Most ancient Chinese metaphysical formulas are based on the Chinese Lunar or Chinese Solar Calendar. A good example is the Chinese Pregnancy Calendar where the expecting mother’s age and date of conception is required in the Chinese Lunar equivalent. Another example is Ba Zi or Eight Characters which requires the age in Chinese Solar equivalent.

Knowing how to calculate the Chinese Lunar (or Solar Age) is crucial to applying these formulas. Here is how to do the calculation of the Chinese Lunar age.

The most important to remember when it comes to calculating the Chinese Lunar age is that the Chinese take into consideration the time spent in the mother’s womb. The exact time spent in the womb may vary plus or minus nine months. To simplify matters, the Chinese take the time spent in the womb as one year.

Therefore when you are born, you are already one year one as compared to the Gregorian system where you are one year old only 365 days later!

The trick is getting the Chinese Lunar age is to simply add one year to your Gregorian age. If you are your 35 years – Gregorian age – then your Chinese Lunar age is 36!

This works for most people!

However the Chinese Lunar new year do not begin on the 1st Jan. Instead it varies between Jan 22 and Feb 22.

Let’s take the example of the year 1960, year of the Rat. In that year the Chinese Lunar New Year begins on the 28th January. If you are born after the 28th January, you are deemed to be born in the Chinese year of the Rat or numerically in 1960. However if you are born before that, say on the 2nd January 1960, you are deemed to be born in the previous year i.e. the year of the Pig or numerically 1959.

How does this affect your Chinese Lunar age?

Let’s say you want to find out your Chinese Lunar age in the year 2000.

If you are born on or after the 28th January 1960 then your Chinese Lunar age is simply 2000 – 1960 + 1 or 41 years old.

However if you are born before the 28th January 1960, say any day between 1st January and 27th January 1960, then your Chinese Lunar age is 2000 – 1959 + 1 or 42 years old.

That’s it.

You can find out the start of each Chinese Lunar year using a 10,000 years calendar or you can tinkle with my on-line Ten Thousand Year Calendar.