Math & Science: The Calendar

The Chinese calendar was based on moon cycles, instead of the sun.

This is why Chinese New Year is in late January to early February.

The emperor was responsible to make a calendar so that farmers knew when to plant their crops.

There are 12 animals for the Chinese calendar.

These animals include a rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

The legend of how the calendar order was decided:

The legend tells of the Emperor deciding to have a race among all the animals in the land.

The first twelve animals to cross the finish line would have a year in the Chinese calendar named after them.

One version of the legend is described by Ed Young in, Cat and Rat: The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac.

The Chinese used a calculator to do many math calculations including many needed for the calendar.

The calculator was a rectangular piece of wood with rungs and beads on it called an Abacus. The person would slide the beads to find the answer to the equation.

Wow, that was amazing don’t you think?

I learned a lot about Ancient China.

I wouldn’t want to do anything against the law in China.

If you got caught you could have to work on the Great Wall of China for the rest of your life.

I like the fact that parents buried their child with their favourite toys when they died. And I was surprised when I learned that the order of the animals on the calendar was decided by a race and how the rat won.

It was a really fund adventure but I am glad to be back home.

Bibliography

Challen, Paul. Life in Ancient China. Crabtree Publishing Company, St. Catherines, 2005.

Smith, John. Pelech, Olha. Discovering Early Civilizations. Oxford University Press, Don Mills, 2002.

Babcock, Denise L. (and others). If I Were a Kid in Ancient China. Carus Publishing Company, Peterborough, 2006.

Ducksters. Technological Solutions, Inc. (TSI). “Kids History: Calendar of Ancient China." http://www.ducksters.com/history/china/chinese_calendar.php. June 2013. Web. 5 May 2013.