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Every pupil has had the Mid-Autumn holiday, but few can say why it falls on the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month, or why some years need a leap month. This lesson uses one comparison table to join festivals, solar terms and calendars.
Objectives — Pupils can: (1) state that a lunar month has 29 or 30 days and a year about 354, roughly 11 days short of the solar year, which is why seven leap months are added in nineteen years; (2) state that the twenty-four solar terms are about 15.2 days apart and give two terms with the weather they mark; (3) name the lunar dates and one custom with a reason for New Year, Tuen Ng, Mid-Autumn and Chung Yeung; (4) name two Hong Kong intangible heritage events and explain why keeping them matters.
01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)
If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.
| Skill | Quick check | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|
| Days in a year | How many months and days in a year | 12 months and 365 days |
| Moon phases | Why does the Moon change shape | It orbits Earth, so we see different lit portions |
| Division and averages | Roughly what is 365 divided by 24 | About 15.2 |
02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)
| Time | Stage | Tutor does | Student does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 minutes | Ask the date | Ask when Mid-Autumn falls this year, then why the date moves, writing guesses on the board | Give the date they remember and their guess at the cause |
| 5 to 14 minutes | Lunar basics | Teach 29 or 30 days a month, twelve months at 354, and the 11-day gap with the solar year | Compute 29.5 times 12 and say how many days short it is |
| 14 to 22 minutes | Seven leaps in nineteen years | Multiply 19 by 11 for 209 days, divide by 29.5 for about 7, and explain the leap month | Explain what would happen to Mid-Autumn without leap months |
| 22 to 30 minutes | Twenty-four solar terms | Write 365.25 over 24 as 15.2 and stress that terms track the Sun, not the Moon | Give two terms and the weather each marks, such as Ching Ming rain or frost at Frost Descent |
| 30 to 38 minutes | Five big festivals | Write each date and custom: New Year on the first, Ching Ming, Tuen Ng on the fifth of the fifth, Mid-Autumn on the fifteenth of the eighth, Chung Yeung on the ninth of the ninth | Give one custom and reason per festival, such as dragon boats for Qu Yuan |
| 38 to 45 minutes | Hong Kong heritage and exit check | Name the Cheung Chau Bun Festival on the eighth of the fourth month and the Tai Hang fire dragon at Mid-Autumn, and why they matter | Describe one festival they have attended and what it keeps alive |
03 Teaching script (read it out)
Scene 1: The lunar calendar watches the Moon, the solar one the Sun
A lunar month runs from one new moon to the next, about 29.5 days, so months have 30 or 29 days and twelve months total about 354 days. A solar year is 365, so the gap is 11 days. Left alone, three years would drift 33 days and in a decade Mid-Autumn would slide from autumn into spring. Leap months pull it back: seven extra months across nineteen years keeps the festivals in their proper seasons.
Pupils restate 29 or 30 days a month, about 354 a year, 11 days short, and seven leap months in nineteen years.
Scene 2: Solar terms are the Sun calendar
The twenty-four solar terms do not follow the Moon; they mark where the Sun stands in the year, so they sit about 15.2 days apart and fall on almost fixed solar dates, which is why Ching Ming is always on 4 or 5 April. Terms describe climate and farming: insects emerge after Awakening of Insects, and frost begins at Frost Descent. So the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, reading the Moon for months and the Sun for terms.
Pupils restate that terms follow the Sun about 15.2 days apart, which is why their solar dates barely move.
Scene 3: Festivals keep memory and craft alive
A festival is more than a holiday. Dragon boats and rice dumplings at Tuen Ng carry the story of Qu Yuan and older rites against disease; lanterns and mooncakes at Mid-Autumn carry reunion; climbing hills at Chung Yeung carries warding off harm and honouring elders. In Hong Kong the Cheung Chau Bun Festival on the eighth of the fourth month has floating colour processions and the bun scramble, and the Tai Hang fire dragon winds through the streets around Mid-Autumn with incense sticks along its body. They are listed as intangible heritage because the craft and memory live only as long as people keep doing them.
Pupils restate that festivals carry stories, customs and craft, and that heritage survives only if people keep practising it.
