13 replies to this topic

[Ghost_of_Han]

Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 163 BC-156 BC
Zhongyuan (中元 py. zhōng yúan) 149 BC-143 BC
Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 143 BC-141 BC
Jianyuan (建元 py. jìan yúan) 140 BC-135 BC
Yuanguang (元光 py. yúan gūang) 134 BC-129 BC
Yuanshuo (元朔 py. yúan shùo) 128 BC-123 BC
Yuanshou (元狩 py. yúan shòu) 122 BC-117 BC
Yuanding (元鼎 py. yúan dĭng) 116 BC-111 BC
Yuanfeng (元封 py. yúan fēng) 110 BC-105 BC
Taichu (太初 py. tài chū) 104 BC-101 BC
Tianhan (天漢 py. tīan hàn) 100 BC-97 BC
Taishi (太始 py. tài shĭ) 96 BC-93 BC
Zhenghe (征和 py. zhēng hé) 92 BC-89 BC
Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 88 BC-87 BC
Shiyuan (始元 py. shĭ yúan) 86 BC-80 BC
Yuanfeng (元鳳 py. yúan fèng) 80 BC-75 BC
Yuanping (元平 py. yúan píng) 74 BC
Benshi (本始 py. bĕn shĭ) 73 BC-70 BC
Dijie (地節 py. dì jíe) 69 BC-66 BC
Yuankang (元康 py. yúan kāng) 65 BC-61 BC
Shenjue (神爵 py. shén júe) 61 BC-58 BC
Wufeng (五鳳 py. wŭ fèng) 57 BC-54 BC
Ganlu (甘露 py. gān lù) 53 BC-50 BC
Huanglong (黃龍 py. húang lóng) 49 BC
Chuyuan (初元 py. chū yúan) 48 BC-44 BC
Yongguang (永光 py. yŏng gūang) 43 BC-39 BC
Jianzhao (建昭 py. jìan zhāo) 38 BC-34 BC
Jingning (竟寧 py. jìng níng) 33 BC
Jianshi (建始 py. jìan shĭ) 32 BC-28 BC
Heping (河平 py. hé píng) 28 BC-25 BC
Yangshuo (陽朔 py. yáng shùo) 24 BC-21 BC
Hongjia (鴻嘉 py. hóng jīa) 20 BC-17 BC
Yongshi (永始 py. yŏng shĭ) 16 BC-13 BC
Yuanyan (元延 py. yúan yán) 12 BC-9 BC
Suihe (綏和 py. sūi hé) 8 BC-7 BC
Jianping (建平 py. jìan píng) 6 BC-3 BC
Yuanshou (元壽 py. yúan shòu) 2 BC-1 BC
Yuanshi (元始 py. yúan shĭ) 1-6
Jushe (居攝 py. jū shè) February AD 6- October AD 8
Chushi (初始 py. chū shĭ) November AD 8-January AD 9
Shijianguo (始建國 shi3 jian4 guo1, "Start to establish a nation") 9- 13
Tianfeng (天鳳 tian1 feng1, "Heavenly Feng") 14-19
Dihuang (地皇 di4 huang2, "Earthly Emperor") 20-23
Gengshi (更始 py. gèng shĭ) 23-25
Jianwu (建武 py. jìan wŭ) 25-56
Jianwuzhongyuan (建武中元 py. jìan wŭ zhōng yúan) 56-58
Yongping (永平 py. yŏng píng) 58-75
Jianchu (建初 py. jìan chū) 76-84
Yuanhe (元和 py. yúan hé) 84-87
Zhanghe (章和 py. zhāng hé) 87-88
Yongyuan (永元 py. yŏng yúan) 89-105
Yuanxing (元興 py. yúan xīng) 105-106
Yanping (延平 py. yán píng) 106-107
Yongchu (永初 py. yŏng chū) 107-113
Yuanchu (元初 py. yúan chū) 114-120
Yongning (永寧 py. yŏng níng) 120-121
Jianguang (建光 py. jian4 guang1) 121-122
Yanguang (延光 py. yán gūang) 122-125
Yongjian (永建 py. yŏng jìan) 126-132
Yangjia (陽嘉 py. yáng jīa) 132-135
Yonghe (永和 py. yŏng hé) 136-141
Hanan (漢安 py. hàn ān) 142-144
Jiankang (建康 py. jìan kāng) 144
Yongxi (永熹 py. yōng xī) 145
Benchu (本初 py. bĕn chū) 146
Jianhe (建和 py. jìan hé) 147-149
Heping (和平 py. hé píng) 150
Yuanjia (元嘉 py. yúan jīa) 151-153
Yongxing (永興 py. yŏng xīng) 153-154
Yongshou (永壽 py. yŏng shòu) 155-158
Yanxi (延熹 py. yán xī) 158-167
Yongkang (永康 py. yŏng kāng) 167
Jianning (建寧 py. jìan níng) 168-172
Xiping (熹平 py. xī píng) 172-178
Guanghe (光和 py. gūang hé) 178-184
Zhongping (中平 py. zhōng píng) 184-189
Yonghan (永漢 py. yŏng hàn) 189
Chuping (初平 py. chū píng) 190-193
Xingping (興平 py. xīng píng) 194-195
Jianan (建安 py. jìan ān) 196-220
Yankang (延康 py. yán kāng) 220

