Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is the beginning of the year in some traditional Asian calendar systems. New Year is celebrated there at a certain moon phase , usually on the day of the new moon . The underlying calendar can be based on the lunar year (354 days) or on the lunisolar year (365 days, but with leap months).

The Chinese calendar and other East Asian times that were influenced by the Chinese culture are based on the lunisolar year :

• Chūnjié Chinese New Year - it falls on a new moon between January 20th and February 20th of the western calendar
• Japanese New Year Shogatsu - lunisolar until 1873
• Korean New Year Seollal
• Mongolian New Year Festival Tsagaan Sar
• Tibetan New Year Losar - usually 1 new moon later than in China
• Vietnamese New Year Festival Tết Nguyên Đán

In other cultures, the New Year is determined in different ways:

• Balinese New Year Festival Nyepi - it falls on the day after the new moon during the spring equinox (in March) and is based on the Hindu Saka calendar
• Islamic New Year - it is based on a pure lunar calendar and therefore shifts backwards through the seasons by 10-11 days every year
• Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah in Judaism - the festival begins at sunset on the 29th day of the month of Elul
• Thai New Year Songkran - is calculated according to the position of the sun, although Thailand's traditional calendar is lunisolar
• Ugadi - a traditional festival in the Indian Deccan (lunisolar).