Chinese lunar calendar converter
Convert a Gregorian date to the Chinese lunisolar date with leap months, the sexagenary year, zodiac animal and element, and nearby Chinese New Year dates.
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Pick a Gregorian date to see the matching Chinese calendar date: the month number and day, whether the month is a leap month, the year's heavenly stem and earthly branch, its position in the 60-year cycle, its zodiac animal and its element. The date is also written in Chinese characters, for example 闰二月十一 for the 11th day of the leap second month.
The Chinese calendar is lunisolar. Months start on the new moon, and about seven times every 19 years a leap month is inserted so the year stays in step with the seasons; 2023 had a leap second month and 2025 a leap sixth month. The conversion uses the "chinese" calendar of the Unicode ICU library built into your browser, which computes new moons and solar terms for China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Years are named in a 60-year cycle that pairs 10 heavenly stems with 12 earthly branches; 1984 was 甲子 (jiǎ-zǐ), the first year of the current cycle, and 2026 is 丙午 (bǐng-wǔ), a Fire Horse year. The zodiac animal changes at Chinese New Year, not on 1 January, so someone born on 20 January 2026 still belongs to the Snake year. The table lists Chinese New Year for ten years either side of the selected date.
How to use it
- Pick a Gregorian date between 1901 and 2099.
- Read the Chinese date, the stem-branch year, cycle position, animal and element.
- If the month is marked as a leap month, note that it repeats the number of the month before it.
- Use the Chinese New Year table to see when each nearby year starts.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my zodiac animal differ from the one for my birth year?
The Chinese year begins at Chinese New Year, between 21 January and 20 February. If you were born in January or early February, you may belong to the previous year's animal. Enter your birth date to check.
What is a leap month?
An extra month inserted in some years so that 12 or 13 lunar months keep pace with the solar year. It takes the number of the month before it; for example the leap second month (闰二月) follows the second month.
How is the element determined?
From the heavenly stem: jiǎ and yǐ are Wood, bǐng and dīng Fire, wù and jǐ Earth, gēng and xīn Metal, rén and guǐ Water. The first stem of each pair is Yang and the second Yin.
Is this the same as the Korean or Vietnamese lunar calendar?
They follow the same system but compute new moons for their own time zones, so a month can occasionally start a day apart. This converter uses China Standard Time.
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