Here are all the reign periods for the Han. For you that don't know the Han was the beginner of the Reign Period idea, I think, so these are the first reign periods, and thats why the people like Liu Bang don't have reign periods cause they weren't around back then. I'm not sure if they're correct post if you notice a mistake.

[Pansesus]

Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 163 BC-156 BC
Zhongyuan (中元 py. zhōng yúan) 149 BC-143 BC
Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 143 BC-141 BC
Jianyuan (建元 py. jìan yúan) 140 BC-135 BC
Yuanguang (元光 py. yúan gūang) 134 BC-129 BC
Yuanshuo (元朔 py. yúan shùo) 128 BC-123 BC
Yuanshou (元狩 py. yúan shòu) 122 BC-117 BC
Yuanding (元鼎 py. yúan dĭng) 116 BC-111 BC
Yuanfeng (元封 py. yúan fēng) 110 BC-105 BC
Taichu (太初 py. tài chū) 104 BC-101 BC
Tianhan (天漢 py. tīan hàn) 100 BC-97 BC
Taishi (太始 py. tài shĭ) 96 BC-93 BC
Zhenghe (征和 py. zhēng hé) 92 BC-89 BC
Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 88 BC-87 BC
Shiyuan (始元 py. shĭ yúan) 86 BC-80 BC
Yuanfeng (元鳳 py. yúan fèng) 80 BC-75 BC
Yuanping (元平 py. yúan píng) 74 BC
Benshi (本始 py. bĕn shĭ) 73 BC-70 BC
Dijie  (地節 py. dì jíe) 69 BC-66 BC
Yuankang (元康 py. yúan kāng) 65 BC-61 BC
Shenjue (神爵 py. shén júe)  61 BC-58 BC
Wufeng (五鳳 py. wŭ fèng) 57 BC-54 BC
Ganlu (甘露 py. gān lù) 53 BC-50 BC
Huanglong (黃龍 py. húang lóng) 49 BC
Chuyuan (初元 py. chū yúan) 48 BC-44 BC
Yongguang  (永光 py. yŏng gūang) 43 BC-39 BC
Jianzhao (建昭 py. jìan zhāo)  38 BC-34 BC
Jingning (竟寧 py. jìng níng) 33 BC
Jianshi (建始 py. jìan shĭ) 32 BC-28 BC
Heping  (河平 py. hé píng) 28 BC-25 BC
Yangshuo (陽朔 py. yáng shùo) 24 BC-21 BC
Hongjia (鴻嘉 py. hóng jīa) 20 BC-17 BC
Yongshi (永始 py. yŏng shĭ) 16 BC-13 BC
Yuanyan (元延 py. yúan yán) 12 BC-9 BC
Suihe (綏和 py. sūi hé) 8 BC-7 BC
Jianping (建平 py. jìan píng) 6 BC-3 BC
Yuanshou (元壽 py. yúan shòu) 2 BC-1 BC
Yuanshi (元始 py. yúan shĭ) 1-6
Jushe (居攝 py. jū shè) February AD 6- October AD 8
Chushi (初始 py. chū shĭ) November AD 8-January AD 9
Shijianguo (始建國 shi3 jian4 guo1, "Start to establish a nation") 9- 13
Tianfeng (天鳳 tian1 feng1, "Heavenly Feng") 14-19
Dihuang (地皇 di4 huang2, "Earthly Emperor") 20-23
Gengshi (更始 py. gèng shĭ) 23-25
