Why Did "Happy Lunar New Year" Become Offensive to Some Chinese? The Strange Politics Behind a Festival

Why do some Chinese people get offended when you say "Happy Lunar New Year" instead of "Happy Chinese New Year"? In recent years, the Chinese government has pushed for exclusive recognition of "Chinese New Year", rejecting the broader term that acknowledges the festival’s shared East Asian heritage.

But is Lunar New Year really a Chinese-only tradition? And why has a simple holiday greeting turned into a cultural battleground?

In this episode of 22 George Street, we discuss some facts:
🔹 The shared origins of Lunar New Year in Korea, Vietnam, and beyond
🔹 How Western astronomy helped shape China’s modern lunar calendar
🔹 The foreign roots of Chinese New Year traditions like lion dances & dumplings
🔹 How nationalism & politics turned a festival into a cultural weapon

Has Lunar New Year become a celebration or a nationalist tool? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

🔔 Subscribe to @22GeorgeStreet for more deep dives into history, culture, and politics.

#LunarNewYear #ChineseNewYear #CultureWars #22GeorgeStreet

Transcript

Podcast Script: Chinese New Year vs. Lunar New Year – The Politics Behind a Festival

Welcome to 22 George Street, I’m your host, George.

When you greet a Chinese person with "Happy Lunar New Year," many of them, especially those heavily influenced by government narratives, may feel offended—even going as far as calling it racist. Some have even reported companies and individuals for using "Lunar New Year" instead of "Chinese New Year."

But why does this happen? What is so controversial about a name? Today, we’re diving into the strange case of how a traditional celebration has been transformed into a political tool, revealing anxieties about cultural ownership, national identity, and historical revisionism.

The Push to Rebrand Lunar New Year as “Chinese New Year”

In recent years, the Chinese government and many netizens have insisted that Spring Festival (春节) should exclusively be called "Chinese New Year", rejecting the broader term "Lunar New Year." They claim that using “Lunar New Year” diminishes China’s historical and cultural ownership of the holiday. This has led to a growing movement demanding that Western companies, public figures, and even other Asian nations use the term “Chinese New Year” exclusively.

At the same time, the Chinese government restricts its own people from celebrating Western holidays like Christmas and Halloween, branding them as foreign influences that threaten Chinese culture. However, when it comes to Lunar New Year, Beijing aggressively promotes it worldwide, urging foreign leaders to send official greetings and encouraging global landmarks to light up in "Spring Festival red."

This contradiction reveals an incoherent and insecure cultural policy—one that demands global recognition while rejecting cultural exchange. If a country truly believes in cultural openness and confidence, why does it seek to control how others acknowledge its traditions while simultaneously banning external influences?

But is Lunar New Year actually exclusive to China? And who really owns this festival?

Lunar New Year: A Shared East Asian Tradition

The idea that Lunar New Year belongs solely to China is historically inaccurate. The celebration of the new year based on a lunar calendar is deeply rooted in many East Asian cultures, including Korea (설날), Vietnam (Tết), and Singapore, all of which have their own distinct traditions.

Additionally, the lunar calendar itself is not a uniquely Chinese invention. Many ancient civilizations—including Babylonians, Egyptians, and Indians—developed lunar-based timekeeping systems long before China. The Chinese lunisolar calendar, known today as the "农历" (Nongli), was influenced and refined by foreign scholars and technologies, particularly during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

In fact, China’s modern lunar calendar owes much of its accuracy to Jesuit missionaries like Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Matteo Ricci, who introduced Copernican and Keplerian astronomy to China. These advancements allowed for more precise calculations of the solar and lunar cycles, correcting the significant errors in traditional Chinese timekeeping.

So, if Lunar New Year is based on a calendar refined by Western astronomers and shared by multiple Asian cultures, why is China now claiming sole ownership? The answer lies not in history, but in politics.

Cultural Appropriation or Cultural Chauvinism?

