I have always felt that Easter and Songkran were both decided by the phases of the moon
In 2008 Easter [Good Friday] is 21 March
Does that impact Songkran or Chinese New Year which are usually in April.[Change or remain the same]
I am considering coming at around that time and hope I might get better advice than my travel agent
Thanks in advance
Wombat : an Australian marsupial that eats,roots and leaves
Chinese New Year is never in April. Usually, February, sometimes starting in January possibly finishing in March.
It's often referred to as the Lunar New Year.
Chinese New Year for the Chinese year 4706 begins on Feb. 7, 2008.Originally Posted by lonelywombat
Chinese months are calculated by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth.
If you are in Bangkok for the start of the New Year pay a visit to Chinatown or Lumpni Park where you will see some great celebrations.
Lonelywombat, alas you're mistaken. None of the 3 festivals you mentioned are truly based on the lunar cycle.
Chinese New Year and Good Friday are based on a combination solar-lunar calculation. I am quite confused about Songkran myself.
Chinese New Year follows the first New Moon night after the Sun enters Aquarius. Consequently it always falls between 20 Jan and 22 Feb. Next year it will be on 7 February.
Good Friday is the fisrt Full Moon on or after the the Vernal equinox (21 March of every year). Easter is the Sunday/Monday after the Good Friday so determined.
I don't understand how Songkran is calculated. Perhaps others can explain. The entry in one website (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/thai/culture/section-5.html) says that Songkran is "The day when the sun enters Aries; reckoned according to the Old Indian Solar Calendar to fall on April 13 through 15.
Amazingly, another website I found declared that Songkran is now fixed arbitrarily, which I find hard to believe. (http://www.thailandsworld.com/index.cfm?p=410)
QUOTE: Songkran Festival in mid April - In Thailand, as also in the Dai People communities of Southern China [ where the Tai originated from ], the Tai Lao in Laos,and the Buddhist communities in Cambodia and Myanmar, the Calender New Year is occassioned between 13 and 15 April each year. The Thai use a lunisolar calendar [ both the Sun rotation and the moon phase rotation ] and the date was fixed on a solar calculation. The word '' Songkran '' is derived from the Indian sancript word '' Sankanta '' which means '' a change or move ''. The dates are now fixed arbitarily but originally would move with the move of the sun on the vernal equinox. This occured as a consequence of '' precession '' and the tilt of the earth and the effect of its orbit. Over the past the dates have changed but are now fixed irrespective of the original rationale and what would otherwise be the astrological calculation. From a natural perspective the dates also signal the end of the dry season.
My friend that is coming with me plans to go to Vietnam and the Tet is a Viet holiday
Our problem is school holidays start at Easter so it is high season for all flights out of OZ
I dont want to overlap Songkran
Wombat : an Australian marsupial that eats,roots and leaves
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