Kirgiz Culture: What is the astronomical calendar of Kirgiz?

The traditional nomadic production of Kirgiz is closely related to climate change. When to breed, when to pick up lambs, when to move, when to cut hair, when to slaughter bacon, when to process livestock products, when to prepare feed and so on. It must be decided according to climate change. After long-term observation, the ancestors of Kirgiz found that the change of astronomical phenomena was closely related to the climate, so they determined the solar terms and predicted the weather according to the change of astronomical phenomena.

Kirgiz people mainly determine the four seasons according to the movement of the stars. They found that the movements of planets such as Aries, Cancer, Libra, Goat and Capricorn are related to the changes of the four seasons, so they determined the beginning and end of spring (Ghazi), summer (Kaye), autumn (Kuqi) and winter (Keshi) according to the changes of these constellations. In addition, they also distinguish solar terms according to the operation law of the Pleiades. As they think, when the Pleiades first appeared once a year, it means that the hot summer has passed and the cool autumn has arrived. Pleiades usually appear in beginning of autumn, Millennium, Cold Dew, beginning of winter, Slight Cold, Sting, Qingming and other dates. After that, the Pleiades was not seen for 40 days. Kirgiz people call this period the Pleiades falling or the Pleiades falling into the water, which is also the dog days of midsummer. They believe that when the Pleiades fall to the ground, droughts often occur; It was raining when the Pleiades fell into the water.

Kirgiz people also predict the weather according to the changes of stars. For example, they think that when there is a big blush around the sun in winter, it will snow the next day or the third day; If there is a little blush, it will get cold and light snow the next day. If there is a little blush after sunrise, the weather will be obviously cold the next day.

A small blush appeared at sunset and the temperature rose the next day. At dusk in winter, if Venus appears in the southeast, the temperature will rise in January, February and March of the following year, and vice versa. In autumn, if Venus appears in the southwest, it will be snowy and cold in winter.

The Kirgiz have their own calendar. Every new moon appears for one month, twelve months a year. Twelve kinds of animals, such as rats, cows, tigers, rabbits, fish, snakes, horses, sheep, foxes, chickens, dogs and pigs, make a cycle every twelve years. This method of dating is consistent with that of their ancestors, Tuoba Siren in the Tang Dynasty, but it may not have spread from that era to modern times, because it is more common for northern nationalities to use the zodiac to date the year after the Tang Dynasty. ?