Lunar Calendar with Solar and Lunar Dates
This lunar calendar shows the solar (Gregorian) and lunar date for every day in the month, side by side, so you can read today's lunar date and browse any month or year at a glance. It is built for anyone who follows the East Asian lunisolar calendar for holidays, ancestral dates, and choosing good days.
Beyond the dual dates, each day carries traditional almanac detail: the Can Chi (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches), the year's zodiac animal, the current solar term, and the auspicious and inauspicious hours. Click any date to open a full day view, or toggle Day Quality to see good and bad days across the whole month.
How to Use the Lunar Calendar
Read today at the top
The Today card shows the current solar date on the left and the lunar date on the right, with Can Chi, zodiac animal, and the current solar term. Use its left and right arrows to step day by day without changing the grid below.
Navigate to any month or year
Use the toolbar arrows to move one month at a time, pick a month from the dropdown, or type a year in the year field and press Enter. Press the Today button to jump back to the current month.
Open a day for full details
Click any cell to open the day view: full lunar date with Can Chi for year, month, and day, the governing Duty (Trực) and its quality, the day star, solar term, holiday, all 12 hours, and the recommended and discouraged activities.
Toggle Day Quality
Press the Day Quality button to overlay the grid with good and bad days based on the auspicious (Hoàng Đạo) and inauspicious (Hắc Đạo) system, so you can spot favourable dates at a glance.
Features
Dual Calendar Display
Every cell shows the solar date with its matching lunar date. The 1st of each lunar month and the 15th (full moon) are clearly marked.
Can Chi (Heavenly Stems & Earthly Branches)
The 60-year Can Chi cycle is calculated for the year, month, and day in your locale, whether Giáp Tý, 甲子, or 갑자.
Zodiac Animals
Each lunar year shows its zodiac animal with a visual icon. Vietnamese uses the Cat in place of the Rabbit, reflected automatically.
Solar Terms (Tiết Khí)
The 24 solar terms that divide the year are highlighted on the grid, and the Today card shows the current term or period.
Auspicious & Inauspicious Hours
All 12 traditional hours appear with their Can Chi name, time range, and deity, marked as Hoàng Đạo (auspicious) or Hắc Đạo (inauspicious).
Day Quality Overlay
Toggle a colour overlay to see good and bad days across the month, based on the day's governing celestial deity.
Traditional Holidays
Lunar holidays appear by locale, from Tết Nguyên Đán and Trung Thu to Seollal and Chuseok, marked directly on the relevant days.
Multi-Locale Support
Terminology, holiday names, Can Chi, and zodiac designations adapt to Vietnamese, Chinese (Simplified), and Korean traditions.
Server-Rendered for SEO
The opening month is rendered on the server for fast loading and search visibility, while navigation stays smooth and app-like.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a lunar calendar work?
A lunar calendar tracks months by the Moon's phases, with each month starting on a new moon and the 15th falling on the full moon. A lunar month is about 29.5 days, so a lunar year runs roughly 11 days shorter than the solar year. To stay aligned with the seasons, the calendar periodically inserts a leap month, which makes it a lunisolar calendar.
What is today's lunar date?
The Today card at the top of the page shows the current lunar date next to the solar date, along with the Can Chi, zodiac year, and current solar term. Use its arrows to check the lunar date for nearby days, or press the Today button to return to the present.
What is the difference between the lunar and solar calendar?
The solar (Gregorian) calendar is based on Earth's orbit around the Sun and has fixed month lengths. The lunar calendar is based on the Moon's phases, so each month begins on a new moon. Because the two systems count time differently, the same solar date maps to a different lunar date every year — which is why this calendar shows both together.
What does Can Chi mean?
Can Chi (Gan Zhi in Chinese) combines 10 Heavenly Stems with 12 Earthly Branches into a repeating 60-unit cycle. It is used to label years, months, days, and hours across East Asian calendrics and astrology. This calendar shows the Can Chi for the year, month, and day in your chosen language.
What are Hoàng Đạo and Hắc Đạo?
Hoàng Đạo (Yellow Road) marks auspicious periods governed by benevolent celestial deities such as Thanh Long (Azure Dragon), while Hắc Đạo (Black Road) marks inauspicious periods. The system applies to both the 12 daily hours and to whole days, and the Day Quality overlay uses it to highlight good and bad days.
Why does Vietnam use the Cat instead of the Rabbit?
In the Vietnamese zodiac the fourth animal is the Cat (Mèo) rather than the Rabbit used in Chinese and Korean traditions. The historical reason is debated, but one common theory links it to the similar sound of the Earthly Branch "Mão" (卯) and the Vietnamese word for cat. The calendar reflects this automatically when viewed in Vietnamese.
What are solar terms?
Solar terms (Tiết Khí in Vietnamese, Jieqi in Chinese) are 24 points in the year based on the Sun's position along the ecliptic. They mark seasonal transitions and have long guided agriculture. Examples include Lập Xuân (Start of Spring), Hạ Chí (Summer Solstice), and Đông Chí (Winter Solstice), and the calendar highlights the day each one falls on.
Can I look up dates far in the past or future?
Yes. Type any year into the year field and press Enter, or pick it from the dropdown, and the calendar shows accurate solar and lunar mappings for that period. Calculations account for leap months and varying month lengths across a wide range of years.
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