04 Question types and worked steps
| Type | Example | Steps | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compute a lunar year | Twelve lunar months average 29.5 days. How long is the year, and how far is it from the solar year | (1) 29.5 times 12; (2) gives 354; (3) 365 minus 354 is 11 | 354 days, about 11 days short |
| Explain a leap month | Why do some years have thirteen months | (1) each year falls about 11 days behind; (2) the gap accumulates to a month; (3) seven leaps in nineteen years | To catch up, so festivals stay in their seasons |
| Match festivals to dates | On which lunar dates fall Tuen Ng, Mid-Autumn and Chung Yeung | (1) fifth of the fifth; (2) fifteenth of the eighth; (3) ninth of the ninth | Tuen Ng on 5/5, Mid-Autumn on 15/8, Chung Yeung on 9/9 |
| Judge what terms follow | Ching Ming falls on 4 or 5 April every year. What does that show | (1) the solar date hardly moves; (2) the solar calendar follows the Sun; (3) so terms follow the Sun | Terms follow the Sun, not the Moon |
Sanity check (teach this): Check every answer: a lunar year must land between 348 and 360 days, so 365 means the solar year was used; the gap must be about 11 days, so 30 means a month count slipped; terms about 15 days apart must total close to 365 across twenty-four; and festival dates must be lunar, so putting Mid-Autumn in the ninth month confuses it with Chung Yeung.
05 Independent practice (3 questions)
| Question | Answer | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| A year has a leap fourth month. How many months does it have, and why the fourth | Thirteen months; the leap month goes where there is no mid-term, not always at the end | Whether the leap month was placed by solar-term position rather than guessed |
| Ching Ming falls on 5 April and Frost Descent on about 23 October. Roughly how many days apart are they | From 5 April to 23 October is about 201 days, or thirteen terms | Whether the 15.2-day spacing was used as a check for about 13 terms |
| If Hong Kong stopped holding the bun festival and the fire dragon, what would be lost | The craft of paper effigies, bun scrambling and dragon making, plus village memory | Whether craft and memory were named, not just visitor numbers |
06 Common mistakes and what to say
| Mistake | Student writes | Say this |
|---|---|---|
| Calling the Chinese calendar purely lunar | The lunar calendar only looks at the Moon | It is lunisolar: months from the Moon, solar terms from the Sun, which is why Ching Ming barely moves. |
| Expecting the leap month at the year end | A leap year just adds a twelfth month | The leap month goes where a month carries no mid-term, so it can be a leap fourth or sixth. |
| Writing festival dates as solar | Mid-Autumn is on 15 September | Mid-Autumn is the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month; the ninth of the ninth is Chung Yeung. |
| Listing customs with no reason | We row dragon boats at Tuen Ng because it is fun | Dragon boats carry Qu Yuan and older rites against disease, so every custom needs its reason. |
07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)
- Primary 4 General Studies paper, Section B Society and Culture, item 4 — Section B item 4: Hong Kong traditional festivals; ask for one sentence on why the event should be kept
- Primary 4 General Studies paper, Section A Health and Living, item 2 — Section A item 2: festive food and health, used to discuss mooncakes and rice dumplings
- Primary General Studies chapter index — Link from the society and culture chapter to public services and community life
08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)
| Question | Answer | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| How long is a lunar year and how far is it from the solar one | About 354 days, about 11 short | Answering 365 means the 29 or 30 day month must be retaught |
| On which lunar dates fall Mid-Autumn and Chung Yeung | The fifteenth of the eighth and the ninth of the ninth | Swapping them means the festival table must be rewritten once |
| Do solar terms follow the Moon or the Sun | The Sun, about 15.2 days apart | Answering the Moon means the fixed Ching Ming date must be offered as evidence again |
09 Tutor FAQ
Which year is this for
Written for Primary 4. For Primary 3, teach only the five festival dates and customs and keep leap months for later.
Must pupils memorise nineteen years and seven months
Not the name Metonic cycle, but the ratio of seven leap months in nineteen years, shown with 11 days times 19 years.
Is there a matching paper
The Primary 4 General Studies paper has festival items in Section B with an answer sheet, and the homework block names the section and item.
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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.