Day One or Day Zero?

To us Chinese, the concept of zero does not exist in the traditional sense. This is my belief. What does zero mean anyway? It's intangible, it's nothing, nil, null, zilch... We say boh, méi, kosong, eleh, khang khang... Something either exist or it doesn't exist. If it does not exist, there is nothing to count. How can you count nothing? That's why numbers begin with One. It doesn't begin with zero. Zero does not exist. When we count something, it begins with One. We start with one, two, three, four, five.... For example, when a child is born, we say the child is already one year old.

So what am I leading to? Why this stupid, trivial discussion? Well, I'm trying to ascertain when exactly does the observance of Cheng Beng begin and when does it end? Elders tell me that we can go Cheng Beng our ancestors 10 days before the actual day. Well, the exact date for Cheng Beng is 5 Apr 2009. So before I start counting backwards, do I count 5 Apr 2009 as Day One or Day Zero?

If zero does not exist, then I've to use 5 Apr as Day One. Counting backwards, yesterday (27 Mar) would have been Day 10. On the other hand, if I consider 5 Apr as Day Zero, then Day 10 would have been 26 Mar. So which is correct? I think to be on the safe side and follow tradition, I will use 5 Apr 2009 as Day One....