (perihelion) of the moon, so as to calculate the perihelion length, and worked out the monthly departure table day by day in a perihelion month. It first proposed that the intersection angle of yellow and white was six degrees (and a number), and it first proposed the calculation method of the food limit in copulation calculation, which had a great influence on the calendar of later generations.

Huang Liji was written (544-6 10) in the fourth year of Renshou (A.D. 604) of Emperor Wendi, and was not published. Considering the non-uniformity of the apparent motion of the sun and the moon, Huang calculated the three moments of the rendezvous of the sun and the moon and established the equidistant quadratic difference interpolation method. In order to obtain the fixed-month correction value at any time, the formula of quadratic difference interpolation method in any interval is established. This plays an important role in the history of astronomy and mathematics in China. Interpolation methods for calculating the movement of the sun, the moon and the five stars in later calendars mostly inherited Huang's method and continued to develop.

Great Yan Li was written by one monk and one party (683-727) in the 15th year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and was later compiled by Chen (667-730). Published in the seventeenth year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (AD 729), it was used in the tenth year of Tianbao (AD 75 1 year). In the 21st year of Kaiyuan (AD 733), it was introduced to Japan and used in Japan for nearly a hundred years. Da Yan Li is well-structured and well-organized. * * * There are seven calendars, and the specific calculation method is described. In addition, there are 12 calendar discussions (including three short examples) to talk about the theoretical problems of calendars. It was a paper written by Da Yanli, commonly known as Da Yanli Discussion. The formulation of the Great Yan Li started with the manufacture of instruments, and the basic astronomical data were determined through actual observation, which is a scientific method. After the establishment of the Dayan calendar, we have a correct and comprehensive understanding of the uneven motion of the sun and the moon. Through practical observation, the fallacy of "one inch difference, 108 thousand miles" has been broken for thousands of years. In the calculation method, the unequal interval quadratic difference interpolation method in Dayan Calendar is improved compared with that in Huangji Calendar.

The chronology was written by Guo Shoujing (A.D. 1280) in the 17th year from Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty and published the following year. Dali in the Ming Dynasty continued to use its method, which was used for more than 360 years before and after. It was the longest calendar in ancient times and reached its peak in astronomical data and calculation methods. The calendar of China's classical system ends here. Later, the introduction of western astronomical knowledge affected the compilation of calendars. The first and second chapters of Chronicle of Service in the existing Historical Records of Yuan Dynasty were re-edited by Guo Shoujing on the basis of Wang Xun's first draft (1225- 128 1). At that time, although the Chronological Calendar had been published, various data tables and stepping algorithms had not yet been finalized. In the 18th year of Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 128 1), Wang Xun died unfortunately and was presided over by Guo Shoujing alone. He "neatly divided into two volumes compared with the whole class" * * * consists of seven parts, the content of which is similar to that of Dayan Calendar; However, it is important in the history of astronomy and mathematics to calculate the five-star positions of the sun, the moon and the sun by equidistant cubic difference interpolation, and to calculate the right ascension and the right declination according to the sun's yellow meridian by sagittal cyclotomic method and spherical triangle method. At present, many Chinese and foreign scholars are studying the service calendar.

The Calendar of Chongzhen was edited by Xu Guangqi (1562- 1633) and continued by Li Tianjing (1579- 1659) in the late Ming Dynasty, from the second year to the seventh year of Chongzhen (1629 to/. This paper introduces the knowledge of European classical astronomy from many aspects, including the basic theory of astronomy, trigonometry, geometry, astronomical instruments, the movement and eclipse of the sun, the moon and the five planets, the all-sky star map, and the conversion of Chinese and western units. * * * 46 species/KOOC-0/37, using Tycho (/KOOC-0/546-/KOOC-0/60/KOOC-0/) solar system. In terms of calculation methods, many chapters in Copernicus (1473- 1543) and Kepler's (1571-kloc-0/630) on the motion of Mars have been translated, and the calendar is being calculated. China's ancient astronomical system began to transform into modern astronomy.

At the end of Ming Dynasty, folk almanac was not compiled according to Chongzhen almanac. The almanac compiled by the Qing Dynasty according to the Chongzhen almanac was used until the end of the Qing Dynasty. There is 100 volume of New Calculations of the West in Sikuquanshu, which was edited by missionary Tang Ruowang (159 1- 1666) according to the almanac of Chongzhen.