An abacus calendar is a sort of calendar that makes use of an abacus to symbolize the times, months, and years. Abacus calendars have been first developed in China in the course of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), and so they have been used for hundreds of years to maintain monitor of time. In contrast to fashionable calendars, that are based mostly on the photo voltaic 12 months, abacus calendars are based mostly on the lunisolar 12 months, which is the time it takes for the moon to orbit the Earth 12 instances. Due to this fact, the size of every month in an abacus calendar can differ between 29 and 30 days.
Abacus calendars are nonetheless used at present in some elements of the world, significantly in East Asia. They’re typically used for spiritual functions, equivalent to figuring out the dates of festivals and holidays, and so they can be used for sensible functions, equivalent to preserving monitor of appointments and occasions. Abacus calendars are a beneficial device for anybody who’s focused on studying extra about Chinese language tradition and historical past, and so they can be a enjoyable and academic approach to be taught in regards to the fundamentals of astronomy.
