Throughout its many years of history, various calendar systems have been used in Korea. Many of them were adopted from the Chinese calendar system, with modifications occasionally made to accommodate Korea's geographic location and seasonal patterns.
The solar Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1896, by Gojong of Korea. Koreans now mostly use the Gregorian calendar; however, traditional holidays and age-reckoning for older generations are still based on the traditional lunisolar calendar.
History During the early Goryeo period, the Tang-made Xuanming calendar (선명력; 宣明曆) was used until 1281. While the Tang revised the Xuanming calendar several times, Korea insisted on using an unmodified version until Munjong's reign, when several improvised calendars were created, such as the Sipchŏng (십정력; 十精曆), Ch'iryo (칠요력; 七曜曆), Kyŏnhaeng (견행력; 見行曆), Tun'gap (둔갑력; 遁甲曆), and T'aeil (태일력; 太一曆) calendars.
In 1281 (the 7th year of Chungnyeol's reign) the Yuan-made Shòushí calendar (수시력; 授時曆) was adopted. However, Goryeo scholars tended to prefer the obsolete Xuanming calendar, which they were more accustomed to. During the late Goryeo period a revised version of Shòushí, known as the Taet'ong calendar (대통력; 大統曆), saw limited use.
Shòushí continued as the standard calendar until early Joseon, when the Ch'ilchŏngsan (칠정산; 七政算) was created to serve as the first Korea-specific calendar system during the reign of Sejong the Great. The Ch'ilchŏngsan consisted of two books, the Ch'ilchŏngsannaep'yŏn (칠정산내편; 七政算內篇), which detailed methods to accurately calculate dates and celestial movements regarding Korea's geographic location based on the Shòushí calendar, and the Ch'ilchŏngsanoep'yŏn (칠정산외편;七政算 外篇), which was based on the Huihui Lifa.
Beginning in 1644 (22nd year of Injo's reign), Korean scholars began discussing the adaptation of the Qing-made Shixian calendar (), as the limitations of the Ch'ilchŏngsan became clear. Although the Shixian calendar was officially adopted in 1653 (4th year of Hyojong's reign), it was not implemented in earnest until 1725 (1st year of Yeongjo's reign) as Korean scholars had little knowledge of western astronomy (which heavily influenced the Shixian calendar) and the Qing were reluctant to reveal any information of their new innovation.
The traditional calendar designated its years via Korean era names from 270 to 963, then Chinese era names with Korean era names at a few times until 1894. In 1894 and 1895, the lunar calendar was used with years numbered from the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty in 1392.
The Gregorian calendar was adopted on 1 January 1896, with the Korean era name Geonyang ().
From 1945 until 1961 in South Korea, the Dangun calendar was used, where Gregorian calendar years were counted from the foundation of Gojoseon in 2333 BC (regarded as year one), the date of the legendary founding of Korea by Dangun. These Dangi () years were 4278 to 4294. This numbering was informally used with the Korean lunar calendar before 1945 but has only been occasionally used since 1961, and mostly in North Korea prior to 1997.
Although not being an official calendar, in South Korea, the traditional Korean calendar is still maintained by the government. The current version is based on the Shixian calendar, which was in turn revised by Jesuit scholars.
In North Korea, the Juche calendar was used between 1997 and 2024 to number its years, based on the birth of the state's founder Kim Il Sung.
Features The Chinese zodiac of 12 Earthly Branches (animals), which were used for counting hours and years; Ten Heavenly Stems, which were combined with the 12 Earthly Branches to form a sixty-year cycle; Twenty-four solar terms () in the year, spaced roughly 15 days apart; Lunar months including leap months added every two or three years.
Weekdays
Note that traditional Korean calendar has no concept of weekdays: the following are names of weekdays in the modern (Western) calendar.
EnglishHangulHanja TransliterationHeavenly body5 Elements (오행; 五行) Sunday : Sun Monday : Moon Tuesday : Mars Fire Wednesday : Mercury Water Thursday : Jupiter Wood Friday : Venus Metal Saturday : Saturn Earth
Months
In modern Korean language, the months of both the traditional lunisolar and Western calendars are named by prefixing Sino-Korean numerals to , the Sino-Korean word for "month". Traditionally, when speaking of individuals' birth months, the months of the lunisolar calendar were named by prefixing the native Korean name of the animal associated with each Earthly Branch in the Chinese zodiac to , the native Korean word for "month".
Additionally, the first, eleventh, and twelfth months have other Korean names which are similar to traditional Chinese month names. However, the other traditional Chinese month names are not used in Korean.
