QUESTION: Many aspects of China are a direct result of its long recorded history. Some historians maintain that Chinese written history is more than 5,000 years old making it the oldest civilization in the world.

One such aspect is the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year is based on the cycles of the moon and is called a lunar schedule or lunar calendar. The Chinese calendar dates back to 2600 BC and is the oldest known calendar.

How many years does a complete cycle of the Chinese calendar take:

A. 60 years;
B. 100 years;
C. 600 years;
D. 5000 years;

ANSWERS:
If you said D then you really need to think about the practicalities of a calendar further. Can you imagine the size of such a calendar, not to mention the size of the wall that you would need to hang it on!

If you said B you are still thinking in western terms that revolve around the decimal system. A hundred year calendar would need regular adjustments to keep it in sync with the sun.

If you said C, you just guessed and are wrong.

By process of elimination, or because you really know all about lunar calendars, we arrive at the answer - A. The lunar calendar means that events like New Year fall on a different day each year unlike in the west when it always falls on January 1.