Introduce the October solar calendar of the Yi people.

The use of the October solar calendar of the Yi people in the late Qin Dynasty and the early Han Dynasty originated from the western Qiang civilization before the Xia Dynasty. It divides a year into ten months, and each month is divided into 36 days, regardless of big months and small months. After ten months, it is called "Chinese New Year". "Chinese New Year" is at the end of the year. After these days, a new year has begun. The usual "New Year's Day" is five days, and every four years "New Year's Day" is a leap of six days. With this calendar, the number of days in a month is stable at 36 days, leap year is usually 365 days, and the average number of days in four years is 365.25 days, which is easy to remember and highly consistent with the regression value. This was completely scientific in ancient times.

Yi calendar, also known as October solar calendar, is a special calendar created by Yi ancestors, which is widely used in Yi, Bai and Hani areas of Yunnan. This calendar is also developed on the basis of phenological calendar. As the Yi proverb says: "When you hear the cuckoo's cry, you should plant the land;" When you hear cicadas, you should hoe two grasses; Hear the golden bell, open the sickle to harvest; It was freezing when I heard crows crowing. "Another example is" Southwest Yi Records ":"When trees bloom, it is called spring March; When trees wither, it is called Xia San month; When the fruit is ripe, it is called autumn and March; When leaves fall, it is called winter and March. "These are simple ways to judge the season by phenology.

Later, people turned their eyes to the sky and began to watch videos to serve the time. The Yi people in Ninglang, Yunnan set the seasons by observing the direction of the sun: when the sun rises or does not reach the northernmost point, it is the solstice of summer, which is called the New Year; When the sun rises and does not reach the southernmost tip, it is the winter solstice, which is called off-year. The Yi people in Eshan, southern Yunnan set the season by observing the orientation of the Big Dipper: the bucket handle of the Big Dipper refers to the great summer heat, and the "Torch Festival" can be celebrated at this time; Bucket handle in the Big Dipper is called the Great Cold and the Astrophysics Festival. At this time, it will be October. Both of them accurately reflect the law of seasonal changes.

The solar calendar of the Yi people only uses the twelve zodiac signs (tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig, mouse and cow) to mark the date. One zodiac lasts twelve days, three cycles are one month, and thirty cycles are one year. That is, ten months a year, thirty-six days a month, and * * * three hundred and sixty days. The remaining five or six days are placed at the end of the year, not called the month, as the Chinese New Year, just for everyone to "enjoy the Chinese New Year".

The calendar of Yi is divided into five seasons in October, each season is named after the five elements of earth, copper, water, wood and fire, and each month is divided into male and female, namely, January earth male, February earth female, March copper male, April copper female, May water male, June jellyfish, July wood pine, August wood female, September fire male and October fire female. Every quarter is two months, one month for the public and two months for the mother. The five seasons represent the east, south, west, north and middle directions of the sun. It can be seen that the Book of Changes contains the thoughts of Yin-Yang and Five Elements.

According to modern scholars' research, the zodiac of Yi calendar originated from primitive totem worship, so the Yi calendar has a history of more than 10,000 years. The early methods, origins and systems of Han ancestors such as Yi calendar and Xia calendar are the same, and they are calendars used by different branches of Qiang and Rong. There is no question of who comes from whom in space and time. In addition, the concept of January 36 and July 72 in the Yi calendar has a great influence on the traditional culture of China. The mysterious figures "thirty-six" and "seventy-two" of Taoism, Confucianism, and Yin and Yang scholars actually originated from the Book of Changes. Taoism's "ten caves, thirty-six caves and seventy-two blessed places" originated from "October 36 of a year" in the Book of Changes, with seventy-two days in a season. If this statement is true, it just proves that various cultures of the Chinese nation blend and communicate with each other.