The Chinese new year does not coincide with English, while the Bengali new year (Paila Baisakh) is another date. Why this discrepancy?
Dear Abhijit,
This is interesting.
Again, we are wondering about globalisation and regional differences that will happily be maintained. ~Have you noticed that even McDonald burgers taste quite differently from country to country? (The formula is the same, but you can never reproduce the tastes and colours from one continent to another.
That's what I like about globalisation. ... Nothing gets global.
(And, of course, from the astronomic perspective, things cannot be similar because the astronomic distances are so different at different points of the Earth.)
Dear Prof, the Chinese calendar is based on lunar rather than solar patterns. The Chinese calendar has a leap month, a whole month is repeated. The western calendar has a leap year that has only an extra day (Feb, 29) in every 4 years. My calendar at home has western, Muslim, Chinese and Indian dates :) I prefer to be inclusive.
"While our modern Gregorian calendar adds only one leap day (February 29) nearly every four years, a whole leap month is added to the Chinese calendar every 3 years." (I have provided several differences. Thanks.)
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/chinese-leap-year.html
My studies on biological rhytms showed that the moon calendar is the nearest to nature controlling phenomena. It is widely shown in the oceans life behaviour. The reasons of normalizing the calendar in a different shape are mainly joint with the religion reasons and simplicity of administration. Besides the "human normalization" of the calndar - the nature is nostlu controlled by the moon phases.
Dear Abhijit,
This is interesting.
Again, we are wondering about globalisation and regional differences that will happily be maintained. ~Have you noticed that even McDonald burgers taste quite differently from country to country? (The formula is the same, but you can never reproduce the tastes and colours from one continent to another.
That's what I like about globalisation. ... Nothing gets global.
(And, of course, from the astronomic perspective, things cannot be similar because the astronomic distances are so different at different points of the Earth.)
Yes Dear Maria,
Not even repeated words have the same meanings. This is why it is so fun to interact with other cultures and people. I would like to see those trash food suppliers disappearing, each one in its own way.
Don't worry, dear Vilemar. TRASH is meant to disappear in dust.
The true meaning of Words will remain. (that is a Global truth)
Why the new year is different in different nations and countries?
Besides Chinese, Gregorian & Indian calendars, there are also other calendars from different countries / religions which include: Mayan, Egyptian, Islamic, Persian / Iranian, Hebrew etc calendars. The reason for different new year dates due to adoption of different solar, lunar and lunisolar / solilunar calendars. You can find out more details from the following links:
http://www.dawn.com/news/776432/defining-time-different-cultures-different-calendars
http://www.123newyear.com/newyear-around-the-world/
http://patch.com/michigan/bloomfield-mi/5-97364391
Dear all,
In regard to a similarity, the differences may be a good one to warn people about unity in the nature.
Earlier the nations/regions were not well connected and communications were weak. The culture/tradition/science/astronomical computations were differently tackled, so the calendar system also differed, see chinese and indian civilizations are very old, the system followed by them was also different, someone may ask why Feb has 28/29 days, as per the google search says that months started with March and then the ending month was Feb and to complete 365/366 days, it has 28/29 days, similarly why July/August in continuation have 31 days, looks surprising.
May be new year start is on the basis of their culture, tradition and astronomical evidences of that region.
regards
Like biodiversity - its start up diversity - to start a new year with a happy heart and mind. Lets there be anomaly, but our inner mind longs for a good start. Thanks.
new year is different in different nations and countries due to cultural, geographical and cultural differences. It depends on tradition.
Words do not have a steady meaning. Their meaning is negotiated each time between a speaker and a listener (decoder). Some people compare a language to a running river. It is always water there but it is never the same. So are words. They are always the same, their meanings depend on the situation, people and culture.
We should be happy with each culture being preserved by all. So, different time counting, religions, musics, food... Be it that way always.
Pragmatically, I suppose that is merely a question of reference with little significance. Any day could be selected as the first day of the year. The time required for the earth giving a complete turn to the sun does not depend from the point occupied by earth in its orbit or from the region of the earth considered. It is analogous with our lives. Every day we celebrate a year (at least approximately) with respect to the corresponding day of the previous year. However, people need to have references besides the seasons, sunshine days and rainy days.
I think it does not matter unless we respect each other...
It sounds like lovely, cute to hear about the new year on different dates... isn't it...
Differences do not matter till we respect the differences and the living being...
The definition of New Years is the custom of celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of another. It marks the closing and the start of a measurement of daily time in a period of one rotation of the earth around the sun.
With 40 different local times in use, it takes 26 hours for the New Year to encompass all time zones. Because of the division of the globe into time zones, the New Year moves progressively around the globe as the start of the day ushers in the New Year. The first time zone to usher in the New Year, just west of the International Date Line, is located in the Line Islands, a part of the nation of Kiribati, and has a time zone 14 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). All other time zones are 1 to 25 hours behind, most in the previous day (31 December).
The Gregorian calendar is generally accepted across the globe that came into effect, replacing the Julian calendar, in 1582. According to it, New Year commences every 365 days on January 1. There are, of course, regional and cultural differences, and many countries follow different New Year Calendars as part of their tradition, and celebrate their traditional New Year according to that calendar.
I would like to add that even the year itself is not the same in different cultures!
For example, the Gregorian calendar (Western calendar) counts one cycle of the earth around the sun as one year. In the Hijri calendar, which is the calendar of most Islamic countries, counts 12 cycles of the moon around the earth as one year.
That is, Western year ~= 365 days, whereas Islamic year ~=354 days
Also its very interesting to have this this change , it cope with religion differences also
Yes, this variety is important depends on the difference in the beliefs and traditions of the peoples and their understanding of life and we have to respect that.
[Blindly] following ancient customs and traditions doesn't mean that dead are alive, but the living are dead. Ibn Khaldun
How very beautiful, dear Fikrat !
The way I read your quote leads to the secret of Respect for other cultures and for other human beings.
As many of you mentioned, New Year is different in some countries due to the differences in cultures and traditions. As an Iranian, we celebrate March 20th as the New Iranian Year which is the first day of spring. However, living in Malaysia which is a multi-cultural country where Chinese New Year, Indian New Year, Gregorian New Year and Islamic New Year are all widely celebrated, my family and I, in total, celebrate New Year 5 times a year. As Ms Maria Bettencourt Pires mentioned, it gives us a sense of globalization where we do not limit ourselves to our own culture and we become globalized citizens and tolerant of and open to other cultures and traditions.
As for the Berbers (Imazighen) of Northern Africa, the New Year begins on Yennayer, i.e. January 12th of the Christian calendar; yet, we are now in 2966 (2016+950), as the Libyan Meshwesh-king Sheshonq (Shoshenq Shashnaq) fought the Pharaos on 950 BC (some tell from 945-922 BC) and occupied Egypt during many dynasties .
Please see the link:
Shoshenq I - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshenq_I
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Of ancient Libyan (Meshwesh-Berber) ancestry, Shoshenq I was the son of Nimlot ... Sheshonk I is frequently identified with the Egyptian king "Shishaq" (שׁישׁק ...
it is a matter of cultural differences. in some cultures, it is religious while it is national based in others. in Iran, my country with rich national celebrations, Nowrooz meaning the new day starts with the beginning of spring . it is appreciated with different festivals and ceremonies. best regards
Tradition and customs followed by different countries make it different.
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