Xin Nian Kuai Le! Today is Chinese New Year so it is now officially 2017! You might ask why “officially”? What about last January 1? Well, Chinese people follow the lunar calendar which is based on the cycles of the moon. In contrast to the Gregorian calendar which is universally used, the lunar calendar is deemed to be more accurate as it is used by the Jewish and Muslims as well. And for me, I consider Chinese New Year as the “real” new year!
As a Physics instructor, I believe that the moon’s cycle is more reliable in telling time than the Earth’s complete orbit around the sun as the Gregorian calendar is basing on. Just sharing little knowledge to you, it’s a fact that the universe is still expanding (Second Law of Thermodynamics). With that, the Earth is slowly moving away from the sun as the Milky Way expands along with the other galaxies. Mathematically speaking, if the Earth covers more distance during its revolution around the sun, then a year should cover more days. On the other hand, the moon keeps its place on its orbit around the Earth so a month couldn’t cover more days. Therefore, the cycles of the phases of the moon stay as is.
Oooops, my apologies for giving you this explanation. I am only trying to give justice to this post’s title. Hehehe….. Anyway highway, I am not Chinese but I have been celebrating chi new year since chi school days. However, I haven’t celebrated this year’s chi new year ‘coz I got tied up in school yesterday and in store today. But I will not let this day end without having a little celebration. So in respect to chi new year, I’m posting our January 1 New Year’s Eve celebration instead. Here’s how it went!
Related Posts:
Welcoming New Years
Media Noche Through the Years
Chinese New Year
Comments