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#Post#: 17381--------------------------------------------------
Gregorian Calendar = Western invention?
By: AmonReinhardt Date: January 6, 2023, 7:25 pm
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Well, as always, I failed my New Years Resolutions, as most do,
but it got me thinking... Why do we start a new year right in
the dead of winter time, a time of retreat & hibernation? I did
some research and it seems that in the ancient world (and in
many non-western cultures today), the 'New Year' always starts
in spring. Some more research indicates that it was the Catholic
church who normalized starting the New Year in January, and the
names of months (sept = 7, oct = 8, nov = 9) were never changed
accordingly.
Maybe most people fail their new years resolutions because
January is simply just a dark, cold, ugly month and the energy
just isn't right.
Can the modern day standard calendar technically be considered a
western invention? Just as we aim to return to the ripuarian
geographical worldview, focusing more on rivers than continents,
should we also return to a non-western style of calendar where
the new year begins in Spring?
I know this may seem like a pointless question to some, but
maybe if I'm reassured that starting the new year in January has
always been bullshit, I won't feel so bad about breaking my
resolutions 😂
HTML https://youtu.be/VFXCAy-BO3k
#Post#: 17383--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gregorian Calendar = Western invention?
By: 90sRetroFan Date: January 6, 2023, 8:50 pm
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'it was the Catholic church who normalized starting the New Year
in January"
You are correct. The colonial era facilitated the spread of the
Gregorian calendar:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar
[quote]The European colonies of the Americas adopted the change
when their mother countries did. New France and New Spain had
adopted the new calendar in 1582. The Gregorian calendar was
applied in the British colonies in Canada and the future United
States east of the Appalachian Mountains in 1752.
...
The Ottoman Empire's Rumi calendar, used for fiscal purposes,
was realigned from a Julian to a Gregorian starting on 16
February / 1 March 1917.
...
Japan, Korea, and China started using the Gregorian calendar on
1 January 1873, 1 January 1896, and 1 January 1912,
respectively.[25][26]
...
The Gregorian calendar replaced the Burmese calendar in several
mainland Southeast Asian kingdoms in the second half of the 19th
century. This took place in Cambodia in 1863 and Laos in
1889.[45] In 1889, Siam also switched to the Gregorian calendar
as the official civil calendar, with the Rattanakosin Era (with
1782 as Year 1).[46] The Thai lunar calendar remains in use for
religious purposes. Since the British conquest of the Konbaung
dynasty in 1886, the Gregorian calendar has been used alongside
the Burmese calendar in Myanmar.
...
Today, the vast majority of countries use the Gregorian calendar
as their sole civil calendar. The four countries which have not
adopted the Gregorian calendar are Ethiopia (Ethiopian
calendar),[49] Nepal (Vikram Samvat and Nepal Sambat), Iran and
Afghanistan (Solar Hijri calendar).[50][/quote]
"Can the modern day standard calendar technically be considered
a western invention?"
Yes. It is part of the Renaissance. In addition to his calendar,
Gregory was a promoter of the wider Renaissance:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_XIII
[quote]Gregory XIII was a generous patron of the Jesuit colleges
in Rome.[2] The Roman College of the Jesuits grew substantially
under his patronage, and became the most important centre of
learning in Europe for a time. It is now named the Pontifical
Gregorian University. Pope Gregory XIII also founded numerous
seminaries for training priests, beginning with the German
College at Rome, and put them in the charge of the Jesuits.
In 1575 he gave official status to the Congregation of the
Oratory, a community of priests without vows, dedicated to
prayer and preaching (founded by Saint Philip Neri). In 1580 he
commissioned artists, including Ignazio Danti, to complete works
to decorate the Vatican and commissioned The Gallery of Maps.
Gregory also transformed the Dominican studium founded in the
13th century at Rome into the College of St. Thomas in 1580, as
recommended by the Council of Trent. This college was the
precursor of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas,
Angelicum.[/quote]
as well as a despicable person in general:
[quote]He appointed his illegitimate son Giacomo,[a] born to his
mistress at Bologna before his papacy, castellan of Sant'Angelo
and Gonfalonier of the Church; Venice, anxious to please the
Pope, enrolled his son among its nobles, and Philip II of Spain
appointed him general in his army. Gregory also helped his son
to become a powerful feudatary through the acquisition of the
Duchy of Sora, on the border between the Papal States and the
Kingdom of Naples.[/quote]
"should we also return to a non-western style of calendar where
the new year begins in Spring?"
Yes, although this requires the state to make it official, so it
is more something to remember to do in the future rather than
something we can do now.
#Post#: 17385--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gregorian Calendar = Western invention?
By: SirGalahad Date: January 6, 2023, 10:51 pm
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I was actually kind of thinking about this when I was reading
about Chinese New Year a few days ago. Apparently their New Year
is called the Spring Festival because even though their new year
still starts pretty close to ours (anywhere from late January to
early February), they consider the beginning of the year to be
right when the coldest of winter has passed and the earth starts
slowly warming again. And I like that idea of what the beginning
of the year is, more than just "Uuuuuh **** it. January 1st
because of the name of some Roman god."
The one thing I hate about calendars though, is that it's such a
pain in the ass to switch over once one has become standard.