+ Korean month names with Chinese lunisolar equivalents Number Modern name () Traditional name () English Translation Korean Chinese English / translation Korean Chinese Earliest start 01 一 January month 1 1월 일월 正月 Tiger Month 호랑이달 寅月 Jan 21 primary month 정월 02 二 February month 2 2월 이월 二月 Rabbit Month 토끼달 卯月 Feb 20 03 三 March month 3 3월 삼월 三月 Dragon Month 용달 辰月 Mar 21 04 四 April month 4 4월 사월 四月 Snake Month 뱀달 巳月 Apr 20 05 五 May month 5 5월 오월 五月 Horse Month 말달 午月 May 21 06 六 June month 6 6월 유월 六月 Sheep Month 양달 未月 Jun 21 07 七 July month 7 7월 칠월 七月 Monkey Month 원숭이달 申月 Jul 23 08 八 August month 8 8월 팔월 八月 Rooster Month 닭달 酉月 Aug 23 09 九 September month 9 9월 구월 九月 Dog Month 개달 戌月 Sep 23 10 十 October month 10 10월 시월 十月 Pig Month 돼지달 亥月 Oct 23 11 十一 November month 11 11월 십일월 十一月 Rat Month 쥐달 子月 Nov 22 winter solstice month 동짓달 冬月 , 'winter month' 12 十二 December month 12 12월 십이월 十二月 Ox Month 소달 丑月 Dec 22 腊月 preservation month 섣달 臘月 'end-of-year month'
Festivals The lunar calendar is used for the observation of traditional festivals, such as Seollal, Chuseok, and Buddha's Birthday. It is also used for jesa memorial services for ancestors and the marking of birthdays by older Koreans.
Traditional holidays
Festival Significance Events Date (Lunar) Food Seollal () Lunar New Year's Day An ancestral service is offered before the grave of the ancestors, New Year's greetings are exchanged with family, relatives and neighbors; bows to elders (sebae, ), yunnori. Day 1 of Month 1 tteokguk, yakgwa. Daeboreum () First full moon Greeting of the moon (dalmaji, ), kite-flying, burning talismans to ward off evil spirits (aengmagi taeugi, ), bonfires (daljip taeugi, ). Day 15 of Month 1 rice boiled with five grains (o-gok-bap, ), eating nuts, e.g. walnuts, pine nuts, peanuts, chestnuts (bureom, ), wine drinking (gwibalgisul) Meoseumnal () Festival for servants Housecleaning, coming of age ceremony, fishermen's shaman rite (yeongdeunggut, ) Day 1 of Month 2 songpyeon Samjinnal (삼짇날) Migrant swallows return Leg fighting, fortune telling. Day 3 of Month 3 azalea wine (dugyeonju, 두견주, 杜鵑酒), azalea rice cake (dugyeon hwajeon, 두견화전, 杜鵑花煎) Hansik () Beginning of farming season Visit to ancestral grave for offering rite, and cleaning and maintenance. Day 105 after winter solstice cold food only: mugwort cake (ssuktteok, 쑥떡), mugwort dumplings (ssukdanja, 쑥단자), mugwort soup (ssuktang, 쑥탕) Chopail ()
Seokga Tansinil (석가탄신일; 釋迦誕生日)Buddha's Birthday Yeondeunghoe (Lotus Lantern festival) Day 8 of Month 4 rice cake (jjintteok, 찐떡), flower rice cake (hwajeon, 화전, 花煎) Dano () or Surinnal () Spring festival Washing hair with iris water, wrestling (ssireum, 씨름), swinging, giving fans as gifts Day 5 of Month 5 rice cake with herbs (surichwitteok, ), herring soup (junchiguk, ) Yudu () Water greeting Water greeting, washing hair to wash away bad luck Day 15 of Month 6 Five coloured noodles (yudumyeon, 유두면), cooked rice cake (sudan, 수단, 水團) Chilseok () Meeting day of Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo, in Korean folk tale Fabric weaving Day 7 of Month 7 wheat pancake (miljeonbyeong, 밀전병), steamed rice cake with red beans (sirutteok, 시루떡) Baekjung () Worship to Buddha Worship to Buddha. Day 15 of Month 7 mixed rice cake (seoktanbyeong, 석탄병, 惜呑餠) Chuseok () Harvest festival Visit to ancestral grave, ssireum, offering earliest rice grain (olbyeosinmi, ), circle dance (ganggang sullae, ) Day 15 of Month 8 pine-flavored rice cake stuffed with chestnuts, sesame or beans (songpyeon, ), taro soup (torantang, ) Jungyangjeol () Migrant sparrows leave Celebrating autumn with poetry and painting, composing poetry, enjoying nature Day 9 of Month 9 chrysanthemum pancake (gukhwajeon, 국화전, 菊花煎), fish roe, honey citron tea (yuja-cheong) Dongji ()Winter Solstice Rites to dispel bad spirits. Around December 22 in the solar calendar red bean porridge (patjuk) with rice dumplingsSeotdal Geumeum ()New Year's Eve Staying up all night long with all doors open to receive ancestral spirits Last day of Month 12 bibimbap, injeolmi, traditional biscuits (han-gwa, ) There are also many regional festivals celebrated according to the lunar calendar.
See also Festivals of Korea Korean era name Sexagenary cycle Public holidays in North Korea Public holidays in South Korea
References
Pyeon, Prof. M. Y. The Folkloric Study of Chopail (Buddha's Birthday). Seoul: Minsokwon, 2002.