Artwork completed in 2002

Used as early as 2637 BC, the lunar
calender is the oldest chronological
record in the world. Unlike the Western
solar calender, which tracks the movement
of the earth around the sun, in the lunar
calender the second new moon following
the winter solstice marks the beginning
of a new lunar year, and each year is
named after one of twelve animals in a
repeating twelve-year cycle.

[image & text from canadianpostagestamps.ca]