Start with the question you actually have.
Start with a datePrepare for an invitation
This is a map of a hundred planned development steps, not a claim that a hundred calendar days have elapsed or that every review is finished. You do not need to read the site in publication order. Choose an outcome, use a tool or example, then follow the explanation.
I have a date to understand.
Read a lunar date without mistaking a leap month for a second ordinary month.
- Convert the date
Choose the conversion direction and regular or leap month explicitly.
- Read the returned labels
Separate the calendar year, month, day and month type.
- Check the method
Keep civil dates separate from time-zone conversions and historical calendar questions.
I want to find an animal year.
Use the full birth date, then understand what the animal does—and does not—tell you.
- Find the year from a birth date
January and February need the Lunar New Year boundary, not a Gregorian-year shortcut.
- Compare the exact year range
Read both inclusive endpoints when checking a year.
- Follow the five-minute route
Connect the tool with an explanation, a story and a considerate real-life practice.
I have been invited to something.
Arrive with useful questions rather than a supposedly universal etiquette checklist.
- Identify your role
Distinguish a public event, a household visit, a wedding and private remembrance.
- Read a hospitality example
Ask what is being shared; a local practice is not a test of authenticity.
- Put an occasion in context
Notice family, place and generational differences instead of expecting one required format.
I noticed an object or symbol.
Ask about the material, maker, date and setting before assigning one fixed meaning.
- Begin with a material
A pendant, ritual form and inherited ornament do not have identical histories.
- Compare a named creature
Read a particular museum record before identifying every similar carving.
- Continue through art and objects
Connect material evidence to a selected cultural reading path.
I want a story with its context.
Enjoy a telling while retaining the distinction between literary narrative and historical evidence.
- Choose a connected story path
Follow editorial reasons for each next reading rather than an endless list.
- Compare a named moon-story telling
Ask who acts and what motivates the ascent before combining versions.
- Separate story and calendar evidence
The race’s episodes and dated calendar objects answer different questions.
I need to check or reuse something.
Find the original record, keep the limits, and distinguish attribution from permission.
- Find the source and its uses
Follow the actual institution or publication, not a decorative list of names.
- Check substantive changes
Look for corrected interpretation, attribution or review scope.
- Prepare a citation or permission request
Identify the exact passage, image or rows, including what you changed.
What you can use now.
Dates that lead to explanations
Five bounded tools cover animal years, nominal age, date conversion, solar terms and a limited pairing lookup. Calendar references explain conventions, time zones, leap months and the difference between observance dates and public holidays.
Reading that keeps its distinctions
Symbols start from objects and materials. Stories identify versions rather than pretending there is one original script. Living traditions retain their regional, household and community contexts.
Ways to keep learning
Topic collections connect questions across the library. Written pinyin guidance and a glossary help readers recognize unfamiliar terms. Print views and selected reference resources support teaching without inventing a site-wide open license.
Evidence readers can inspect
Source records, calculation methods, evidence notes and a public corrections log make the reasoning easier to follow. AI-assisted checks, actual source retrieval and a human sign-off are different kinds of work, not interchangeable labels.
Less scope, more useful boundaries.
These choices kept the first programme focused. They describe this reference candidate, not a promise that the project will never change.
No personal destiny verdicts
Animal signs, traditional almanac vocabulary and editorial pairing prompts are cultural reference material. They are not assessments of a person or instructions for health, money or relationships.
No open-ended AI adviser
The optional almanac explanation is bounded by calendar facts and has a fallback. This release does not offer unrestricted personal readings or require a model request to explore the library.
No accounts, checkout or public comment feed
Those features were deliberately kept outside the first 100-update scope. The focus is a usable reference library, not engagement for its own sake.
No claim to cover every culture or language
The current publication is English and its starting subject is Chinese culture. Named places and communities matter; this is not comprehensive coverage of East Asia or a complete pronunciation course.
A milestone is not a clean bill of health.
As of 2026-10-22, the bounded core review covers 20 pages and 35 active source records. 0 core pages await source-claim follow-up; 20 still await a recorded human content sign-off. These figures describe that review scope, not every sentence or source across the whole library.
Some source links require browser access, change over time or become unavailable. Replacing one means checking the claim again, not swapping a URL. The public corrections log records the race-story and catalogue-reference correction, including what the new evidence cannot establish.
English explanations remain introductions. Calendar conventions, local practices and story versions need their stated limits. Real screen-reader listening, broader devices and further human cultural-language review are not replaced by an automated scan.
Keep the useful question. Take the next step.
The next phase prioritizes stronger editorial review, better located examples and clearer ways to connect the library—not adding pages just to hit a number. The extended development plan is a backlog, not a claim that those features are already available.
For a short first visit, use Start Here. To inspect what this milestone actually includes and how it is checked, read the Reference Release candidate record.
Found a mismatch between a claim and its source? Send the page, passage and supporting evidence; a useful correction is more valuable than a larger counter.