Regnal Years
A few weeks ago I dashed off an e-mail wishing one of my new colleagues a “Happy Chinese New Year.” I got back a note politely informing me that she is a big supporter of Taiwanese independence, and as such prefers to use the term “Lunar New Year.” I politely replied that I completely understood and would accede to her preferences, while also pointing out that there are many lunar calendars, not all of them marking new year at that time. She replied once again that since not all lunar calendars marking the new year at that time were Chinese, why call them Chinese?
Well, I can think of some good historical reasons why one might wish to call it Chinese, but she is right. Here is what Wikipedia has to say:
Other traditional East Asian calendars are similar to if not identical to the Chinese calendar: the Korean calendar is identical; the Vietnamese calendar substitutes the cat for the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac; the Tibetan calendar differs slightly in animal names, and the traditional Japanese calendar uses a different method of calculation, resulting in disagreements between the calendars in some years.
In Chinese Mandarin they distinguish the two calendars by calling the “agricultural calendar” (農曆 nónglì), and the Gregorian calendar the “standard calendar” (公曆 gōnglì), or “Western calendar” (西曆 xīlì).
The subject of calendars resurfaced when Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) recently announced that the government is considering dropping the nation’s Republican (minguo, 民國) calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar. Actually, the two calendars are identical except for the system of counting years. The lunar/agricultural/Chinese calendar is still in use for certain holidays and will continue to be after any such change.
Wikipedia explains the regnal system used in Taiwan:
Traditional Chinese years were not continuously numbered in the way that the BC/AD system is. More commonly, official year counting always used some form of a regnal year. This system began in 841 BC during the Zhou dynasty. Prior to this, years were not marked at all, and historical events cannot be dated exactly.
… Subsequently, years were marked as regnal years, e.g. the year 825 BC was marked as the 3rd Year of the Xuan King Jing of Zhou (周宣王三年). This system was used until early in the Han dynasty, when the Wen Emperor of Han (汉文帝刘恒) instituted regnal names. After this, most emperors used one or more regnal names to mark their reign. Usually, the emperor would institute a new name upon accession to the throne, and then change to new names to mark significant events, or to end a perceived cycle of bad luck. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, however, each emperor usually used only one regnal name for their reign.
This sytem continued until the Republic of China, which counted years as Years of the Republic, beginning in 1912. Thus, 1912 is the 1st Year of the Republic, and 1948 the 37th. This system is still used for official purposes in Taiwan. For the rest of China, in 1949 the People’s Republic of China chose to use the Common Era system (equivalently, AD/BC system), in line with international standards.
As a result of this system, many foreigners are likely to think that dairy products are eleven years out of date, since the expiry date for a new carton of milk will read “95.” I have one friend who recently visited his parents in the states and needed to refill some medication he received just before leaving Taiwan. The American doctor nearly had a heart attack at the thought of someone using eleven year old antibiotics!
The decision to change the years to meet international standards is quite surprising, considering the governing DPP’s continued insistence on Taiwan having its own romanization system. My suggestion is that they stick with the original concept of the regnal calendar, and simply start over at 00 with a new name. Perhaps A-Bien Year 01? Unfortunately, A-Bien’s years are already numbered.
(via Michael Turton)
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Comments
Slightly related: There is a book by Issac Asimov called “The Tragedy of the Moon” that has some great rants on the decisions that civilization has made with regards to calendaring, and some ideas on solutions. I read it decades ago, but I remember it was a great read and you might enjoy checking it out sometime.
“Language Assholes” here in Taiwan. Maybe DD’s on to something…[IMG] Kerim at Keywords runs into a great local : A few weeks ago I dashed off an e-mail wishing one of my new colleagues a “Happy Chinese New Year.” I got back a note politely informing me that
People are just making the entire situation a lot more complicated than it should be.
Considering DPP’s stance on the Taiwan Strait situation, DPP’s decision to change the years to meet international standards is not surprising at all (I honestly don’t understand how you can be surprised…).
No one from DPP has been stupid enough to even attempt to draw a connection between Taiwan’s own romanization system and changing the calender system since there is obviously none.
Come on, A-Bien Year 01? You know sarcasm does not work here at all (especially it’s one of the many few GOOD decisions that DPP has ever made!)
(But don’t feel frustrated, Mr. Chen has made many mistakes, and there are plenty of opportunities for criticism. Constructive criticisms, of course).
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An anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, 
在台灣,”中國”是個敏感的詞。
台灣每一個小學幾乎都貼有這樣的標語”做一個堂堂正正的中國人”
可是小孩長大之後卻不敢說”我是堂堂正正的中國人”
會被打!
正確的說法是”我係正港ㄝ台灣人”(要用台語發音)
以上都是政治意識形態的切割
但文化上卻有其剪不斷的脈絡
如果硬要在文化上將台灣和中國切開
那恐怕得效法中國大陸在1966年所發動的”文化大革命”
或者乾脆將台灣的國語改成英語
這真是和國際接軌的好方法!