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History, Asia *: Asian Calendars

A guide to sources in the histories of Eurasia outside of the subcontinent of Europe.


Prior to 963, Korean years were expressed as Korean era names.  From 963 to 1895, Chinese era names were used.


Between 1896 and 1910, Korean era names were used: Chonyang 1-2 (1896-1897), Kwangmu 1-11 (1897-1907), Unghui 1-4 (1907-1910).

During the period of the Japanese Occupation (1910-1945), Japanese era names were used in Korea itself.  Korean nationalists outside of Korea, however, commonly numbered years using the Western year 2333 B.C. as year 1.  This convention was maintained in South Korea until 1961.  To convert from a 'Tangun' year, simply subtract 2333.  ('4278' equates to '1945'.)

The Western calendar was adopted in 1961.
