It’s that time of the year again: Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. But the Chinese Calendar and how it relates to both practical time-keeping and religious symbolism is extremely detailed and complex. What’s more, certain cultural aspects surrounding the holiday can be a bit hard to figure out. Hence, the following is intended to be a reasonably accurate simplification of some of the main confusing features of this global event, as seen from the point of view of a curious expat based in Taiwan.
Should it be Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year?
I think the most reasonable verdict on this one is that both are accurate. Other countries in East Asia, for example Korea and Vietnam, celebrate a Lunar New Year heavily influenced by traditional Chinese culture. However, there are a few differences. For example, Vietnam has the Year of the Cat instead of the Year of the Rabbit. As an interesting musical trivia note, Al Stewart’s eponymous song about a romantic encounter between a tourist and an exotic woman was recorded in 1975, which was in Vietnam’s Year of the Cat.
Clearly, the culture around this ancient holiday did of course originate in ancient China. So why the recent push to re-brand Chinese New Year – what it has been called in English for decades in Taiwan, and what it is generally called around the world – as Lunar New Year? Probably, this is due to the politics of identity: “This is Taiwan, not China!” and that kind of thing.
Notwithstanding the above, actually, the most accurate term for the holiday is probably Traditional Chinese Lunisolar New Year. We should all be shouting: “Happy TCLSNY!” However, as that’s a mouthful to say, I doubt that it will catch on!
What the heck is a lunisolar year?
Just like it sounds, a lunisolar calendar combines elements of both lunar and solar calendars. How is this useful? Well, having months that correspond to the phases of the Moon is intuitively practical and appealing. It’s kind of cool to have the full moon around the middle of each month; it feels good to have our sense of time visibly connected to nature.
However, there’s a problem: the lunar month is about 29.5 solar days. So, if you have 12 lunar months (6 at 29 and 6 at 30) that comes to 354 solar days. This means that the end of one year and the beginning of the next will slip back by 11 days per solar year compared to any reference point in the solar calendar – such as winter solstice. If instead you decide to have 13 lunar months, you would have 383 or 384 days a year, and thus the end-beginning point of the year would move forward by 18 or 19 days each year compared to the solar time-frame. In either scenario, the important event of the New Year would migrate around the annual calendar over time, diffusing its seasonal relevance, and steamrolling over other events.
The solution to this, in the East Asian context, was to designate the lunar month with the northern hemisphere winter solstice – a solar calendar event – as the 11th lunar month. The winter solstice is usually on December 21st or 22nd, so then you add the rest of the 11th lunar month and the entire 12th lunar month to that, and you get a first day of Chinese New Year occurring on the first new moon that appears between January 21st and February 20th.
Additional lunar months – leap months – can be inserted as necessary to ensure this happens. Leap months happen approximately once every three years. This means that the date of the new lunisolar year will commonly fall back by 11 days two solar years in a row before jumping forward by 18 or 19 days.
Take a look at the table below to see historical dates for new years calculated according to the above method. The (LM) after the animal sign indicates that this year includes a leap month. (Again, please bear in mind that this is just a handy simplification of a very complex set of interacting processes.)
In any case, whenever it occurs, and whatever you call it, the most important thing is to share quality time with loved ones, get away from the weekly grind, get some rest, and have a wee bit of fun. So, my friends: “Let us be of good cheer, for tomorrow we shall dance and feast!”
The Culture Shack 