The Hmong calendar (Pahawh: š–¬Œš–¬£š–¬µ š–¬Šš–¬žš–¬° š–¬€š–¬°š–¬§š–¬µ š–¬‚š–¬Æ š–¬˜š–¬²š–¬„š–¬°; RPA: Hmoob daim teej cim zwj) is a lunar calendar used by the Hmong people since, according to Hmong legends and folklore, ancient times. Its origins are unknown. However, it is believed to be created during ancient Hmong civilization in todayā€™s country Mongolia. According to Hmong legends and folklore, it is said that ancient Hmong ancestral kings had created them to determine the best time when rituals, ceremonial events or activities can be performed in order to receive blessings or fortunes from the almighty god.

Features

The Hmong lunar calendar has a system of a set revolving cycles of days (Pahawh: š–¬†š–¬°š–¬©; RPA: Hnub), weeks (Pahawh: š–¬‘š–¬Ÿš–¬µ; RPA: plua), months (Pahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬„; RPA: Hli) and years (Pahawh: š–¬š–¬§š–¬°; RPA: xyoo), along with moon cycles and Hmong zodiac[1]

System

Months of the Year

Gregorian MonthsHmong Months (formal in Pahawh)Hmong (formal using RPA)Informal (using RPA)
Januaryš–¬€š–¬°š–¬¤ š–¬€š–¬¶š–¬ÆYeej ceeb[Lub] Ib hli
Februaryš–¬†š–¬° š–¬€š–¬¶š–¬®Kub xeeb[Lub] Ob hli
Marchš–¬–š–¬°š–¬¤ š–¬”š–¬²Yaj kiav[Lub] Peb hli
Aprilš–¬€ š–¬’š–¬ÆKeem com[Lub] Plaub hli
Mayš–¬†š–¬° š–¬†š–¬¶š–¬¬Kub nuj[Lub] Tsib hli
Juneš–¬’š–¬¶š–¬§š–¬µ š–¬”š–¬¶š–¬žTov liaj[Lub] Rau hli
Julyš–¬š–¬°š–¬Ÿ š–¬€š–¬¶š–¬®Huaj xeeb[Lub] Xya hli
Augustš–¬€š–¬¶š–¬Æ š–¬‘š–¬ÆCeeb cua[Lub] Yim hli
Septemberš–¬”š–¬š–¬° š–¬†š–¬° š–¬€š–¬°š–¬žTsiab kub leej[Lub] Cuaj hli
Octoberš–¬€š–¬Ŗš–¬µ š–¬‹š–¬°š–¬Ŗš–¬°Peem tshais[Lub] Kaum hli
Novemberš–¬Œš–¬²š–¬ž š–¬€š–¬² š–¬€š–¬¦š–¬°Looj keev txheem[Lub] Kaum ib hli
Decemberš–¬‘š–¬¶š–¬Øš–¬µ š–¬Žš–¬ÆNpuag cawb[Lub] Kaum ob hli

Days of the week

Gregorian DaysHmong DaysHmong RPAInformal (in RPA)
Sundayš–¬˜š–¬²š–¬„š–¬° š–¬†š–¬°š–¬©Zwj hnubHnub ib
Mondayš–¬˜š–¬²š–¬„š–¬° š–¬ƒš–¬„Zwj hliHnub ob
Tuesdayš–¬˜š–¬²š–¬„š–¬° š–¬‘š–¬¶š–¬¦š–¬µZwj quagHnub peb
Wednesdayš–¬˜š–¬²š–¬„š–¬° š–¬€š–¬¶š–¬œš–¬µZwj feebHnub plaub
Thursdayš–¬˜š–¬²š–¬„š–¬° š–¬€š–¬¶š–¬§š–¬µZwj teebHnub tsib
Fridayš–¬˜š–¬²š–¬„š–¬° š–¬š–¬¶Zwj kuabHnub rau
Saturdayš–¬˜š–¬²š–¬„š–¬° š–¬—š–¬¶š–¬ÆZwj cagHnub xya

Seasons

EnglishPahawh HmongHmong RPA
Springš–¬Šš–¬¶š–¬Æ š–¬Œš–¬²š–¬«š–¬° š–¬Œš–¬§š–¬° š–¬Œš–¬²š–¬«š–¬° š–¬š–¬²š–¬©š–¬µ š–¬—š–¬„Caij nplooj xyoob nplooj ntoos hlav
Summerš–¬Šš–¬¶š–¬Æ š–¬†š–¬¶š–¬©š–¬µ š–¬’š–¬¶š–¬¤š–¬µCaij ntuj sov
Autumn/Fallš–¬Šš–¬¶š–¬Æ š–¬Œš–¬²š–¬«š–¬° š–¬Œš–¬§š–¬° š–¬Œš–¬²š–¬«š–¬° š–¬š–¬²š–¬©š–¬µ š–¬š–¬²š–¬„š–¬°Caij nplooj xyoob nplooj ntoos zeeg
Winterš–¬Šš–¬¶š–¬Æ š–¬†š–¬¶š–¬©š–¬µ š–¬“š–¬°š–¬¬Caij ntuj no

Moon cycle counting system

Moon cycles

  • The first cycle is the waning gibbous (Pahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬„ š–¬”š–¬®; RPA: Hli xiab). This occurs within the first 14 days of the month, with a first half moon phase.
  • The second cycle is the full moon (Pahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬„ š–¬—š–¬°š–¬; RPA: Hli ntsa). This occurs within the 15th day of the month, with a full moon phase.
  • The third cycle is the waxing gibbous (Pahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬„ š–¬ƒš–¬°š–¬¬š–¬°; RPA: Hli nqis). This occurs within the last 14 days of the month, with a second half moon phase. And after this, the cycle repeats, similar to that of east asian, southeast asian, and international moon cycles.
Moon Phase Diagram

Moon counting system

International moon cyclesHmong moon cyclesDay(s) counted
Waxing moonPahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬„ š–¬–š–¬²š–¬®; RPA: Hli xabDay 1-14
Full moonPahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬„ š–¬—š–¬°š–¬ / š–¬›š–¬°š–¬; RPA: Hli ntsa / ntsaaDay 15
Waning moonPahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬„ š–¬‰š–¬¶š–¬¬š–¬°; RPA: Hli nqegDay 16-29
New moonPahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬„ š–¬‘š–¬¶š–¬§š–¬µ / š–¬›š–¬¶š–¬§š–¬µ; RPA: Hli tuag / taagDay 30
First appearing of waxing moonrepeats?1st day
First quarter (half moon)repeats?8th day
Full moonrepeats?15th day
Third quarter (half moon)repeats?22nd day
New moonrepeats?30th day

Hmong zodiac

Chinese Zodiac

According to Hmong folklore, it is said that long time ago almighty god (Pahawh: š–¬š–¬²š–¬¤ š–¬„š–¬¤š–¬µ; RPA: Yawg Saum) wanted to choose some animals to represent each Lunar Year, and if he only chooses domestic animals it wouldn't be fair toward wild animals - this incident was involved for both heaven and underworld. Therefore he chose half of domestic animals and the other half wild animals in a total of 12 zodiac animals (Pahawh: š–­‘š–­’ š–¬‡š–¬²š–¬§š–¬µ š–¬”š–¬¶š–¬š–¬° š–¬— š–¬š–¬°š–¬§š–¬°; RPA: 12 tug tsiaj kav xyoo) to represent each Lunar New Year.[2][3] The 12 animals are as follows:

  • Rat (Pahawh: š–¬—š–¬²š–¬¬ / š–¬›š–¬²š–¬¬; RPA: Nas/ Naas)
  • Cow (Pahawh: š–¬†š–¬¶š–¬®š–¬µ; RPA: Nyuj)
  • Tiger (Pahawh: š–¬’š–¬¶š–¬š–¬° / š–¬†š–¬²š–¬š–¬°; RPA: Tsov / Tsuv)
  • Rabbit (Pahawh: š–¬š–¬²š–¬ž; RPA: Luav)
  • Dragon (Pahawh: š–¬–š–¬°š–¬„š–¬° / š–¬šš–¬°š–¬„š–¬°; RPA: Zaj / Zaaj)
  • Snake (Pahawh: š–¬–š–¬²š–¬¬ / š–¬šš–¬²š–¬¬; RPA: Nab / Naab)
  • Horse (Pahawh: š–¬š–¬°š–¬¬; RPA: Nees)
  • Goat (Pahawh: š–¬ƒš–¬°š–¬Ŗš–¬°; RPA: Tshis)
  • Monkey (Pahawh: š–¬”š–¬ž / š–¬–š–¬²š–¬ž; RPA: Liab / Lab)
  • Rooster (Pahawh: š–¬Šš–¬°š–¬¦š–¬µ / š–¬–š–¬²š–¬¦š–¬µ; RPA: Qaib / Qab)
  • Dog (Pahawh: š–¬‰š–¬žš–¬° / š–¬‰š–¬­š–¬°; RPA: Dev / Dlev)
  • Pig (Pahawh: š–¬‘š–¬Øš–¬µ; RPA: Npua)

Important facts

  • In each month, every moon cycle has 30 days.
  • Each year has about 354 days average.
  • Every 3 years, one full extra month (30 days) is added making 13 moon cycles; leap year.
  • In a 19 years span, about 7 additional months are added as leap month.
  • Based on Hmong farming (Pahawh: š–¬Œš–¬£š–¬µ š–¬’š–¬¶š–¬Æ š–¬Œš–¬¦š–¬µ š–¬š–¬°š–¬ž; RPA: Hmoob cov qoob loo), the leap year is considered to have 2 of the 8th month (Pahawh: š–¬š–¬°š–¬¦ š–­’ š–¬†š–¬°š–¬ž š–¬‚š–¬¤ š–¬ƒš–¬„; RPA: muaj 2 lub yim hli)

Usages

  • Calculating age, time, generation(s), year(s); etc.
  • Determining a legal birth name (with great meaningsā€”luck, fortune, blessing); and old age name; etc.[4]
  • Analyzing the cause of illness (whether physical, spiritual, or both); the best time to hunt, attend outdoor activities, doing businesses, making profits, etc.; nightmares; etc.
  • Foretelling risky or dangerous event(s)/situation(s); how to alter a risky pathway; etc.

White Hmong / Hmoob Dawb

Green Hmong / Moob Leeg

References

  1. ā†‘ https://www.randwickresearch.com/index.php/rissj/article/view/392%7Ctitle=A Thick Translation of Hmong Oral Epics from the Perspective of Cultural Anthropology by Fei Wu (January 31, 2022); Randwick International of Social Science; volume=3, issue=1, pages=189ā€“198
  2. ā†‘ https://www.sbs.com.au/language/hmong/en/podcast-episode/zodiac-animals-and-auspicious-time/c1yc3exer Zodiac animals and auspicious time by Vixay Vue (April 8, 2022)
  3. ā†‘ title=https://www.academia.edu/44604457/Culture_Contact_in_Ancient_China Culture Contact in Ancient China: Hmong Folk Taoism Seen Through Shamanic Texts by Brenda Benita Johns and David Shalom Strecker
  4. ā†‘ https://3mong.org/uploads/1/4/0/6/140660567/mong_american_families_article.pdf The Mong American Families Journal, volume 2; by Paoze Thao (December 2004)
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