The term Mongolian calendar ( or ) refers to a number of different calendars, the oldest of which was a solar calendar. The beginning of the year was autumn. The year was divided into 4 seasons. The seasons begin at the equinoxes and the solstices of the sun. This calculation was changed in 1211, and the new year was celebrated in the spring. Spring began on March 22. In 1282,

Kublai Khan Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...

revised the

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar, dating back to the Han dynasty, is a lunisolar calendar that blends solar, lunar, and other cycles for social and agricultural purposes. While modern China primarily uses the Gregorian calendar for officia ...

and began to include his homeland Mongolia in this calendar. The traditional Mongol calendar is a

lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of mont ...

based on system developed in 1747 by monk Ishbaljir (; 1704–1788). The Mongol year is composed of either 12 or 13

lunar month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Euro ...

s, each beginning and ending with a

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years, so that an average year is equal to the

solar year A tropical year or solar year (or tropical period) is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky – as viewed from the Earth or another celestial body of the Solar System – thus completing a full cycle of astronom ...

. The Mongol traditional new year celebration is

Tsagaan Sar The Mongolian Lunar New Year, commonly known as Tsagaan Sar ( , or literally White Moon), is the first day of the year according to the Mongolian lunisolar calendar. The festival of the Lunar New Year is celebrated by Mongolic and some T ...

which is celebrated at the second

following the

winter solstice The winter solstice, or hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's geographical pole, poles reaches its maximum axial tilt, tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern Hemisphere, Northern and So ...

. In 2022, the second new moon was on 1 February in Mongolia. In modern

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, the Gregorian calendar is used, with the traditional calendar only used for traditional celebrations and events based on the calendar. The European system of chronology is called ''Аргын тоолол'' (, chronology of method) and the Mongol system of chronology is called ''Билгийн тоолол'' (, chronology of wisdom).

Argyn toolol

Months

The twelve months of the year are referred to by their number, such as first month, second month, and so on.

Days of the week

In colloquial usage, the first 5 days of the week are referred to as first day, second day, etc. Saturday is referred to as Хагас сайн өдөр (''Khagas sain ödör'', "half-good day"), and Sunday is referred to as Бүтэн сайн өдөр (''Büten sain ödör'', "full good day"); a result of 5 full working days and Saturday as a half working day during the

communist era A communist era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

. The names of Tibetan origin are used in more formal settings, and almost exclusively in written documents, while the Sanskrit names are practically absent in modern usage.

References

{{Calendars Calendars

Calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

Argyn toolol

Months

Days of the week

See also

References