Chinese date format converter. Any Gregorian date from 1901 to 2100 → standard, in characters, cheque capitals, lunar and 干支 forms. Years written with 〇 as China's numeral standard prescribes; cheque dates padded with 零 as its payment rules require.
Chinese Date Format Converter (中文日期格式)
How to use
Pick a Gregorian date
Any date from 1901-01-01 to 2100-12-31, the span of the Hong Kong Observatory's tables. "Today" fills in the current day in Singapore.
Read the five forms
Standard (2026年5月22日), in characters (二〇二六年五月二十二日), cheque capitals (贰零贰陆年伍月贰拾贰日), lunar (丙午年四月初六) and 干支 (丙午年癸巳月丙申日).
Read the note under each
The character and capital forms follow written rules; the lunar and 干支 forms turn their year at different points, so between 立春 and Chinese New Year they name different years, and the result says so.
Copy
Each row has a Copy button that puts plain text on the clipboard for any document.
Five Ways to Write a Chinese Date, Each With Its Own Rule
The same day can be written many ways in Chinese. Take 22 May 2026: standard 2026年5月22日; in characters 二〇二六年五月二十二日; in the capitals used on cheques 贰零贰陆年伍月贰拾贰日; lunar 丙午年四月初六; and 干支 丙午年癸巳月丙申日. Two of those follow written rules, and two depend on the calendar.
〇 versus 零
China's national standard GB/T 15835-2011, General rules for writing numerals in publications, §5.2.5: a 0 that counts something is written 零; a 0 in a label is written 〇. A year is a label, so "公元 2012(年)" is 二〇一二, not 二零一二, while 3052 of something is 三千零五十二. The character form here writes years that way and counts out the month and day.
Capitals on cheques
§5.2.4 of the same standard lists the capital numerals 零 壹 贰 叁 肆 伍 陆 柒 捌 玖 拾 佰 仟 万 亿 and says legal documents and financial instruments should use them. The People's Bank of China's payment rules (支付结算办法), annex 1 article 7, require a cheque's issue date in capitals and pad months and days with 零 or 壹 so the date cannot be altered. The cheque form here follows that article. It governs instruments in mainland China; for cheques elsewhere, follow your bank's own instructions.
The lunar year and the 干支 year
The lunar form names the lunar year, which turns at 正月初一: the Hong Kong Observatory changes the year's 干支 at midnight on that day. The 干支 form turns its year and months at 立春 and each minor term (节), so its three pillars belong together. On 10 February 2026 the lunar date is 乙巳年腊月廿三 while the 干支 is already 丙午年庚寅月乙卯日, and the result says so on days like that.
Why a mainland cheque writes October as 零壹拾月
The worked examples in annex 1, article 7 of the PBOC payment rules: 15 January is 零壹月壹拾伍日, and 20 October is 零壹拾月零贰拾日.
Only three months take a 零 (壹, 贰 and 壹拾), and the days 壹 to 玖, 壹拾, 贰拾 and 叁拾; days 拾壹 to 拾玖 take a leading 壹. The article gives the reason: to stop the issue date being altered.
Article 8 of the same annex: a cheque dated in ordinary numerals is refused by the bank; a capital date written without the padding may be accepted, but any loss that follows falls on the drawer.
Article 12 of the payment rules: the issue date on an instrument may not be changed, and an altered instrument is void. A mistake in the capital date means writing a new cheque.
GB/T 15835-2011 §5.2.5: the 0 in a year is 〇, not 零. The standard's own example writes "公元 2012(年)" as 二〇一二, not 二零一二.
In cheque capitals, though, 0 is 零: the capital numerals listed in GB/T 15835 §5.2.4 begin with 零, and 〇 is not among them. So 2026 on a cheque is 贰零贰陆年.
The lunar and 干支 forms name different years for a few weeks of some years: from 立春 on 4 February 2026 to New Year's Eve on 16 February, the lunar year is still 乙巳 while the 干支 year is already 丙午.
立春 day itself splits at a minute: in 2026 the term fell at 04:02 on the 4th (Hong Kong Observatory), with 己丑 month before it and 庚寅 after. The 干支 form is read at noon, and the note gives the change time.
The Hong Kong Observatory's tables write the eleventh and twelfth lunar months as 十一月 and 十二月; the lunar form here uses 冬月 and 腊月, the names almanacs use. Both are in current use.
