Family Tree standardizes Chinese dates that have the dynasty, emperor's reign title, year, month, and day.
FamilySearch can convert either sexagenary dates or regular years (for example, 丁卯年 or fourth year).
Family Tree can store dates in both the original Chinese form and a standardized Gregorian form. See “How to keep both the Chinese and standardized dates” below.
| Date | Standardized (Gregorian) date | Explanation |
| 漢成帝建始四年九月 | September 0029 B.C. | Han Dynasty, Emperor Cheng, Jianshi Reign, Year 4, Month 9 |
| 嘉慶癸亥三月三十日 | 20 May 1803 | In the seventh month, in autumn, of the third year of the Jianhe Reign of Emperor Huan of Han |
| 乾隆四十六年辛丑嵗六月二十八日辰時 | 17 August 1781 | Between 7:00 and 9:00 am on the 28th day of the sixth month of the 46th year of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor |
| 萬曆元年正月20日 | 21 February 1573 | 20th day of the first month of the first year of the reign of the Wanli Emperor |
Partial dates
Family Tree can also standardize partial Chinese dates. However, if you can add the missing information, Family Tree can supply more complete Gregorian date.
| Date | Standardized (Gregorian) date | Explanation |
明 | A.D. 1368 | The first year of the Ming dynasty. |
| 康熙 | A.D. 1662 | The first year of the reign of Kangxi. |
| 辛丑十一月十九日 | 22 December 2021 26 December 1961 29 December 1901 | The year within a repeating sexagenary (60-year) cycle followed by the month and day. This specific example means the 19th day of the 11th month of the 38th year of a sexagenary cycle. More information would be needed to find the Gregorian year. |
| 靈帝熹平三年 | A.D. 1074 | The third year of the Xiping Reign of Emperor Ling. |
| 哀帝建平四年夏 | 0003 B.C. | The summer of the fourth year of the Jianping Reign of Emperor Ai. |
Seasons
Some Chinese dates include the season. Family Tree does not standardize seasons because they are too imprecise. Keeping both the Chinese and Gregorian dates in Family Tree, as described next, preserves this clarifying information.
How to keep both the Chinese and standardized dates
The Chinese date supplies a wealth of historical and cultural context that the Gregorian date lacks. You can preserve the date in both formats when entering Chinese family history into Family Tree.
To record both, follow these steps:
- In a date field in Family Tree, enter the date from the Chinese document.
- In the Standardized Event Date field, click the Chinese date that you just entered. Family Tree automatically selects a standardized Gregorian date for you.
- If the standardized date is not correct, click the Standardized Event Date field, and select the correct date. If none of the dates listed is correct, select None of the Above. If you select None of the Above, Family Tree keeps the Chinese date you entered but does not select a standard.
Note: Many of the examples in this article came from https://eastasiastudent.net/china/classical/date-format. This website provides a simple introduction to Chinese dates for English speakers.
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