Jianwu (建武 py. jìan wŭ) 25-56
Jianwuzhongyuan  (建武中元 py. jìan wŭ zhōng yúan) 56-58
Yongping (永平 py. yŏng píng) 58-75
Jianchu (建初 py. jìan chū) 76-84
Yuanhe  (元和 py. yúan hé) 84-87
Zhanghe (章和 py. zhāng hé) 87-88
Yongyuan (永元 py. yŏng yúan) 89-105
Yuanxing (元興 py. yúan xīng) 105-106
Yanping (延平 py. yán píng) 106-107
Yongchu (永初 py. yŏng chū) 107-113
Yuanchu (元初 py. yúan chū) 114-120
Yongning (永寧 py. yŏng níng) 120-121
Jianguang (建光 py. jian4 guang1) 121-122
Yanguang (延光 py. yán gūang) 122-125
Yongjian (永建 py. yŏng jìan) 126-132 
Yangjia  (陽嘉 py. yáng jīa) 132-135
Yonghe   (永和 py. yŏng hé) 136-141
Hanan    (漢安 py. hàn ān) 142-144
Jiankang (建康 py. jìan kāng) 144
Yongxi (永熹 py. yōng xī) 145
Benchu (本初 py. bĕn chū) 146
Jianhe (建和 py. jìan hé) 147-149
Heping   (和平 py. hé píng) 150
Yuanjia  (元嘉 py. yúan jīa) 151-153
Yongxing (永興 py. yŏng xīng) 153-154
Yongshou (永壽 py. yŏng shòu) 155-158
Yanxi    (延熹 py. yán xī) 158-167
Yongkang (永康 py. yŏng kāng) 167
Jianning (建寧 py. jìan níng) 168-172
Xiping (熹平 py. xī píng) 172-178
Guanghe (光和 py. gūang hé) 178-184
Zhongping (中平 py. zhōng píng) 184-189
Yonghan (永漢 py. yŏng hàn) 189
Chuping (初平 py. chū píng) 190-193
Xingping (興平 py. xīng píng) 194-195
Jianan (建安 py. jìan ān) 196-220
Yankang (延康 py. yán kāng) 220

Here are all the reign periods for the Han. For you that don't know the Han was the beginner of the Reign Period idea, I think, so these are the first reign periods, and thats why the people like Liu Bang don't have reign periods cause they weren't around back then. I'm not sure if they're correct post if you notice a mistake.

Hmm in 8 AD WangMang rose to the throne and a year later he changed the dynasty name into Xin, so the reign periods between "Shijianguo (始建國 shi3 jian4 guo1, "Start to establish a nation") 9- 13" and "Dihuang (地皇 di4 huang2, "Earthly Emperor") 20-23" belong to Xin Dynasty. "Gengshi (更始 py. gèng shĭ) 23-25" was the reign period of GengShi Di更始帝 who was supported by a rebelling group of peasants and some aristocrats. Liu Xiu became the emperor in 25 and started the new dynasty East Han, and Han's reign was recovered since then.

Edited by Pansesus, 16 July 2005 - 08:03 PM.

