Calendar production, calendar printing, calendar design

China first had a calendar about four thousand years ago. According to a page of oracle bone calendar found in oracle inscriptions, it proves that the calendar during the Yin dynasty had reached a considerable level. This page of oracle bone calendar is the oldest physical calendar in human history, and it is also called a calendar.

Tang poetry: "In the mountains, there are no calendar days; when the cold ends, one does not know the year." "Calendar days" may be the earliest form of a desk calendar. During the Tang dynasty, historians would cut paper daily, bind it into a book, with one book for each month. Each page had the month and date written on it, leaving blank spaces for the eunuchs serving the emperor to record the emperor's words and actions. This is the "calendar days." At the end of each month, it would first be submitted to the emperor for review, and then archived by the historians for compiling the "National History." Because it had the function of recording time and events, civil and military officials competed to imitate it.

Early development

According to historical records, about 1100 years ago, in the first year of the Yongzheng era of Emperor Shunzong of the Tang dynasty, calendars were already in use in the palace. The calendar at that time was also called the imperial calendar, which not only recorded dates but also served as important material for compiling the national history. The calendars of that time were somewhat similar to point systems, dividing the year into 12 volumes, determining the number of pages in each volume according to the number of days in each month, and writing the month and date on each page. These were then temporarily kept by the eunuchs serving the emperor, who would record the emperor's words and actions on the blank pages daily. At the end of each month, the eunuchs would submit it to the emperor for approval before sending it to the historians for archiving. The historians would then combine the content of the calendar with major events in the court and various regions of the country, refining and polishing it before recording it, thus becoming part of the national history.

Later, as calendars brought many conveniences to life, they gradually entered the households of many high-ranking officials. After some changes, they were compiled into personal calendars. Furthermore, with the development of calendars becoming more popular and household-oriented, people began to print the heavenly stems and earthly branches, seasonal terms, and auspicious days on the calendars, leaving large blank spaces for recording events.

As for the monthly calendar, it later developed into various forms such as wall calendars and desk calendars, which is only a matter of the last century. The styles of desk calendars have evolved from simple designs to many variations. The recent years of market economy and the popularization and development of the internet have facilitated exchanges between different cultures, and of course, desk calendars are included in this. The most common trend is that desk calendars have become smaller and more exquisite.