What? The upcoming Lunar Year of the Rabbit has 384 days

2022 has passed, and the brand new year of 2023 has arrived. According to astronomical science experts, the Gregorian calendar year of 2023 is an ordinary year, with 28 days in February and a total of 365 days in the whole year. The upcoming Lunar calendar Year of the Rabbit is a leap year, with a total of 384 days in the whole year.

Image source: Xinhua News Agency

Zhao Zhiheng, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society, said that the Gregorian calendar and the lunar calendar have different historical origins and calendar regulations. The Gregorian calendar has a leap year every four years. Usually, any year that can be divided by 4 is a leap year, with 29 days in February; any year that cannot be divided by 4 is a common year, with 28 days in February. 2023 cannot be divided by 4, so it is a common year, with a total of 365 days.

The lunar calendar is based on the cycle of the moon's waxing and waning. A new moon is a month, about 29.53 days. A whole year is generally 354 or 355 days, which is 11 days less than the Gregorian year (also known as the tropical year or solar year) of 365 or 366 days.

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In order to make the length of the lunar year close to that of the Gregorian calendar, the ancients adopted the method of adding leap months, that is, adding 7 leap months in 19 lunar years; a year with leap months has 13 months, and the whole year is generally 384 or 385 days, which is called a leap year. In this way, the length of 19 lunar years and 19 Gregorian years is almost equal.

As for which month the leap month is placed, it is related to the "zhongqi" of the 24 solar terms. The 24 solar terms are composed of 12 solar terms and 12 zhongqi. The first month is called "jieqi" and the middle month is called "zhongqi", which are arranged alternately. The rule for adding a leap month is that in each month, any month with a zhongqi is considered a normal month, and any month without a zhongqi is considered a leap month of the previous month. The "leap February" of the lunar year of the Rabbit in Guimao has no zhongqi, so it is a leap month of the previous month's February.

In the astronomical calendar, due to the addition of a leap February, the lunar year of the Rabbit will have a total of 384 days, starting on January 22, 2023 and ending on February 9, 2024.

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The lunar year of the Rabbit has more days, which also results in the calendar phenomenon of two Beginnings of Spring in ** this lunar year, that is, "two beginnings of Spring in one year", also known as "double spring year". ** Statistics show that 7 out of 19 lunar years are "double spring years", 7 years are "no spring years", and the remaining 5 years are normal "single spring years".

"Both the 'year with two springs' and the 'year with no spring' are normal calendar phenomena and have nothing to do with good or bad fortune," Zhao Zhiheng emphasized.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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