# Lunar New Year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506 "2008-02-06T13:32:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/1 "2008-02-06T13:32:15Z")
My calendar at work gives credit for many holidays, usually followed by some identification marker as to their country or nationality of origin. But, this one has no such indication AND makes no sense! Feb 7th, IIRC, is Lunar New Year? Did they mean Chinese New Year, perhaps? Or, Islamic, perhaps because they follow a completely lunar calnedar? Is not Jewish because (a) it’s the worng time of year and (b) their calendar is solar-lunar, not strictly lunar, to keep Spring and Fall festivities in their correct seasons, for example. So, what is the Lunar New Year? I could ask a Moon Man, but then I’ll be the \*butt \* of all jokes… :smack: - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/2 "2008-02-06T14:45:26Z")
Feb 7, 2008 is the Chinese New Year, also called the lunar New Year. [Chinese New Year](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_new_year) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/3 "2008-02-06T14:57:46Z")
Lots of traditional calendars [del]orient[/del] initalize by the lunar new year. Naming one would piss off all the others. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/4 "2008-02-06T15:05:20Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Lots of traditional calendars [del]orient[/del] initalize by the lunar new year. Naming one would piss off all the others. [/QUOTE] But what the OP is getting at is that the lunar cycle bears no relationship to the period it takes for the Earth to circle the Sun. So how is “lunar new year” defined, other than by reference to the way a particular traditional calendar has defined the start of their year? That could vary, since there’s no astronomical link between a lunar calendar and the year. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/5 "2008-02-06T15:11:58Z")
Oh, sorry, I missed that aspect. There are several answers, depending on the calendar, apparently. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_calendar) addresses some of it, but not in real detail, and only with a lot of link-hopping. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/6 "2008-02-06T16:04:09Z")
Right, it depends on the particular calendar. So identifying any particular one, such as the Chinese New Year, as the “lunar new year” is inaccurate, no? Since it gives primacy to one particular tradition? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/7 "2008-02-06T16:19:27Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Right, it depends on the particular calendar. So identifying any particular one, such as the Chinese New Year, as the “lunar new year” is inaccurate, no? Since it gives primacy to one particular tradition? [/QUOTE] According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_New_Year), the Koreans, Vietnamese, and Mongolians might disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/8 "2008-02-07T04:19:16Z")
Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year are used interchangeably in Thailand. I’ve never heard a complaint about it before. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-new-year/436506/9 "2008-02-07T04:29:08Z")
Wow. I asked this same question last year in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=408975&highlight=lunar+year) thread.