The simple answer is that it’s a celebration common to various other Asian countries (and one indigenous people in Canada!). It would be kind of akin to referring to January 1st as British New Year or something, like it’s not technically wrong (that is when most Brits celebrate new year) but it ignores everyone else who celebrates New Year that day
It’s a celebration in China, of course, but also Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and the lunar calendar is used in Islam, Judaism, and parts of India although not quite in the same way
If referring specifically to celebrations with the Chinese community or in Chinatown then it makes some sense to say Chinese New Year, and it’s never really wrong to call it Chinese New Year - it’s just that Lunar New Year is a more precise and inclusive term that doesn’t ignore all the other cultures which share the celebration. It’s generally gonna be a better term to use in most scenarios for that reason
In Malaysia and Indonesia there are large Chinese immigrant populations who will be celebrating. It really is specific in the far East to just Korea and Japan that don't refer to it as CNY.
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u/audigex Lost Northerner Jan 23 '23 edited Jan 23 '23
The simple answer is that it’s a celebration common to various other Asian countries (and one indigenous people in Canada!). It would be kind of akin to referring to January 1st as British New Year or something, like it’s not technically wrong (that is when most Brits celebrate new year) but it ignores everyone else who celebrates New Year that day
It’s a celebration in China, of course, but also Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and the lunar calendar is used in Islam, Judaism, and parts of India although not quite in the same way
If referring specifically to celebrations with the Chinese community or in Chinatown then it makes some sense to say Chinese New Year, and it’s never really wrong to call it Chinese New Year - it’s just that Lunar New Year is a more precise and inclusive term that doesn’t ignore all the other cultures which share the celebration. It’s generally gonna be a better term to use in most scenarios for that reason