[Sun Weiming]

Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 163 BC-156 BC
Zhongyuan (中元 py. zhōng yúan) 149 BC-143 BC
Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 143 BC-141 BC
Jianyuan (建元 py. jìan yúan) 140 BC-135 BC
Yuanguang (元光 py. yúan gūang) 134 BC-129 BC
Yuanshuo (元朔 py. yúan shùo) 128 BC-123 BC
Yuanshou (元狩 py. yúan shòu) 122 BC-117 BC
Yuanding (元鼎 py. yúan dĭng) 116 BC-111 BC
Yuanfeng (元封 py. yúan fēng) 110 BC-105 BC
Taichu (太初 py. tài chū) 104 BC-101 BC
Tianhan (天漢 py. tīan hàn) 100 BC-97 BC
Taishi (太始 py. tài shĭ) 96 BC-93 BC
Zhenghe (征和 py. zhēng hé) 92 BC-89 BC
Houyuan (後元 py. hòu yúan) 88 BC-87 BC
Shiyuan (始元 py. shĭ yúan) 86 BC-80 BC
Yuanfeng (元鳳 py. yúan fèng) 80 BC-75 BC
Yuanping (元平 py. yúan píng) 74 BC
Benshi (本始 py. bĕn shĭ) 73 BC-70 BC
Dijie (地節 py. dì jíe) 69 BC-66 BC
Yuankang (元康 py. yúan kāng) 65 BC-61 BC
Shenjue (神爵 py. shén júe) 61 BC-58 BC
Wufeng (五鳳 py. wŭ fèng) 57 BC-54 BC
Ganlu (甘露 py. gān lù) 53 BC-50 BC
Huanglong (黃龍 py. húang lóng) 49 BC
Chuyuan (初元 py. chū yúan) 48 BC-44 BC
Yongguang (永光 py. yŏng gūang) 43 BC-39 BC
Jianzhao (建昭 py. jìan zhāo) 38 BC-34 BC
Jingning (竟寧 py. jìng níng) 33 BC
Jianshi (建始 py. jìan shĭ) 32 BC-28 BC
Heping (河平 py. hé píng) 28 BC-25 BC
Yangshuo (陽朔 py. yáng shùo) 24 BC-21 BC
Hongjia (鴻嘉 py. hóng jīa) 20 BC-17 BC
Yongshi (永始 py. yŏng shĭ) 16 BC-13 BC
Yuanyan (元延 py. yúan yán) 12 BC-9 BC
Suihe (綏和 py. sūi hé) 8 BC-7 BC
Jianping (建平 py. jìan píng) 6 BC-3 BC
Yuanshou (元壽 py. yúan shòu) 2 BC-1 BC
Yuanshi (元始 py. yúan shĭ) 1-6
Jushe (居攝 py. jū shè) February AD 6- October AD 8
Chushi (初始 py. chū shĭ) November AD 8-January AD 9
Shijianguo (始建國 shi3 jian4 guo1, "Start to establish a nation") 9- 13
Tianfeng (天鳳 tian1 feng1, "Heavenly Feng") 14-19
Dihuang (地皇 di4 huang2, "Earthly Emperor") 20-23
Gengshi (更始 py. gèng shĭ) 23-25
Jianwu (建武 py. jìan wŭ) 25-56
Jianwuzhongyuan (建武中元 py. jìan wŭ zhōng yúan) 56-58
Yongping (永平 py. yŏng píng) 58-75
Jianchu (建初 py. jìan chū) 76-84
Yuanhe (元和 py. yúan hé) 84-87
Zhanghe (章和 py. zhāng hé) 87-88
Yongyuan (永元 py. yŏng yúan) 89-105
Yuanxing (元興 py. yúan xīng) 105-106
Yanping (延平 py. yán píng) 106-107
Yongchu (永初 py. yŏng chū) 107-113
Yuanchu (元初 py. yúan chū) 114-120
Yongning (永寧 py. yŏng níng) 120-121
Jianguang (建光 py. jian4 guang1) 121-122
Yanguang (延光 py. yán gūang) 122-125
Yongjian (永建 py. yŏng jìan) 126-132
Yangjia (陽嘉 py. yáng jīa) 132-135
Yonghe (永和 py. yŏng hé) 136-141
Hanan (漢安 py. hàn ān) 142-144
Jiankang (建康 py. jìan kāng) 144
Yongxi (永熹 py. yōng xī) 145
Benchu (本初 py. bĕn chū) 146
Jianhe (建和 py. jìan hé) 147-149
Heping (和平 py. hé píng) 150
Yuanjia (元嘉 py. yúan jīa) 151-153
Yongxing (永興 py. yŏng xīng) 153-154
Yongshou (永壽 py. yŏng shòu) 155-158
Yanxi (延熹 py. yán xī) 158-167
Yongkang (永康 py. yŏng kāng) 167
Jianning (建寧 py. jìan níng) 168-172
Xiping (熹平 py. xī píng) 172-178
Guanghe (光和 py. gūang hé) 178-184
Zhongping (中平 py. zhōng píng) 184-189
Yonghan (永漢 py. yŏng hàn) 189
Chuping (初平 py. chū píng) 190-193
Xingping (興平 py. xīng píng) 194-195
Jianan (建安 py. jìan ān) 196-220
Yankang (延康 py. yán kāng) 220