The lunar form has been checked day by day against the Hong Kong Observatory's tables for 1901 to 2100. The one month that differs is the fourth of 1906, whose new moon fell 7 minutes 49 seconds before midnight, and the tool flags it.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The character form uses 一 二 三 and 〇, the form common in print and on invitations. Cheque capitals use 壹 贰 叁 and 零, padded as annex 1 of the PBOC payment rules requires, and are the required form on mainland cheques and other instruments.
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Usually the standard form (2026年5月22日), which is clear. Contracts often require amounts in capitals; for the date, follow the contract or the institution's own requirement.
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They turn at different moments: the lunar year at 正月初一, the 干支 year at 立春. For the weeks between the two a day has two years, and the result says so.
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No. Everything is computed in your browser.
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Yes. The Copy buttons put plain text on the clipboard; paste into any document editor.
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1901-01-01 to 2100-12-31, the span of the Hong Kong Observatory's Gregorian-Lunar tables. Outside it the tool refuses rather than give a lunar date nobody can check.
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Not yet. The ROC era counts 1912 as year 1, so Gregorian year − 1911 = ROC year: 2026 is ROC 115.
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The current day in Singapore (UTC+8), changing at midnight there, whatever your device's timezone.
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The converter goes both ways and lists the zodiac, 纳音, solar terms and festivals; this tool only writes one Gregorian date in five Chinese forms. Both run on the same calendar engine.
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It is a matter of taste and family custom: the character form reads as formal, the standard form as plain, and many invitations add the lunar date as well. There is no fixed rule.
Method & sources
How it computes
LunarDateViewsKernel.formats(): standard 2026年5月22日; characters with the year's 0 as 〇 (GB/T 15835-2011 §5.2.5); cheque capitals padded with 零/壹 per 支付结算办法 附一 第七条; the lunar date under its lunar year (正月初一 rule); the 干支 date with year and month from 立春 and each 节. Lunar dates from LunisolarKernel, checked against every day of HKO's 1901-2100 tables.
What this tool implements
- Year digits in the character form use 〇, as GB/T 15835-2011 §5.2.5 writes a number used as a label ("公元2012(年)" → 二〇一二, not 二零一二); month and day are counted out (十九, 二十一).
- The cheque form follows annex 1, article 7 of the PBOC payment rules: issue dates in capital numerals, with 零 before the months 壹, 贰, 壹拾 and the days 壹-玖, 壹拾, 贰拾, 叁拾, and 壹 before the days 拾壹-拾玖. Its two worked examples (零壹月壹拾伍日; 零壹拾月零贰拾日) are pinned in the test suite. The year is written digit by digit in the §5.2.4 capitals, where 0 is 零.
- Month and day are written in the traditional Chinese forms — 正月, 冬月, 臘月 for the first, eleventh and twelfth months, and 初一 through 三十 for days — rather than as Arabic numerals, because those are the forms an almanac or an invitation actually uses.
- Two year boundaries, named on the page: the lunar form uses the lunar year, which HKO turns at 00:00 on 正月初一; the 干支 form turns year and months at 立春 and each 节, so its three pillars belong together, and a 节 day gives the change time.
- Range 1901-01-01 to 2100-12-31, the span of HKO's tables; lunar dates agree with them on every day except the 30 days of 1906 四月, which the page flags.
- Corrected 2026-10-19: years written 二零二六 under a "大写" label; the example 2026-05-22 as 四月十六 and 丁酉日 (it is 四月初六, 丙申日); a 干支 year from 正月初一 beside 节 months; a fabricated "HKMA Banking (Cheque) Rules" citation and unsourced claims about Hong Kong legal letters, mainland marriage certificates and regional lunar styles; the 1900 lower bound.
Sources
- GB/T 15835-2011 出版物上数字用法 (General rules for writing numerals in publications), §5.2.4 大写汉字数字 and §5.2.5 "零"和"〇" — copy of the standard text hosted by 华东交通大学学报: https://journal.ecjtu.edu.cn/uploadfile/hdjtdx/20241115/GBT%20158…
- 中国人民银行. 支付结算办法 (银发〔1997〕393号), arts. 12-13 and 附一《正确填写票据和结算凭证的基本规定》第七、八条, gov.cn: https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/1997-09/19/content_5712671.htm
- Hong Kong Observatory. 公曆與農曆對照表 / Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table, 1901-2100 (all 200 files fetched 2026-10-19): https://www.hko.gov.hk/tc/gts/time/conversion.htm
- Hong Kong Observatory. 今夕是何年？ — the 干支 year changes at 00:00 Hong Kong time on 正月初一: https://www.hko.gov.hk/tc/education/astronomy-and-time/time-servi…
What can make this go out of date
- None at runtime: the strings are built in the browser and nothing typed is sent anywhere.
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