Update: The dates in this article have changed for 2021.
The lunar new year begins on Saturday as one of the most important holidays in Vietnam, South Korea, China and other Asian countries. It usually begins on the second new moon after the winter solstice.
In the Gregorian calendar, the civil calendar used in most countries, including the United States, the lunar new year changes every year, as do holiday dates like Rosh Hashana, Diwali, and Ramadan.
It can be easy to think of a calendar as a scientific fact or a reflection of the laws of the universe. In fact, as these holidays remind us, there are as many ways to keep track of time as there are cultures and languages. Each calendar reveals something about how the people who created it relate to the world around them, while preserving rich cultural identities and memories.
Most time-keeping traditions keep track of the movement of the sun, moon, and stars. Others consider seasonal events, such as the autumn swarm of sea worms, which were used to orient themselves each year on the Trobriand Islands off New Guinea, or the flowering of immortal trees in hundreds of tiny reddish flames, which marks the start of the dry season in Trinidad.
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With any calendar, the basic question is which of the thousands, if not millions, of cycles in the world to follow, said Kevin Birth, a professor of anthropology at Queens College. Calendars “always come down to this cultural choice,” he said, so using one system over another is ultimately a social contract, regardless of the scientific accuracy or sophistication of one calendar.
A solar year, the time it takes the Earth to orbit the sun, lasts about 365 days, while a lunar year, or 12 complete cycles of the Moon, lasts about 354 days. Because of this discrepancy, a purely lunar calendar, such as the Islamic calendar or Hijri, is not kept in line with the seasons. The holiest month of Islam, Ramadan, can fall in the summer of a year and in the winter a few years later.
To correct for seasonal drift, the Chinese, Hindu, Jewish, and many other calendars are lunisolar. In these calendars, the moon still defines a month, but an extra month is periodically added to stay close to the solar year.
A solar calendar is useful for agricultural, fishing, and food companies that need to plan ahead for specific times of the year. But a purely solar calendar, like the Gregorian one, tells you nothing about the phases of the Moon.
The traditional hijri calendar requires an observation of the first crescent to begin a new month and therefore encourages attention to the cosmos. The Gregorian calendar cannot be traced back to the sky, which is why many Westerners are less aware of the moon and other natural phenomena, said Sacha Stern, a professor of Hebrew and Jewish studies at University College London.
The main events of the calendar shape the cultural identity. When Jews around the world celebrate Sukkot, a harvest festival, they are observing the timing of the harvest in Israel and maintaining a connection to the entire diaspora, Dr. Birth said.
Holidays also structure personal and historical narratives. Some secular holidays in the United States focus on the legacies of the war, which fit “when you think the United States also has the largest military budget in the world,” Dr. Birth said. Chinese holidays often emphasize family togetherness and honor ancestors, said Haiwang Yuan, a professor of library utilities at the University of Western Kentucky, who agrees with the importance of filial piety.
Many ancient calendars, such as Chinese and Mesoamerican, are based on prediction, with recipes for building a house, getting married, celebrating a funeral, and other life events. Similar calendars provide structure and comfort to today’s people. Philadelphia-based astrologer Britt Hart said she believes people can be attracted to horoscope-based calendars because they seek a greater sense of time and order in the universe.
In the context of history, staying connected to an alternate calendar can also be a way to resist the mainstream or keep an identity out of it. When a calendar is imposed on a society, it usually has to do with politics and power. The ability to “say when the year will start or decide that a religious holiday should be held at a particular time can be very helpful for a politician,” Dr. Stern.
The Gregorian calendar has only been used as a world standard for about a century and is “very much a reflection of European trade and colonialism,” said Dr. Birth. It has now been incorporated into computer architecture, but that doesn’t mean another calendar can’t become a dominant day.
A hijri calendar for the Gregorian year 2014 hangs in the office of Dr. Birth. On top of that, Christmas falls on the 3rd of Rabi al-Awwal, the third day of the third month.
He likes to remember that “vacations that you think are stationary really move and those that you think move are really stationary.” He showed “how cultural these things are instead of natural.”