Many Buddhist publications are dated with reference to a Buddhist Era (BE). Several systems have been used for calculating the number of a given year based on important events in the life of the Buddha.
The old East Asian Buddhist calender 舊佛歷 used 1027 BCE as the date of the Buddha's death, and counted years from that date.[1] Months and days followed the lunar calendar. This system was still in use in the early 20th century.[2] Since the current Buddhist calendar uses 543 BCE as the starting date, subtract 483 from an old Buddhist year to convert into the new system.
The modern East Asian Buddhist calendar 佛歷 is calculated based on the following: