Why do we need Leap Years?
Leap Years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (a tropical year) – to circle once around the Sun.
However, the Gregorian calendar has only 365 days in a year, so if we didn't add a day on February 29 nearly every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days!
The Chinese Leap Year
The Chinese leap year has 13 months, with a leap month added about every 3 years. The name of a leap month is the same as previous lunar month. The leap month’s place in the The Chinese calendar varies from year to year. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, 2006 was a leap year in the Chinese calendar. To determine a leap year, calculate the number of new moons between the 11th month in one year and the 11th month in the following year. A leap month is inserted if there are 13 moons from the start of the 11th month in the first year to the start of the 11th month in the next year. The leap month does not contain a principal term (Zhongqi).The Chinese calendar has been used for centuries and observes the movement of the sun, moon and stars.
'Twenty years from now
you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do
than by the ones you do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour.
Catch the tradewinds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.'
- Mark Twain -
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