A carving of the Chinese zodiac on the ceiling of the gate to Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka, Japan
I guess that depends upon which of about 30 calendars you’re using. The Gregorian calendar is the one used in most of the world. This calendar was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, for whom it is named. It is a modification of the Julian Calendar, created by Julius Caesar. The pope was interested in a more regular calculation of the date for Easter. We have 12 months, but they vary in length from 28 - 31 days. The Western signs of the Zodiac roughly equate to the 12 months, but they don’t match exactly. The names of the signs originate with constellations of the same name.
Sunday also was the beginning of the year of the Rabbit for the Chinese calendar year 4659. The Chinese also have 12 signs of the Zodiac, but they name them for animals. The Chinese New Year will hold special significance this year after a long period of isolation due to the policy of zero-tolerance of Covid-19. The door arbitrarily swung open for travel recently. The effects of that remain to be seen The Chinese tradition is to visit families for the new year. In the U.S. we usually consider that a tradition of the Thanksgiving holiday, which is unique to the U.S. and calendar.
Calculating time was important to the ancient civilizations, primarily to determine the seasons. That’s why they had so many different astrological structures in every culture.
Now we calculate time down to the nano-second, which is necessary for our digital navigation systems as well as our atomic clocks. That seems to be one of the symptoms of our hectic culture where we are preoccupied with time. We set schedules, calculate detailed timelines, and constantly look at our smart phones. I admit that I keep a calendar on my computer that I synchronize with my tablet and my phone. I guess that we can call that progress, but I’m glad that I can operate now on a more relaxed schedule.
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