The Lantern Festival is approaching, and it is the first full moon night of the Lunar New Year. Some members of the public have found that the Lantern Festival is very "naughty", last year's corresponding Gregorian calendar date is February 26, this year's corresponding Gregorian calendar date is February 15, and next year's corresponding Gregorian calendar date is February 5, which means that this year's Lantern Festival is 11 days earlier than last year, and next year's Lantern Festival is 10 days earlier than this year.
February 26, 2021 is the 15th Lantern Festival of the first lunar month, in Wang Mantian Village, Xitou Town, Shexian County, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, tourists and villagers play fish lanterns, the Lantern Festival. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Han Xu
It is also the Lantern Festival, why is the Gregorian date early and late? Zhao Zhiheng, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and an expert on astronomy science in Tianjin, explained that the calendar used in ancient times on the mainland is called the lunar calendar, which is a luni-solar calendar, based on the absence of the moon, that is, the cycle of the lunar phase and the annual apparent movement of the sun. The Chinese lunar calendar stipulates that the 30 days of the big month and the 29 days of the small month, with a total of 12 synodic months, is 354 days or 355 days; in the Gregorian calendar, the earth's rotation around the sun is a return year, the common year is 365 days, and the leap year is 366 days. The difference between the two is about 11 days.
In order to make up for the difference in the number of days from the year of regression, so as not to cause a serious disconnect between the month and the season, the method of adjustment is to arrange 13 months in some years, and there are two identical months, called "leaps". The rule of "leaping" is based on the twenty-four solar terms.
On February 26, 2021, the Lantern Festival of the 15th lunar month, citizens participated in a lantern riddle guessing activity in a shopping mall in the Harbor Economic Development Zone of Tangshan City, Hebei Province. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Li Lei)
Due to the ingenious arrangement of "setting leaps" in the continental calendar, the Gregorian calendar date corresponding to the Lantern Festival every year is always either about 11 days in advance or postponed by about 19 days. This also causes that in some years, the Gregorian calendar celebrates the Lantern Festival in February, such as 2016 and 2025; in some years, the Gregorian calendar celebrates the Lantern Festival in March, such as 2018 and 2037.
The reporter flipped through the astronomical calendar and found that as far as the 100 years of the 21st century are concerned, the earliest Lantern Festival is February 4 in the Gregorian calendar, such as 2061; the latest Lantern Festival is March 5 in the Gregorian calendar, such as 2015.
As the final climax of the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival is also called the Shangyuan Festival, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve or Lantern Festival, which emphasizes the joy of all people, everyone enjoys the full moon, looks at the lanterns, guesses the riddles of the lanterns, and sets off firecrackers, showing a custom picture of "fire trees and silver flowers never sleep".
February 26, 2021 is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, and tourists are watching the lights in the Nanjing Confucius Temple Scenic Area. Photo by Li Bo, Xinhua News Agency
Zhao Zhiheng said that in recent years, as we strengthen our cultural self-confidence, more and more Chinese especially young people, have begun to pay attention to and understand their traditional festivals and traditional cultures, and integrate with modern emotional expressions such as romance, gratitude and love.
Reporter: Zhou Runjian
It was co-produced by Xinhua News Agency and Tianjin Branch of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Starry Sky Studios
Source: Xinhua News Agency