About & methodology 关于

MoonDate (bothmoons.com) is a free, English-first Chinese lunar calendar (万年历) and almanac (黄历) for the Chinese diaspora and anyone curious about Chinese traditions. No ads, no tracking, no account.

What's here

Today's almanac: lunar date, solar term, 干支 day pillar, sunrise and moon phase, and the day's 宜/忌 in plain English.
Lunar calendar with the 24 solar terms and Yellow Path (黄道) days.
Auspicious dates for weddings, moving and business openings, by month and year, plus an interactive date finder.
Bazi (八字) reader: the four pillars and five-element balance of a birth moment.
Festival guides with exact dates for upcoming years, and articles on the almanac, zodiac and customs.

Where the almanac data comes from

All lunar dates, solar terms, stem-branch (干支) pillars, day officers (建除十二神), Yellow/Black Path deities, lucky and unlucky stars, and daily 宜/忌 lists are computed with the open-source lunar-javascript library, which implements the rules of the traditional Chinese almanac (通书, following the Qing-dynasty 协纪辨方书). Solar terms use astronomical calculation. Sunrise, sunset and moon phase use the SunCalc algorithms.

How auspicious dates are rated

For each occasion, a day qualifies only if the almanac lists the key activity among the day's favorable actions (宜): 嫁娶 for weddings, 入宅 or 移徙 for moving, 开市 for openings. The activity must not appear among its taboos (忌), and the day must not be a Break (破) day or one marked 诸事不宜 ("nothing is favorable"). Qualifying days are then scored: +15 for a Yellow Path (黄道) day, +10 for a favorable day officer, up to +12 for blessing stars (天德, 月德, 天喜, 天恩, 天赦), plus a small adjustment for the balance of 宜 versus 忌. Scores of 80 and above are rated Excellent, 65 and above Good. For weddings and moves, days in the 7th lunar month (Ghost Month) are flagged rather than recommended, following common custom.

Traditional date selection also looks at each person's own chart. At minimum, skip any day whose zodiac clash (冲) matches your birth year's animal; for a big event many families also consult an elder or a professional 择日 master.

A note on tradition

The almanac is cultural heritage. We present it faithfully and explain it, but it is not religious, legal, medical or financial advice. Folk customs (like the "widow year" or Ghost Month) vary by region and family; we note them so you can have the conversation with your relatives.

Affiliate disclosure

Some pages recommend festival and celebration items with Amazon links. As an Amazon Associate, MoonDate earns from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. That is how the site stays free without ads or tracking.