Here are all the reign periods for the Han. For you that don't know the Han was the beginner of the Reign Period idea, I think, so these are the first reign periods, and thats why the people like Liu Bang don't have reign periods cause they weren't around back then. I'm not sure if they're correct post if you notice a mistake.

The person who started this "reign" thing is Han Wu Di. I don't think Jing Di's Zhong Yuan and Hou Yuan are real reign peroids.

[George Hill]

What is meant by "reign periods"? Too many of these seem too short to be the period a particular person was on the throne..... ?

[General_Zhaoyun]

What is meant by "reign periods"? Too many of these seem too short to be the period a particular person was on the throne..... ?

The chinese name for "reign periods" is called "Nian Hao 年号". It's literally translated as "Year Name". It's used by the emperor to 'name' a particular period and years of reign. It is thus a representation of a "reign era" and sometimes also called "Era Name". An emperor can have several 'reign periods' (nianhao) and not necessarily one, during his entire reign. For instance, during the reign of Emperor Wudi, he used 4 Nianhao such as "Jianyuan 建元", "Yuanguang 元光", "Yuanshu 元朔", "Yuanshou 元狩" to represent each different periods of his reign.

The Nian Hao (Reign Period) was started by Emperor Wudi of Han (Han Wudi 汉武帝) in 140 BC, and this system was used by all emperors and lasted till the last Qing emperor Puyi in 1911 AD. When a new emperor ascended the throne, he would most likely change the name of his "reign period" (nianhao).

In the past, the chinese did not have western calendar system of numbering the years when they are recording the years. What they did was to record a particular year based on the 'reign period' (nianhao) of an emperor.

For instance, "Jianyuan 2nd year" would correspond to the 2nd year of the "reign of Jianyuan", which is 138 BC (since Jianyuan started from 140 BC). This was precisely how chinese history book recorded the year.

[Rong Qin Wang]

The Nian Hao (Reign Period) was started by Emperor Wudi of Han (Han Wudi 汉武帝) in 140 BC, and this system was used by all emperors and lasted till the last Qing emperor Puyi in 1911 AD. When a new emperor ascended the throne, he would most likely change the name of his "reign period" (nianhao).

In the past, the chinese did not have western calendar system of numbering the years when they are recording the years. What they did was to record a particular year based on the 'reign period' (nianhao) of an emperor.

Zunjing de China History Forum members,

Hmm, General Zhaoyun did an excellent job at thoroughly explaining the era name system instituted by Han Wudi. However, I still have one more question. From my understanding, ancient Chinese did not use the Gregorian calendar, so the numbering years in an era name became the calendar, and those were the precise years recorded in history books.

I am aware that the era name system was created by Han Wudi. However, Han Wendi reset the calendar once at the persuasion of the sorcerer Xinyuan Ping, and Han Jingdi also reset the calendar twice for unknown reasons. So, I am just wondering how did Emperors prior to Han Wudi set the calendar year since the numbering years of era name did not exist?

How did the Xia, Shang, Zhou Wang count their reign years? How did the feudal lords in the Spring and Autumn period, and Warring States count how long they were in power? Lastly, how was the reign years calculated in the Qin Dynasty?

