The arguments over whether to say Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year are not just about vocabulary. They trace a century‑long history of calendar reform, state‑building, colonial governance, and multicultural politics—from the Republic of China’s decisions in 1912, through British Hong Kong in 1968, to recent debates in English‑speaking countries.[1][2][3][4][5]
1. 1912–1949: Yuandan, Spring Festival, and a modern Chinese calendar
When China adopted the Gregorian calendar in the early Republic era, the government needed to separate the “modern” new year from the traditional agrarian new year.[6][7][1]
- Before 1912, Yuandan (元旦, “first dawn”) meant the first day of the traditional lunisolar year.[1][6]
- From 1912–1914, the new republican government adopted the Gregorian calendar, moved Yuandan to 1 January, and renamed the traditional New Year on first lunar month as Spring Festival (春节).[8][6][1]
- President Yuan Shikai’s administration even tried to create four seasonal national holidays—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter Festivals—of which only Spring Festival survived.[8][1]
This renaming did several things at once:
- It aligned China with global timekeeping by elevating 1 January as “New Year’s Day”.[7][6][1]
- It preserved the traditional new year, but reframed it seasonally as the start of spring, connecting it to the agricultural cycle.[9][1]
- It offered a label that could, at least in principle, apply across different ethnic groups inside China whose spring celebrations were not all on exactly the same day.[10][11]
Later explanations emphasise this last point: some modern sources note that “Spring Festival” allowed the new state to include the spring celebrations of China’s various ethnic groups in a single, long national holiday without labelling it only ‘Chinese New Year’, given that certain minorities have different new year dates.[11][10]
So already in the Republican period, naming reflected a balancing act: asserting a modern nation aligned with the West’s calendar, while holding together a culturally Chinese, multi‑ethnic state around a shared spring celebration.[7][10][1]
2. PRC after 1949: Spring Festival as a multi‑ethnic national symbol
The People’s Republic of China maintained this basic structure:
- 1 January is Yuandan / New Year’s Day (Gregorian).
- The traditional new year remains Spring Festival, a multi‑day national holiday.[2][7]
Official and heritage texts present Spring Festival as core Chinese culture and also as a unifying national holiday for all ethnicities within the PRC.[12][13][11]
- UNESCO describes it as “Spring festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of traditional new year,” highlighting it as essential intangible cultural heritage for the Chinese people.[12]
- Chinese government cultural portals emphasise that “China has 56 ethnic groups. Minorities celebrate their Spring Festival almost the same day as the Han people, and they have different customs,” using Spring Festival as a shared but diverse national frame.[11]
In other words, Spring Festival is not meant to de‑link the holiday from Chinese identity; it is meant to express a Chinese national identity that includes many ethnicities, under a season‑based name that sits comfortably beside the global Gregorian calendar.[2][10][11][12]
3. 1968 Hong Kong: from Chinese New Year to Lunar New Year
A different naming story unfolded in Hong Kong. Until the late 1960s, colonial law referred to the statutory holiday as Chinese New Year.[3][14]
After the 1967 leftist riots, which were strongly inflected by pro‑PRC politics, the British colonial government amended the Holidays Ordinance in 1968. The revised law replaced “Chinese New Year’s Day” with “Lunar New Year’s Day / second / third day.”[14][3]
Scholars of late colonial Hong Kong situate this change within a wider post‑riot strategy:
- The government tried to depoliticise overtly “Chinese national” symbols while still leveraging Chinese culture for social cohesion and tourism.[15][16]
- Cultural policies (festivals, entertainment, heritage) were repackaged to promote a “local Hong Kong” identity that was ethnically Chinese but politically non‑threatening to British rule.[17][15]
In that context, “Lunar New Year” worked as a neutralising move:
- It kept the popular festival but softened the explicit “Chinese” label in official English.[3][14][15]
- It fit a colonial pattern of recoding colonised cultures under more abstract or “universal” terms chosen by the colonial administration.[15][17]
The wording has persisted post‑1997 as the formal legal term, while everyday Hong Kong people continue to say both “Chinese New Year” and “Lunar New Year” depending on audience and language.[18][19][20]
4. 1990s–2020s: English‑speaking countries and the rise of “Lunar New Year”
In the last few decades, “Lunar New Year” has gained visibility in English‑speaking countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.[4][5][2]
Key drivers include:
- Multicultural inclusion: Cities with large Asian diasporas host festivals where Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and other communities all celebrate around the same period. Organisers and governments increasingly use “Lunar New Year” to signal that these events are not “Chinese only”.[5][21][22][23]
- Non‑Chinese Asian advocacy: Korean, Vietnamese and other groups have argued that calling everything “Chinese New Year” erases their distinct traditions (Seollal, Tết, etc.), so “Lunar New Year” is promoted as a fairer umbrella.[21][22][23]
- Corporate and institutional language: Companies, museums, and universities adopt “Lunar New Year” in campaigns and greetings, often following internal diversity guidelines that recommend inclusive terminology.[4][5]
At the same time, this shift has sparked sharp reactions in China and among some Chinese diasporas:
- Critics argue that the festival’s calendrical system, zodiac, and many hallmark customs are Chinese in origin, and that replacing “Chinese” with “Lunar” obscures this history.[24][25][2][4]
- Some see it as part of a broader pattern of “de‑Sinicization,” where Western and regional actors strategically downplay Chinese contributions amid geopolitical tensions.[26][2][4]
The CHAGEE tea‑brand controversy in 2025, when an originally Chinese company used “Lunar New Year” for domestic branding and then apologised after backlash, illustrates how sensitive the terminology has become.[2]
5. Implications for Chinese and other Asian communities
These naming shifts carry different implications for different communities.
