Chapter 53 Section 3 Compilation and Printing of the Almanac

An almanac is a calendar.In ancient times, the content of the almanac included when each solar term would occur, the big and small moons of each month, the names of the stems and branches of each day, and when to add a leap month, etc.The calendar is the basis for compiling the almanac. Compilation of almanacs and printed almanacs is an important work of the Observatory.Before the Tang Dynasty, the almanac had to be copied by handwriting.Due to the high demand for calendars, woodblock printing was used later, which saved a lot of manpower and time. In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court not only prohibited private compilation of calendars, but also prohibited private printing and reprinting of calendars. All calendars were printed by the imperial court, which is the origin of the name "Huang Li".The existing Ming Dynasty imperial calendar has the words "the forger will be cut" and so on.After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the imperial government relaxed the policy, and the folks could print the calendar, but it must be printed according to the official calendar, stamped with the official seal and distributed by the government.