Xie Xie,

[Sun Weiming]

Zunjing de China History Forum members,

Hmm, General Zhaoyun did an excellent job at thoroughly explaining the era name system instituted by Han Wudi. However, I still have one more question. From my understanding, ancient Chinese did not use the Gregorian calendar, so the numbering years in an era name became the calendar, and those were the precise years recorded in history books.

I am aware that the era name system was created by Han Wudi. However, Han Wendi reset the calendar once at the persuasion of the sorcerer Xinyuan Ping, and Han Jingdi also reset the calendar twice for unknown reasons. So, I am just wondering how did Emperors prior to Han Wudi set the calendar year since the numbering years of era name did not exist?

How did the Xia, Shang, Zhou Wang count their reign years? How did the feudal lords in the Spring and Autumn period, and Warring States count how long they were in power? Lastly, how was the reign years calculated in the Qin Dynasty?

Xie Xie,

they count their years by 天干地支。

[Rong Qin Wang]

they count their years by 天干地支。

Zunjing de Sun Weiming,

Thanks for answering my question; however, I cannot understand a single word because the language encoding for my computer is broken for some unknown reasons. This is very bad news for me since all the Chinese Characters posted in this forum will be so disfigured that they would not be legible. I really want to read your answer! So, can you please translate these Chinese Characters into English words, and trying to retain the original meanings as much as possible?

Xie Xie,

[Sun Weiming]

Zunjing de Sun Weiming,

Thanks for answering my question; however, I cannot understand a single word because the language encoding for my computer is broken for some unknown reasons. This is very bad news for me since all the Chinese Characters posted in this forum will be so disfigured that they would not be legible. I really want to read your answer! So, can you please translate these Chinese Characters into English words, and trying to retain the original meanings as much as possible?

Xie Xie,

Sorry.. What i said is they counted the number of years by "10 Heavenly Stems" and "12 Earth Branches".
12 Earth Branches includes: zi, chou, yin,mao,chen,si,wu,wei,shen,you,xu and hai.
10 Heavenly Stems includes: jia,yi,bing,ding,wu,yi,geng,xin,ren and gui.

they go by order like jia`zi, yi`chou,bing`yin etc etc. each cycle is 60 years.

[Rong Qin Wang]

Sorry.. What i said is they counted the number of years by "10 Heavenly Stems" and "12 Earth Branches".
12 Earth Branches includes: zi, chou, yin,mao,chen,si,wu,wei,shen,you,xu and hai.
10 Heavenly Stems includes: jia,yi,bing,ding,wu,yi,geng,xin,ren and gui.

they go by order like jia`zi, yi`chou,bing`yin etc etc. each cycle is 60 years.

Zunjing de Sun Weiming,

Thank you so much for giving me the most accurate translation! I kind of figured Ancient Chinese would use this system of calendar. However, this system will eventually run into some difficulties since the same cycle will repeat after 60 years. So, how can people differentiate between the last 60 years from the current cycle? Are they going to just label this as the first circle (60 years), and then the next 60 years as the second circle? The number of cycles will vary depending upon when this system was invented? Well, I am just taking an educated guess here.

Xie Xie,

Edited by Rong Qin Wang, 29 September 2007 - 01:48 PM.

[General_Zhaoyun]

Zunjing de Sun Weiming,

Thank you so much for giving me the most accurate translation! I kind of figured Ancient Chinese would use this system of calendar. However, this system will eventually run into some difficulties since the same cycle will repeat after 60 years. So, how can people differential between the last 60 years from the current cycle? Are they going to just label this as the first circle (60 years), and then the next 60 years as the second circle? The number of cycles will vary depending upon when this system was invented? Well, I am just taking an educated guess here.

Xie Xie,

Rong Qin Wang,

For "Tiangan Dizhi", it's the ancient chinese calendar system. Please refer to http://www.chinahist...?showtopic=8330 for more info.

Chinese history records only started from 841 BC. Before that, it was hard to determine the number of cycles, although Shang dynasty did have some writings. It was only after Zhou dynasty that more systematic calendar system allowed the Year of Reign (based on the Rulers/Duke of the state) to be more accurately recorded. This means that the year will be based on 'how many years after the start of the reign of a certain ruler' and so on. It's never a 'consecutive and continuous counting of years ' as like today.

