Lunar New Year
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Lunar New Year is the first day of a secular, sacred, or other guise whose months are coordinated by the cycles of the moon. The whole year may account to a purely lunar calendar, which is not coordinated to a solar calendar (and, thus, may progress or retrogress through the solar year by comparison to it, depending on whether the lunar calendar has more or fewer than 13 months); or the year may account to a lunisolar calendar, whose months coordinate to the cycles of the moon but whose length is periodically adjusted to keep it relatively in sync with the solar year - typically by adding an intercalary month, when needed. For example, in the Tenpō calendar, a Japanese lunisolar calendar which was used until 1872, the first day of the year is, theoretically and basically, the day of second new moon after the winter solstice (the lunar month which includes the winter solstice is fixed to the eleventh month.) In the Chinese Chongzhen calendar, the first day of the year is theoretically similarly determined as the Tenpō calendar as long as there is no leap month between the winter solstice(冬至) and another solar term Yushui(雨水). The leap month in the Chongzhen calendar is added when there are 13 lunar months between a winter solstice and the lunar month which includes the next winter solstice, and the leap month is the first lunar month which doesn't include any of the twelve solar terms(中気).[1]
Celebrations
The following East Asian Lunar New Year celebrations are, or were historically, based on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar (occurring in late January or early February).
- Chinese New Year
- Japanese New Year (prior to 1873)
- Korean New Year (Seollal)[2]
- Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar)
- Tibetan New Year (Losar)
- Vietnamese New Year (Tết)
These Southeast Asian and South Asian traditional Lunar New Year celebrations are, or were historically observed according to the local lunar calendars. They are all influenced by Indian (Indic) tradition: (occurring in late March or April)
- Burmese New Year (Thingyan): Lunisolar new year falls in April; similar to Dai, Cambodian, Lao, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Bengali, Tamil and Thai new years
- Cambodian New Year (Chaul Chnam Thmey), similar to Burmese, Dai, Lao, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Odia, Bengali, Malayalee, Tamil and Thai new years
- Lao New Year, similar to Burmese, Dai, Cambodian, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Bengali, Odia, Malayalee, Tamil and Thai new years
- Nepali New Year, similar to Burmese, Dai, Cambodian, Sri Lankan, Bengali, Odia, Thai, Malayalee, Tamil and Lao new years
- Odia New Year (Pana Sankranti), similar to Burmese, Dai, Cambodian, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Bengali, Thai, Malayalee, Tamil and Lao new years
- Sinhala and Tamil New Year, similar to Burmese, Dai, Cambodian, Lao, Nepali, Bengali, Odia, Malayalee, Tamil and Thai new years
- Thai New Year (Songkran), similar to Burmese, Dai, Cambodian, Lao, Sri Lankan, Bengali, Odia, Malayalee, Tamil and Nepali new years
- Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year), similar to Burmese, Dai, Cambodian, Lao, Sri Lankan, Odia, Malayalee, Tamil and Nepali new years
- Puthandu (Tamil New Year), similar to Burmese, Dai, Cambodian, Lao, Sri Lankan, Odia, Malayalee and Nepali new years
- Dai New Year, similar to Burmese, Bengali, Cambodian, Lao, Sri Lankan, Odia, Malayalee, Tamil and Nepali new years
- Vishu, (Malayalee New Year), similar to Burmese, Dai, Bengali, Cambodian, Lao, Sri Lankan, Odia, Malayalee, Tamil and Nepali new years
- Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, Lunisolar new year's day celebrated by the Deccan people of India
- Meitei Cheiraoba, Lunisolar new year's day celebrated by Meitei people
- Kashmiri New Year (Navreh), Lunisolar new year's day celebrated by Kashmiri Pandits
These Lunar New Year celebrations that originated in Western Asia fall on other days:
- Islamic New Year or Muslim New Year is not lunisolar but follows a purely lunar calendar of 12 months that retrogresses through the Gregorian and Julian calendar years. The day of Muslim New Year may thus fall in any season on the calendar.
- In Jewish (Rabbinical and Karaite) and Samaritan religious and secular traditions, there are several holy days and festivals that are lunar new year observances. Each tradition uses a slightly different version of the Hebrew Calendar but they are all lunisolar, so the days always fall in the same season.
- Rosh Hashanah in the Rabbinic Jewish tradition begins with the new moon of the month of Tishrei and inaugurates a new calendar year. Karaite Jews and Samaritans observe 1 Tishrei as the holiday Yom Teruah (meaning "Day of Noise," whereas Rosh Hashanah means "Head of the Year"). It is an autumn holy day.
- 1 Nissan/Abib is the first day of the new year in Karaite tradition and begins a fifteen-day celebration culminating in the Passover holiday. Rabbinic Judaism calls this the New Year for Kings and similarly numbers Nissan as the first month. Nissan/Abib begins in the spring.
- 1 Elul is the date on which the Samaritan calendar advances. It corresponds to the New Year for Animal Tithes in the Rabbinic tradition. This is a very late summer/early autumn holiday.
- In Christian tradition, three holy days are based on the lunar year, all relative to the calculation of the Passover.
- Easter is the first Sunday after Passover.
- Ash Wednesday is 46 days before Easter. For many Christians, the period of time between Ash Wednesday and Easter is a time of fasting known as Lent.
- Pentecost is 50 days after Easter which also corresponds with the Jewish feast day Feast of Weeks.
See also
References
- ^ http://eco.mtk.nao.ac.jp/koyomi/wiki/C2C0B1A2C2C0CDDBCEF12FC4EAB5A4CBA1A4CEB1C6B6C1.html
- ^ DuBois, Jill (2004). Korea. Vol. Volume 7 of Cultures of the world (illustrated, revised ed.). Marshall Cavendish. p. 114. ISBN 978-0761417866. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
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