For Chinese communities:
- Spring Festival is widely accepted as a state‑anchored, Chinese‑identity term that coexists with “Chinese New Year,” especially in Mandarin contexts; it signals Chineseness plus modern national framing.[10][12][2]
- Lunar New Year, when used without explanation, can feel like it erases the specifically Chinese origin of the lunisolar calendar, zodiac system, and many iconic customs (red packets, lion dance, 春联).[25][24][4]
- In colonial or Western settings, the shift away from “Chinese” can be experienced as another episode of others deciding how Chinese culture is labelled, echoing historical power imbalances.[17][26][4][15]
For other Asian communities (Korean, Vietnamese, etc.):
- “Chinese New Year” as the only label risks folding their own festivals into a Chinese frame and reinforcing Sinocentric narratives.[22][23][21]
- “Lunar New Year” creates space to affirm: “We share a general lunar‑based new year season but have distinct names, stories, and rituals.”[23][5][22]
- However, if “Lunar New Year” is used without naming any specific traditions (Tết, Seollal), it can become so generic that it also flattens their distinctiveness.[5][22]
In short, both sides can feel disadvantaged depending on how and why the term is used:
- Chinese communities may feel their origin story and cultural leadership are being de‑emphasised.[26][4][2]
- Non‑Chinese Asians may feel overshadowed when “Chinese New Year” is treated as the only or default name for all lunar/spring festivals.[21][22][23]
6. Co‑existing terms: using context to make it work for everyone
Given this history, the most constructive approach is not to pick one “correct” term, but to use different terms carefully in different contexts, making the coexistence explicit and educational.
A context‑sensitive practice might look like this:
- When talking specifically about the Chinese festival and its traditions (春晚, 春联, 红包, lion dance rooted in Chinese myth, 天干地支 zodiac):
- Use “Chinese New Year” or “Spring Festival”, and explain that this is the traditional new year of the Chinese people based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar.[10][12][2]
- When speaking about the broader season of different Asian lunar/lunisolar new years together (e.g., a city‑wide festival with Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan groups):
- Use “Lunar New Year” for the umbrella, and then name each festival clearly—Spring Festival / Chinese New Year, Tết, Seollal, etc.[22][23][5][21]
- In Hong Kong and similar places with colonial history:
- Recognise the legal and historical reasons for “Lunar New Year” in official English, but also acknowledge the legacy of colonial depoliticisation, and allow “Chinese New Year” in contexts that centre Chinese cultural identity.[19][14][3][15]
Crucially, politicised uses of naming should be recognised honestly:
- If “Lunar New Year” is consciously promoted to avoid saying “Chinese” for geopolitical or ideological reasons, Chinese communities will understandably feel targeted.[4][26]
- If “Chinese New Year” is insisted on in mixed Asian spaces in a way that erases Korean, Vietnamese, or other traditions, other communities will feel subordinated.[23][21][22]
Naming cannot be completely depoliticised, but it can be made more transparent and dialogic. Co‑existence of terms becomes beneficial when:
- We openly teach the history of the names (Yuandan, Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year).[1][3][7][2]
- We always pair umbrella terms with specific cultural names and origins.[5][22][10]
- We treat different terms as tools to show more of the story (Chinese origin, internal diversity in China, wider Asian participation), rather than as weapons to erase or dominate any group.[12][22][5][10]
Under those conditions, Chinese New Year / Spring Festival and Lunar New Year can co‑exist in a way that honours both the Chinese roots of the festival and the rich diversity of other Asian communities who have made the spring new year their own.
