CHINESE RELIGIOUS YEAR. The religious year of traditional China may be visualized as a circular base that is the calendar, upon which three overlays are superimposed. The first overlay shows the annual pan-Chinese observances; the second shows the celebrations of local, popular cults centered on the birthdays of particular deities; the third shows the schedule of official state sacrifices. I shall discuss each of these cycles of observances in turn.

The Religious Year and the Calendar

Traditionally, the dates of religious significance in the year were made known through a calendar issued by the Bureau of Astronomy in the Ministry of Rites. This calendar combined lunar and solar calculations, but for the religious year the former were more important. The waxing and waning of the moon was the most conspicuous indicator of change in the heavens, and the new and full moons thus formed...