I thought I’d check my Wikipedia and
find out the history of New Years. So for those who don’t know, like me, here’s
some interesting information on New Year’s.
New Year’s Day we hang our new 2014
calendars. The New Year of the Gregorian calendar, similar to the Roman
calendar, the one commonly used throughout the world, falls on January 1(New
Year's Day). There are numerous calendars that remain in regional use that
calculate the New Year differently.
The
order of months in the Roman calendar was January to December since King Numa
Pompilius in about 700 BC. Until 1751 in England and Wales (and all British
dominions) the new year started on March 25 – Lady Day, one of the four quarter
days (the change to 1 January took place in 1600 in Scotland). Since then, January 1 has been the first day
of the year.
During the Middle Ages several other
days were variously taken as the beginning of the calendar year (March, 1 March 25,
Easter, September 1, December 25).
In many countries, such as the Czech
Republic, Italy, Spain and the UK, January 1 is a national holiday.
With the expansion of Western culture
to many other places in the world during recent centuries, they have adopted the
Gregorian calendar and the 1 January date of New Year has become global, even
in countries with their own New Year celebrations on other days (such as
Israel, China and India). Many in the countries where Eastern Orthodoxy
predominates celebrate both the Gregorian and Julian New Year holidays, with
the Gregorian day celebrated as a civic holiday, and the Julian date as the
"Old New Year", a religious holiday.
The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New
Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month, about the beginning
of spring. The exact date can fall any time between January 21 and February 21
of the Gregorian calendar.
The Vietnamese New Year most times is the same day as the Chinese New Year due to the Vietnamese
using Chinese calendar.
The Tibetan New Year falls from January through March.
The new year of
many South and Southeast
Asian calendars falls between April 13 1nd 15, marking the beginning of spring.
I do make goals and I posted
them in my previous post. Do you celebrate New Year’s? If so, do you celebrate
January 1st or do you celebrate on another day? Do you make
resolutions or goals? I’d love to hear from you.
An interesting post, Beverley. I celebrate New Years on January 1st, or the night before on December 31st at Midnight. lol
ReplyDeleteHappy New Years, Beverley.
Celebrate tonight Sandy and wishes for a wonderful 2014.
DeleteI'm on the American Calendar so I'll celebrate the New Year tonight as the clock clicks down to midnight. Really it seems like an arbitrary thing and from your post, I can see why. But I don't know that I want 2014 to begin on April 1st... Might be nice though to see that the spring is the season of rebirth. With the calendar we use, winter has already begun and we aren't even close to spring's rebirth. Maybe I will just go with the Pagan calendar and celebrate each season's blessings. :) Happy New Years!!
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of the Pagan calendar and celebrating each season's blessings, Melissa. I often think of September 1st as the start to a new year. However, I will stay up late tonight and bring in 2014. Happy New Year!
DeleteGreat post. Not many know this...unless they are a history buff :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year.
Thanks Andrea. I'm not really a history buff, but I do find it interesting to check out information about special days and holidays, and how they differ in many countries.
DeleteThis was posted on a loop in response to my Blog. It came from Vietnam. Thanks Mike.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese New Year, and the Vietnamese New Year, will start this year on 31st January, but it is NOT a lunar new year, but a Lunisolar New Year. The difference is the odd number of days which all calendars have, and the occasional extra month!