The Controversies Surrounding “Chinese New Year” and “Lunar New Year”

Image Source: ABC News Australia

A new year does not always start on January 1st. In Asian cultures, a year’s beginning is celebrated on the day that winter ends and spring arrives on the traditional lunisolar and solar calendars. Commonly referred to as the “Spring Festival,” Chinese New Year takes place between January 21st and February 20th every year, and it is a time for families to gather for an annual reunion dinner and participate in various cultural traditions such as lighting firecrackers, decorating homes with red paper cut-outs and couplets and giving money in red paper envelopes. 

Although Chinese New Year has been publicly recognized with this name for years, there has been a recent rise in the use of the term “Lunar New Year” instead, with the argument being that this celebration is not unique to Chinese culture but rather an important holiday that many other Asian cultures also celebrate. Some have claimed that the use of “Chinese New Year” as an overarching term that covers all new year celebrations is insensitive to other cultures.

Despite the terms “Chinese New Year” and “Lunar New Year” being used interchangeably in recent years, it is important to note that there are certain drawbacks to treating them as the same thing. The use of “Lunar New Year” as a replacement for “Chinese New Year” also ignores other cultures’ new year celebrations, since they occur at different times, making them separate celebrations. This attempt at being more inclusive actually creates more problems and can be also deemed as insensitive. 

There is no “correct” answer as to what the celebration should be named, and the terms “Chinese New Year” or “Lunar New Year” do not come from malicious intent. Inclusivity is a difficult topic, and today’s society certainly does not make it any easier to navigate. Perhaps keeping inclusivity in mind is the first step to creating a fair world.