Especially when that standard is almost globally enforced, as is
the case with the Gregorian calendar. Every date of practically
every historical event that I'm aware of has been filed away in
my mind under the framework of the Gregorian calendar, and a lot
of other aspects of society are tied to our current calendar as
well
#Post#: 17395--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gregorian Calendar = Western invention?
By: antihellenistic Date: January 7, 2023, 11:48 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=90sRetroFan link=topic=1672.msg17383#msg17383
date=1673059829]
'it was the Catholic church who normalized starting the New Year
in January"
You are correct. The colonial era facilitated the spread of the
Gregorian calendar:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar
[quote]The European colonies of the Americas adopted the change
when their mother countries did. New France and New Spain had
adopted the new calendar in 1582. The Gregorian calendar was
applied in the British colonies in Canada and the future United
States east of the Appalachian Mountains in 1752.
...
The Ottoman Empire's Rumi calendar, used for fiscal purposes,
was realigned from a Julian to a Gregorian starting on 16
February / 1 March 1917.
...
Japan, Korea, and China started using the Gregorian calendar on
1 January 1873, 1 January 1896, and 1 January 1912,
respectively.[25][26]
...
The Gregorian calendar replaced the Burmese calendar in several
mainland Southeast Asian kingdoms in the second half of the 19th
century. This took place in Cambodia in 1863 and Laos in
1889.[45] In 1889, Siam also switched to the Gregorian calendar
as the official civil calendar, with the Rattanakosin Era (with
1782 as Year 1).[46] The Thai lunar calendar remains in use for
religious purposes. Since the British conquest of the Konbaung
dynasty in 1886, the Gregorian calendar has been used alongside
the Burmese calendar in Myanmar.
...
Today, the vast majority of countries use the Gregorian calendar
as their sole civil calendar. The four countries which have not
adopted the Gregorian calendar are Ethiopia (Ethiopian
calendar),[49] Nepal (Vikram Samvat and Nepal Sambat), Iran and
Afghanistan (Solar Hijri calendar).[50][/quote]
"Can the modern day standard calendar technically be considered
a western invention?"
Yes. It is part of the Renaissance. In addition to his calendar,
Gregory was a promoter of the wider Renaissance:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_XIII
[quote]Gregory XIII was a generous patron of the Jesuit colleges
in Rome.[2] The Roman College of the Jesuits grew substantially
under his patronage, and became the most important centre of
learning in Europe for a time. It is now named the Pontifical
Gregorian University. Pope Gregory XIII also founded numerous
seminaries for training priests, beginning with the German
College at Rome, and put them in the charge of the Jesuits.
In 1575 he gave official status to the Congregation of the
Oratory, a community of priests without vows, dedicated to
prayer and preaching (founded by Saint Philip Neri). In 1580 he
commissioned artists, including Ignazio Danti, to complete works
to decorate the Vatican and commissioned The Gallery of Maps.
Gregory also transformed the Dominican studium founded in the
13th century at Rome into the College of St. Thomas in 1580, as
recommended by the Council of Trent. This college was the
precursor of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas,
Angelicum.[/quote]
as well as a despicable person in general:
[quote]He appointed his illegitimate son Giacomo,[a] born to his
mistress at Bologna before his papacy, castellan of Sant'Angelo
and Gonfalonier of the Church; Venice, anxious to please the
Pope, enrolled his son among its nobles, and Philip II of Spain
appointed him general in his army. Gregory also helped his son
to become a powerful feudatary through the acquisition of the
Duchy of Sora, on the border between the Papal States and the
Kingdom of Naples.[/quote]
"should we also return to a non-western style of calendar where
the new year begins in Spring?"
Yes, although this requires the state to make it official, so it
is more something to remember to do in the future rather than
something we can do now.
[/quote]
We have Islamic Hijriya Calendar
North Korea have calendar which it's calculation based on Kim Il
Sung's birth date
#Post#: 17398--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gregorian Calendar = Western invention?
By: AmonReinhardt Date: January 8, 2023, 1:14 am
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HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Hijri_calendar
"The Solar Hijri calendar is a solar calendar and one of the
various ancient Iranian calendars. It begins on the March
equinox as determined by astronomical calculation for the Iran
Standard Time meridian and has years of 365 or 366 days. It is
the modern principal calendar of both Iran and Afghanistan, and
is sometimes also called the Shamsi calendar, and abbreviated as
SH, HS or, by analogy with AH, AHSh."
"The Ancient Iran Solar calendar is one of the oldest calendars
in the world, as well as the most accurate solar calendar in use
today. Since the calendar uses astronomical calculation for
determining the vernal equinox, it has no intrinsic error."
"Each of the twelve months corresponds with a zodiac sign; their
names are the same as ancient Zoroastrian names from the
Zoroastrian calendar – in Afghanistan on the other hand, the
names of the zodiacal signs are used instead."
#Post#: 17481--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gregorian Calendar = Western invention?
By: guest63 Date: January 15, 2023, 3:05 am
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I remember in old American texts (up until President Lincoln's
assassination) that listed the year of Independence of America
from Great Britain.
This included that of the Articles of Confederation, the
Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Maybe we should bring that back instead of using the Gregorian
calendar.
The French revolutionaries had theirs as well, which was even
more expanded on than ours.
#Post#: 20627--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gregorian Calendar = Western invention?
By: christianbethel Date: June 24, 2023, 4:43 pm
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What about the Julian calendar?
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