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Time Is Relative
We don’t really know what day, month or year it is.
If someone were to ask you “What day is it?”
The most common response would be “Tuesday, January 28, 2020” (or whenever you’re reading this article).
What if I told you, that I celebrated the New Year over the weekend?
Before you cock your head to the side in total confusion, I’m talking about Lunar New Year (commonly known as Chinese New Year). Here, you’re not going to hear anyone say “Happy Lunar New Year,” or in my case “Happy Chinese New Year.” They say “新年快乐” (xīn nián kuài lè), which translates to “Happy New Year.”
In other parts of the world, on January 1st, we don’t say “Happy Gregorian New Year,” we simply say “Happy New Year!” It’s interesting how people see the Gregorian calendar as the “end all be all” when calculating time, considering it’s one of the youngest calendar systems.
Why Is The New Year Different In Asia?
Lunar New Year is based on a lunisolar calendar system. The Gregorian calendar is based on a solar calendar system. In a lunar calendar, there are 354.37 days while a solar calendar has 365.25 days. Because of this, the Lunar New Year holiday falls on the second (occasionally third) new moon after the Winter Solstice (the 11th month of the lunar calendar). This…