[Rong Qin Wang]

Rong Qin Wang,

For "Tiangan Dizhi", it's the ancient chinese calendar system. Please refer to http://www.chinahist...?showtopic=8330 for more info.

Chinese history records only started from 841 BC. Before that, it was hard to determine the number of cycles, although Shang dynasty did have some writings. It was only after Zhou dynasty that more systematic calendar system allowed the Year of Reign (based on the Rulers/Duke of the state) to be more accurately recorded. This means that the year will be based on 'how many years after the start of the reign of a certain ruler' and so on. It's never a 'consecutive and continuous counting of years ' as like today.

Zunjing de General_Zhaoyun,

Of course, I am well aware of the fact that ancient Chinese did not install the Gregorian calendar to keep track of the dates as the Chinese have always used the lunar dates. Gregorian and lunar calendars differ significantly since one is based on solar, while the other relies on phases of the moon. During the reign of Han Wudi, the Emperor implemented the new era system, which allowed one to make a calendar out of the reign of each Emperor. The era system eventually lasted until the end of dynastic rule.

Since the era system was created by Han Wudi, how did preceding Emperors keep track of their reign years? Many people have stated that the system of heavenly stems, earthly branches was effectively used before the reign of Han Wudi. However, unlike the Gregorian calendar, the lunar calendar does not have the number of years, or in this case, the number of cycles; therefore, how did ancient Chinese differentiate among the repeated cycles?

If you said that years were not recorded continually in every era of Chinese history, then how could one expect a historian to accurately study all the significant events as dates are an extremely crucial part of history?

Xie Xie,

[fcharton]

Of course, I am well aware of the fact that ancient Chinese did not install the Gregorian calendar to keep track of the dates as the Chinese have always used the lunar dates. Gregorian and lunar calendars differ significantly since one is based on solar, while the other relies on phases of the moon.

Actually, the chinese calendar (since the Springs and Autumns at least, and well before, it is thought) was lunisolar : months and theiir beginning were defined by the moon phases, but the beginning of the year, ie the first month and the four seasons, were set in reference to the winter solstice (ie to the sun). Depending on the era, the first month began just before, just after or, like nowadays, a month+ after the solstice, and an intercalary thirteenth month was added.

But this does not prevent from numbering years and counting them. Many civilisations, like the Hebrew, or the Arabs have lunar/lunsolar calendars and record dates.

During the reign of Han Wudi, the Emperor implemented the new era system, which allowed one to make a calendar out of the reign of each Emperor. The era system eventually lasted until the end of dynastic rule.

Since the era system was created by Han Wudi, how did preceding Emperors keep track of their reign years? Many people have stated that the system of heavenly stems, earthly branches was effectively used before the reign of Han Wudi. However, unlike the Gregorian calendar, the lunar calendar does not have the number of years, or in this case, the number of cycles; therefore, how did ancient Chinese differentiate among the repeated cycles?

If you said that years were not recorded continually in every era of Chinese history, then how could one expect a historian to accurately study all the significant events as dates are an extremely crucial part of history?

Actually the recording was the same as almost everywhere in the world, the years were recorded by the number of year of the current ruler, the first year being to one starting *after* a ruler was enthroned. So you get, in ancient texts, 5th year of duke Xiang, 2nd year of king Li, etc... This is the same system as the Nianhao, just that in Han time, a reign could have several Nianhao (note that this disappeared in later dynasty, notably in the Qing, where emperors are know by the name of their Nianhao...).

The exact tracking of the years was made possible by the fact that annals recorded the duration of reigns. The fact that China was split into several entities which had their own counting system did help historians, as it provided ways to doublecheck dates, and those comparisons, and the analysis of the discrepancies (there are many of them, it would in fact be a very interesting project ot track to identify them, say just in the Shiji) became a common pastime for all later chinese historians...

But basically, dates like "5th year of King XXX" are quite fine for historians. Note that this is what you get in the records of most countries.

Francois