The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (490 page)

birthday fell on both 10 Jan. and 29 Dec. Solar months, based on the twelve zodiac signs, are also used, e.g. for
sa
gr
nds
,
Bais
kh
, and Loh
. The anniversaries of the battle of Chamkaur, martyrdom of the younger
s
hibz
de
, and battle of
Muktsar
are solar dates. Because of the discrepancy between the Bikram
and Christian solar year these dates advance one day in sixty-seven years.
Chinese
The Chinese have traditionally followed both a solar and a lunar calendar. These run concurrently and coincide every nineteen years. The solar calendar divides the year into twenty-four periods, named (mainly) according to the weather expected in that period in the N. China plain. The only festival fixed by the solar calendar is at the beginning of the fifth period,
Ch’ing Ming
. The lunar calendar is used to record public and private events. The New Year begins with the second new moon after the winter solstice, between 21 Jan. and 20 Feb. The months have no names and are known by numbers; but they are associated with the five elements of the cosmos, wood, fire, earth, metal, and water; and also with animals; hence each year is known as ‘the year of’. Thus 2000 is the year of the dragon; 2001 the snake; 2002 the horse; 2003 the sheep; 2004 the monkey; 2005 the chicken; 2006 the dog; 2007 the pig; 2008 the rat; 2009 the ox; 2010 the tiger. The traditional starting-point for chronological reckoning is the year in which the minister of the emperor, Huang-ti, worked out the sixty-year cycle, i.e. 2637 BCE.
Zoroastrian
See
FESTIVALS AND FASTS
.

 
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Caliph
(successor, representative)
:

see
KHAL
FA
.

 
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