Mr. Write's Page

Well, 2014 is pretty much shot, and another new year is drawing nigh.

You realize, I assume, that starting the new year on January 1 is an arbitrary thing. Technically, we could choose any day and rightly call it the beginning of a new year. 

And the truth is, the designated date has changed many times over the centuries. Traditions may be comforting, but traditions can evolve. Or get changed by some authority figure. 

Consider the story of how January 1 became the day we celebrate as the beginning of the new year…

—————

Long ago, after humans figured out what a year is, the various world cultures individually settled on ways to mark when an old year ends and a new one begins.

In Mesopotamia in 2000 B.C., they decided that the new year would begin on the vernal equinox (March). In ancient Greece, they chose the winter solstice (December). The Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Persians picked the fall equinox (September).

In the Roman Republic, the new year began on March 1. That was convenient because Rome’s “civil year” began on March 15, when two newly-elected Roman consuls began their one-year terms.

But in 153 B.C., an uprising in the provinces obliged the incoming consuls to take office early and hastily, on January 1. That done, the ruling consuls decided it made sense to start the new year on January 1, as well. They decreed it to be so.

But not everyone in the far-flung republic paid attention. In much of the hinterlands, the traditional date of March 1 still prevailed.

A century later, in 46 B.C., consul and hero general Julius Caesar changed that.

Caesar introduced to his subjects the Julian Calendar, which, being based on the movements of the Sun, was more precise than the previous lunar-based system.

At the same time, Caesar decreed that throughout the Roman world, future new years would begin on January 1. To ensure compliance, he backed up the order with sanctions on bureaucrats who failed to comply. This time, everyone fell in line.

Fast forward to medieval times. The Roman Empire had come and gone. In Europe, the Roman Catholic church decided that the spirited celebrations on January 1 had become entirely too pagan and unchristian-like.

Accordingly, in 567, the Second Council of Tours decreed that subsequent new years would begin on Easter, not January 1.

The Council also ruled that any cleric found in bed with his wife would be excommunicated, but that’s another story.

For something trotted out in 46 B.C., the Julian Calendar had been relatively accurate. It only lost about 11-1/2 minutes per year.

But over the centuries, that added up. By the 1500s, the Julian had fallen behind the actual solar year by about 10 days.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII came to the rescue.

Gregory’s real concern was that, owing to the 10-days-and-growing lag, Easter was drifting away from its traditional time near the spring equinox. His solution was a new calendar.

Amazingly, the Gregorian Calendar is off by only 26 seconds per year. That means it gains one day every 3,300 years — so accurate that the world still uses it today.

The Gregorian Calendar achieved its accuracy by setting up the system of months we know today (30 days hath September and all that) and by tinkering with the number of leap years per century.

As for the 10-day lag caused by deficiencies in the Julian Calendar, no problem. Gregory simply ordered everyone to skip 10 days. The Julian Calendar ended on October 4, 1582, and the Gregorian Calendar began the next day, October 15, 1582.

As you can imagine, that was pretty chaotic and disruptive. Some October paychecks were for 30 days, some were for 20. Some landlords gave a 10-day discount, some demanded a full month’s rent. Be glad you weren’t there.

In addition to creating a furor, Pope Gregory also re-restored January 1 as New Year’s Day. Gregory being the Pope and all, Catholic countries around the world complied.

But in Protestant countries, even though the Gregorian Calendar was a fine thing, the change was adopted only gradually and grudgingly.

Germany and The Netherlands didn’t adopt the Gregorian Calendar until 1698. The British, and their American colonies, stayed with the Julian until 1752.

Russia finally went Gregorian in 1917, Romania in 1919. Turkey and Greece accepted it in 1923.

Today, the only holdout is the Eastern Orthodox Church. They still follow the Julian Calendar, which now lags 13 days behind the Gregorian and the rest of the world.

I guess being proudly inaccurate can be considered a tradition, too.

Lastly, I probably should mention the Chinese calendar — or rather, calendars.  

China’s official calendar is the Gregorian, but most people also follow the ancient, traditional, and beloved Han Calendar.

In effect, the Chinese use the Gregorian for business and public matters, the Han for traditional and ceremonial stuff, such as selecting the date of a wedding, funeral, or other significant event. The Han also determines the dates of the country’s various festivals and the Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year, by the way, does not fall on January 1. The date is different every year. The next new year will begin on February 19, 2015.

And, actually, the new year won’t be “2015.” By Chinese reckoning, it will be 4713.

Go that?

Anyway, that’s how we ended up with January 1 as the official start of the new year.

For now, anyway. As history shows, traditions can change. Or get changed by some authority figure.