Sources
[1] Explainer: Why is Chinese New Year Called ‘Spring Festival’? https://www.thatsmags.com/china/post/8389/explainer-why-is-chinese-new-year-called-spring-festival [2] Chinese New Year – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year [3] Lunar New Year – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_New_Year [4] Is it Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year? Depends who you ask https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/28/asia/chinese-lunar-new-year-controversy-intl-hnk [5] Why Some Asians Say “Chinese New Year” and Others Say “Lunar … https://www.88tumble.com/post/why-some-asians-say-chinese-new-year-and-others-say-lunar-new-year [6] Spring Festival – Customs and Origins https://www.echinacities.net/china-news/Spring-Festival-Customs-and-Origins [7] How Did China End Up Celebrating Two New Years? https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2023/01/how-did-china-end-up-celebrating-two-new-years/ [8] why is chinese new year called the spring festival chinese new year 3rd day greetings https://chinesenewyears.github.io/why_is_chinese_new_year_called_the_spring_festival.html [9] The Lantern Festival – Spectacular Display at Wenyu River Park! https://www.culturalkeys.cn/2021/02/11/history-of-spring-festival/ [10] Why Chinese New Year Is Called Spring Festival https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/festivals/chinese-new-year-spring-festival.htm [11] Spring Festival https://www.idcpc.org.cn/english2023/chinadelights/festivals/202307/t20230719_153353.html [12] Spring festival, social practices of the Chinese people in … https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/spring-festival-social-practices-of-the-chinese-people-in-celebration-of-traditional-new-year-02126 [13] Spring Festival: Tradition, Identity, and Cultural Functions … https://iranbri.com/en/%D8%AC%D8%B4%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AA-%D9%88-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%DB%8C-%D8%AF/ [14] HOLIDAYS ORDINANCE – Historical Laws of Hong Kong Online https://oelawhk.lib.hku.hk/items/show/2698 [15] Entertainment, Chinese Culture, and Late Colonialism in Hong Kong | The Historical Journal | Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/entertainment-chinese-culture-and-late-colonialism-in-hong-kong/573A2B3EE5DB2C2042B83C50228E016F [16] THE HONG KONG WEEK OF 1967 AND THE EMERGENCE … https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/stream/pdf/24/1.0067018/1 [17] HONG KONG: THE DECOLONIZATION THAT NEVER … https://postcolonialpolitics.org/hong-kong-the-decolonization-that-never-happened/ [18] Public holidays in Hong Kong – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Hong_Kong [19] Why Hong Kong’s dual usage of ‘Chinese New Year’ and ‘Lunar … https://www.dimsumdaily.hk/why-hong-kongs-dual-usage-of-chinese-new-year-and-lunar-new-year-makes-perfect-sense/ [20] What Is Chinese New Year Called in Hong Kong https://party.alibaba.com/newyear/what-is-chinese-new-year-called-in-hong-kong [21] Unpacking the debate over new year name https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese/540330/unpacking-the-debate-over-new-year-name [22] Why Say Lunar New Year? Understanding Cultural Inclusivity https://party.alibaba.com/newyear/why-say-lunar-new-year [23] How Lunar New Year came to encompass different Asian cultures’ spring festivals https://news.yahoo.com/lunar-came-encompass-different-asian-140000630.html [24] The origins and customs of the Chinese New Year https://theasiadialogue.com/2020/01/27/the-origins-and-customs-of-the-chinese-new-year/ [25] Chinese zodiac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac [26] End cultural appropriation: Restore the name Chinese New … https://www.change.org/p/end-cultural-appropriation-restore-the-name-chinese-new-year [27] Aotearoa referendum debate fuels racist abuse https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/focusonpolitics/553216/aotearoa-referendum-debate-fuels-racist-abuse [28] Yuan Shikai – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Shikai [29] New Zealand leader defends the removal of Māori phrases from an official invitation https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/new-zealand-leader-defends-removal-mori-phrases-official-112661578
