Year
In astronomy, the Julian year is a unit of time; it is defined as 365.25 days of exactly 86,400 seconds (SI base unit), totalling exactly 31,557,600 seconds in the Julian astronomical year.
Cosmic year (Chinese astrology)
In anthroposophy, based on teachings by Rudolf Steiner, a cosmic year represents the Platonic year, a period of 25,920 years. This is the time required for the Sun's position at spring equinox to traverse the complete zodiac. So each zodiacal sign covers about 2160 years. The year 747 BCE marked the transition from Taurus to Aries and since 1453, the spring equinoctial sun is in Pisces. This cosmic cycle has a considerable influence on humanity in both physical and spiritual respects. For instance, the Aries period covered the Greek/Roman culture period ranging from the foundation of Rome (753 BCE) to the fall of Byzantium (1453), whereas the Taurus period marked the Egyptian/Chaldaean era. Another example is human breathing rhythm: an average of 18 cycles per minute represents 18 x 60 x 24 = 25,920 cycles per day. The number of daily sleep-wake-cycles of the conscious mind in an average human lifetime of 72 years adds up to the same platonic figure. Shao Yung's cosmic year represents exactly five platonic years (5x25,920=129,600).