Page:On Chronology and the Construction of the Calendar.pdf/17

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5. The Month.

The month of the European Calendar is a higher unit of the solar day, arbitrarily chosen, however nearly equal to one synodical month, varying between 28 and 31 days or nearly equal to the time employed by the sun in passing through one of the 12 signs of the zodiac.

The 1^th European month is called	January	and has always 31 days
The 2^th European„ month„ is called„	February	and has 28 days in a common year and 29 days in a leap year
The 3^th European„ month„ is called„	March	and has always 31 days
The 4^th European„ month„ is called„	April	and has„ always„ 30 days„
The 5^th European„ month„ is called„	May	and has„ always„ 31 days„
The 6^th European„ month„ is called„	June	and has„ always„ 30 days„
The 7^th European„ month„ is called„	July	and has„ always„ 31 days„
The 8^th European„ month„ is called„	August	and has„ always„ 31 days„
The 9^th European„ month„ is called„	September	and has„ always„ 30 days„
The 10^th European„ month„ is called„	October	and has„ always„ 31 days„
The 11^th European„ month„ is called„	November	and has„ always„ 30 days„
The 12^th European„ month„ is called„	December	and has„ always„ 31 days„

The European and corresponding Chinese names of the 12 signs of the sun's orbit, each containing 30°, are:

Table (6)
European	Chinese name (The 12 branches)
The Ram	Sü	戌
The„ Bull	Yeo	酉
The„ Twins	Shên	申
The„ Crab	Wei	未
The„ Lion	Wu	午
The„ Virgin	Sze	已
The„ Balance	Ch'ên	辰
The„ Scorpion	Mao	卯
The„ Archer	Yin	寅
The„ Goat	Ch'ow	丑
The„Water-carrier	Tsze	子
The„ Fishes	Hai	亥

The Chinese divide the ecliptic into 24 equal parts, called tsie-khi 節氣; every tsie-khi therefore contains 15° of the ecliptic and two of them are equal to one sign of the zodiac and as the Sun makes a whole revolution of 360° in 365,24224 solar days, it remains in every tsie-khi on an average 15,22 days and in two tsie-khi or in one sign of the zodiac 30,44 days. The same number of solar