What we see today is an attempt to monopolize a tradition—to rewrite history in a way that makes China appear as the sole originator of a widely shared festival. This stems from a deeper nationalistic anxiety: the fear that China’s cultural identity is not strong enough to stand on its own without constant external validation.

This is what some might call "cultural chauvinism"—not just pride in one’s own traditions, but an insistence that they be recognized globally while denying their shared origins with neighboring cultures. It reflects a pre-modern worldview, one where cultural exchange is seen as a zero-sum game rather than a two-way process of mutual enrichment.

Yet, paradoxically, many core Lunar New Year traditions in China were themselves borrowed from other cultures.

Foreign Influences in Chinese Lunar New Year Traditions

🔹 The "Nian Beast" legend, which claims that firecrackers scare away a mythical monster, is similar to Central and South Asian fire rituals meant to ward off evil spirits. In the Tang Dynasty, Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship rituals were widely practiced in Chang’an, influencing Chinese celebrations.

🔹 Lion Dances, a staple of Lunar New Year festivities, did not originate in China. They were introduced via Persian and Indian trade routes during the Han and Wei-Jin periods, where lions were symbols of power and protection.

🔹 Firecrackers, though associated with Chinese New Year, evolved from bamboo-burning practices to gunpowder-based explosives during the Tang and Song Dynasties. However, some of the earliest gunpowder formulas were influenced by Middle Eastern alchemists.

🔹 Lantern Festival decorations bear a strong resemblance to the elaborate lamps used in Persian and Sogdian merchant cultures, which were brought to China through the Silk Road.

🔹 Dumplings (饺子), considered a quintessential Chinese New Year dish, actually resemble Central Asian "Manti" dumplings and Middle Eastern "Sambusas." The method of wrapping meat in dough was likely introduced via Silk Road trade routes.

🔹 Under Mongol Rule (Yuan Dynasty), grand feasts became a major part of Lunar New Year celebrations. The Mongol elites encouraged extravagant banquets, which later became an integral part of Chinese festivities.

🔹 Under Manchu Rule (Qing Dynasty), bowing to the emperor during the Lunar New Year became a national ritual. This helped shape many of the formalized New Year customs still seen in modern China.

These examples demonstrate that Lunar New Year is not a “purely Chinese” festival, but rather the result of centuries of cross-cultural exchange. If anything, it is one of the most internationally influenced holidays in Chinese culture.

What’s the Real Value of Lunar New Year?

Lunar New Year should not be about exclusion or nationalism—it should be about inclusion and shared heritage. The festival’s core values—family reunion, renewal, and prosperity—transcend borders.

Yet, in the 20th century, the Chinese Communist Party repurposed Lunar New Year as a political tool. As the government promoted the concept of a single "Chinese Nation" (中华民族)—which artificially merged dozens of distinct ethnic groups into one identity—Lunar New Year was elevated as a nationalistic symbol rather than a cultural celebration.

In recent years, some have gone further, using Lunar New Year as a political counterbalance against Western holidays, branding it as China’s answer to Christmas—an absurd competition that undermines the true spirit of the festival.

In contrast, consider other global festivals:

• Christmas has spread worldwide, adapted by different cultures in unique ways.
• Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival is embraced internationally.
• India’s Diwali is celebrated by millions beyond India’s borders.

Lunar New Year has the potential to be a festival of cultural exchange, rather than cultural gatekeeping. Its power lies not in ownership, but in the ability to bring people together, regardless of nationality or ethnicity.

Final Thoughts

Lunar New Year is not just "Chinese New Year"—it is a festival with deep historical roots shared by many cultures. It should be a time of joy, family, and cultural exchange—not nationalist insecurity and exclusion.

So whether you say Lunar New Year, Chinese New Year, Seollal, or Tết, remember: the value of this celebration is not in its name, but in the spirit of unity it represents.

Thank you for listening to 22 George Street. Wishing you all a Happy Lunar New Year, wherever you are. Bonne année lunaire!