New
Year's Day
(This 979th Buffalo Sunday News column was first published on December 27, 2009.)
Why
does the New Year begin on January 1? Today that date seems not just
appropriate but somehow scientifically fixed.
Not
so.
Evidence
suggests that in about 2000 BCE, Mesopotamians celebrated the New Year at the
time of the vernal equinox, on about March 21. Note: BCE, a reader informs me,
represents Before the Common Era, replacing the old BC just as CE for Common
Era now replaces AD, the years themselves remaining as in the past. Thus we
will soon begin the year 2010 CE.
Accounts
vary but one suggests that the early Romans designated March 1 as the beginning
of the year. They added the emperor months of July and August in 45 BCE, and
with the year beginning in March, the months of September, October, November
and December represented the Latin for seven, eight, nine and ten. February,
coming at the end of the year, was then the appropriate month to make calendar
adjustments like our current Leap Years.
Even
earlier, in 153 BCE, January 1 had been first named New Year's Day. Politics
dictated this for at least part of the Roman community as it made the calendar
conform to the civil year when Roman consuls took office.
However
that worked out, it did not settle matters. As Christianity spread across
Europe during the Middle Ages, increasingly Romans were considered pagans. In
567 CE the January 1 year start was abolished by the Council of Tours. This
left things in limbo and a number of choices were selected. Christian
celebrations like the Feast of the Annunciation or Lady Day (when Mary learned
that she was pregnant with Jesus) on March 25, Christmas Day on December 25 and
even Easter were named New Year's Day. Still others retained March 1 as the
beginning of the year.
Then
in 1582, the Gregorian calendar, named for Pope Gregory, was adopted. This is
essentially the calendar we live by today and it again designated January 1 as
New Year's Day.
But
did that settle things? Indeed not. That calendar was not adopted by many
countries for almost two centuries. In fact, the British Empire –
including its American colonies – did not accept this calendar until
1752. Until then our forebears celebrated the New Year in March.
And until this day, other cultures
celebrate the New Year on different dates. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah,
occurs on the first and second days of the Jewish month of Tishri, which
usually falls in September. The Chinese Lunar New Year begins with the new moon
of the first lunar month, which falls between our January 21 and February 21.
Those following the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrate New Year's Day on January
14, retaining a vestige of the older Julian calendar. The Tamil state of India
also begins its year on this date.
Because the Muslim religious calendar
differs in length from ours by eleven days, the Islamic New Year is not fixed
to a Gregorian date. In fact, there were two Muslim New Year's Days in 2008.
This year's date was December 18.
And those are just representative of
the many dates for New Year's Day.
New Year's Day is also celebrated
differently. We have our champagne, paper streamers and silly hats, "Auld
Lang Syne" singing, and hearty kisses. Other countries differ.
In
Denmark you hope to find your front porch littered with a pile of broken dishes
at New Years. People save old dishes all year in order to throw them at their
friends' homes on New Year's Eve. Many broken dishes are a symbol that you have
many friends!
In
Equador Ano Viejo is celebrated by creating a scarecrow-like dummy stuffed with
old newspapers and firecrackers to represent the year just ending. At midnight
the dummy is set on fire. As the dummy burns, the firecrackers also go off to
add to the festivities.
In
Greece, St. Basil fills the children's shoes with presents at midnight. (Will our
merchants pick up on this as an excuse to further extend our holiday mass
buying hysteria?)
One
New Year tradition that dates back to the early Babylonians is making
resolutions. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return
things borrowed from neighbors. We should learn from them.
Whenever
you celebrate its commencement, may your 2010 be a happy year.
_
Added note: My
friend, Professor Claude Welch of the University at Buffalo, has suggested the
following answers to the question, What year is it?
* Among the many Hindu calendars the
Vikrama Samvat calendar was most widely prevalent, and it is roughly 57 years
ahead of the Gregorian calendar. That is, add 57 to 2010 to get V.S. 2067.
* In the Jewish calendar 2010 is 5070,
which began with Rosh Hashanah.
* The Muslim calendar began in 622 CE;
therefore subtract 622 from our year: 2010 is thus 1388.
* The Japanese calendar starts with the
country's fabled founding in 660 BCE; therefore add 660 to ours, making 2010
into 2670. However, their preferred date is in terms of their reigning Emperor;
hence, 2010 is Heisei 22. The Western calendar was adopted in 1868, as part of
the Meiji Restoration.
* The Chinese: New Year varies, with a
start in January or February, according to a 12-year cycle. January 2010 is
still the Year of the Ox.