Lunar ↔ Gregorian for the diaspora.

East Asian Lunar Calendar — for the diaspora and culture enthusiasts

This is not a US holiday calendar. It's a converter and dual-calendar view for the East Asian lunar calendar — the system shared (with small variations) across China, Korea, Vietnam, and parts of Japan. If you're a Korean-American checking your grandmother's lunar birthday, a Chinese-American planning Lunar New Year, or anyone curious about the Sexagenary cycle and 24 solar terms, this is for you.

For US federal holidays (Independence Day, Thanksgiving, etc.), use a regular Gregorian calendar app — they have nothing to do with the lunar system.

Chinese New Year — when is it this year?

The Lunar New Year falls between January 21 and February 20 each Gregorian year. To find this year's date, switch to Lunar → Gregorian, enter the lunar year, month 1, day 1, leave "leap month" unchecked, and the Gregorian date appears instantly. The dual-calendar view below also marks it with the Festivals label automatically.

East Asian festivals shown in the calendar

The dual-calendar view marks these recurring lunar festivals (observed by various East Asian communities, not US federal):

• Lunar New Year (Lunar 1/1) — Spring Festival, Seollal, Tết
• Lantern Festival (Lunar 1/15) — Yuanxiao, Daeboreum
• Qingming (around April 4–6) — Tomb Sweeping Day, tied to a solar term
• Dragon Boat Festival (Lunar 5/5) — Duanwu, Tết Đoan Ngọ
• Qixi (Lunar 7/7) — "Chinese Valentine's"
• Mid-Autumn Festival (Lunar 8/15) — Chuseok, Trung Thu
• Double Ninth (Lunar 9/9) — Chongyang

Leap months — why some years have 13 lunar months

To reconcile lunar months (~29.5 days) with the solar year (~365.25 days), the calendar inserts a leap month roughly 7 times every 19 years. If your grandmother's lunar birthday falls in a leap month (e.g. "leap 6th"), tick the Leap month box for an accurate Gregorian date.

Sexagenary cycle — Year, Month, Day pillars

The Sexagenary cycle pairs 10 Heavenly Stems (Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui) with 12 Earthly Branches (Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai), producing a 60-year cycle. The result card shows year, month, and day pillars in both Chinese characters and Pinyin transliteration.

24 solar terms — agricultural and seasonal markers

Solar terms (e.g. Beginning of Spring, Summer Solstice, Greater Heat, Winter Solstice) are 24 fixed points tied to the sun's position. The "Next solar term" card shows which one is coming up and how many days away — useful for traditional cooking, seasonal poetry, or simply staying connected to the natural year.

Three things people get wrong about the lunar calendar

1. "Lunar New Year" is one day, but the zodiac year boundary isn't always the same

Lunar New Year (春節 / Tết / 설날) lands on the same day across China, Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia — Feb 17, 2026; Feb 6, 2027; Jan 26, 2028. But the Chinese zodiac yearboundary differs by tradition: most popular use is the lunar new year, buttraditional Chinese astrology (BaZi / Four Pillars) uses Lichun (Feb 3–5). That's why someone born Jan 28, 2026 is a Snake by popular reckoning but technically a Horse in BaZi (born before Lichun on Feb 4). This calendar shows both reference points so you can tell which one a given source is using.

2. Lunar calendar ≠ Chinese calendar — leap months are why

The traditional East Asian calendar is lunisolar, not purely lunar — it tracks the moon (29.5-day months) but adds a leap month every 2–3 years to stay in sync with the solar year. That's why Lunar New Year drifts within a ~30-day window in February. By contrast, the Islamic calendar is purely lunar (no leap month), which is why Ramadan moves through all seasons over ~33 years. This calculator handles the East Asian lunisolar leap months automatically; for pure Islamic/Hebrew lunar conversions, use a dedicated tool.

3. The 12 zodiac animals always start with Rat, not the year you were born

The Chinese zodiac cycle is Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig — fixed order, repeating every 12 years. To find any year's animal, take (year − 4) mod 12: 0 = Rat, 1 = Ox, … 11 = Pig. 2026 (year − 4 = 2022, mod 12 = 6) is the year of the Horse. The 60-year cycle (Chinese sexagenary) pairs each animal with one of five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) for a 12 × 5 combination. This tool shows the full 60-year stem-branch label, which is how Chinese, Korean, and Japanese fortune-telling sources identify any given year.

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