# Why are people suddenly referring to the "Lunar New Year"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-suddenly-referring-to-the-lunar-new-year/745690>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 10, 2016, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-suddenly-referring-to-the-lunar-new-year/745690 "2016-02-10T08:43:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-suddenly-referring-to-the-lunar-new-year/745690/21 "2016-02-11T16:05:36Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Quoth **even sven** :
> 
> It’s not wrong, but in some contexts it can be an odd way to put it. Our Christmas celebrations are heavily influenced by Europe, but we don’t really think of it as “Euro Christmas.” It’s be accurate to call it that, but it doesn’t really capture the way we think of it.

Well, yes, but everyone celebrates the same Christmas. Or rather, everyone but the Orthodox who still celebrate it on the Julian calendar, but if that’s relevant, you might indeed refer to “eastern Christmas” and “western Christmas”. But while most nations celebrate some sort of New Year’s festival, it’s not the same New Year’s festival for all of them. Do you mean the European solar new year, or the Islamic lunar new year, or the Jewish solunar new year, or the pan-Asian solunar new year? Or maybe the Thai-specific solunar new year, or the Thai-specific sidereal new year, that **septimus** mentioned?

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**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-suddenly-referring-to-the-lunar-new-year/745690/22 "2016-02-11T18:24:42Z")

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> [@Jragon](#):
>
> because Easter is computed in relation to Passover which is in turn 15 Nisan on the lunisolar Hebrew calendar.

The formula is not based on Passover.

"The formula for calculating Easter was set down at the Council of Nicaea in 325…:

```
Easter is the first Sunday that follows the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the spring equinox.

```

For calculation purposes, the full moon is always set at the 14th day of the lunar month (the lunar month begins with the new moon). This is called the ecclesiastical full moon; the astronomical full moon may fall a day or so after or before the ecclesiastical full moon."

> **[Is the Date that Easter Falls Typically Related to Passover?](https://www.learnreligions.com/easter-related-to-passover-3970737)**
>
> The date of Easter depends on the date of Passover. Learn why Eastern Christians usually celebrate on a different date from Western ones.

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