Early China-West Exchanges: Spring Festival

Ever since 1912 after the end of China’s last imperial dynasty in 1911, Chinese people have been celebrating the turn of two calendars: One is the Gregorian calendar on January 1, as most people around the world do, and the other on the first day of the lunar calendar. Chinese New Year’s Day changes annually according to the Gregorian calendar. Indeed, the lunar calendar we use today is also a result of the exchange between China and the West. Some say that China’s first calendar was created about 4,000 years ago during the Xia Dynasty. It is still called the Xia calendar today. Most Chinese historians consider the Xia civilization as China’s first dynasty. During China’s last dynasty, the Qing, the calendar was based in Western astronomy and technology. The introduction and adoption of the technology in calendar making is an amazing story of early exchanges between China and the West.