[Inside Chodong] Chunje, Seollal, and the Cultural Project

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Recently, a Lunar New Year commemorative stamp issued by the United Nations (UN) has sparked international controversy. The stamp, issued to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit (Gyemyo Year, 癸卯年), included the phrase "Chinese Lunar Calendar." East Asian countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year, not only South Korea, have collectively protested, stating that the Lunar New Year is not a holiday exclusive to China.

Previously, global brands such as Apple and Nike also stirred controversy by using the term "Chinese New Year" in their New Year event announcements. Since marketing mainly targets China, the country with the largest population and market size, the perception among Westerners in the US and Europe has come to associate the entire Lunar New Year solely with China’s holiday.

However, in China itself, the Lunar New Year is called "Chunje (春節)" and is translated into English as "Spring Festival." The New Year is actually celebrated on January 1st of the solar calendar, while Chunje is a separate, major annual festival. Originating from ancient times when rituals were performed to the heavens, the date of Chunje frequently changed between October and December with each dynasty change, but it was fixed to the first day of the lunar calendar about 2,000 years ago during the Han Dynasty. Thus, Chunje and Seollal (Lunar New Year) are entirely different holidays in terms of origin and meaning.

The image of the Year of the Rabbit (Gyemyo Year) Lunar New Year commemorative stamp issued by the United Nations (UN). As in the previous year, the phrase "Chinese Lunar Calendar" is used at the top, causing controversy. [Image source=Photo by Seokyungdeok Professor SNS capture]

In Indonesia, a multiethnic and multireligious country, three different Lunar New Years coexist. The lunar calendars used by Chinese, Indian, and Islamic communities differ, so their New Year’s Day also varies. Therefore, along with Chunje, Hindu and Islamic New Year holidays are all designated public holidays.

Confining the Lunar New Year, which embodies unique cultural characteristics of each country, to the term "Chinese New Year" can only be perceived as cultural violence by countries other than China. This is the same reason why Jewish Americans have spent decades pushing the media to change "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holiday."

Especially for South Korea, which is experiencing the aftermath of China’s Northeast Project as well as cultural projects involving holidays, hanbok, and kimchi, this issue cannot be taken lightly. Due to the geopolitical particularities of Northeast Asia, these seemingly minor cultural clashes can accumulate and eventually connect to ethnic identity and territorial disputes.

A representative example is the controversy over the "East Sea" designation. Although often perceived as a problem solely with Japan due to the dual naming dispute with the "Sea of Japan," the real reason this controversy escalated is that China has long labeled our western sea as the East Sea on its maps. The problem grew when foreign maps began using the name "Sea of Japan" to distinguish it from the sea China had labeled as the East Sea.

The dispute over the western sea continues among South Korea, China, and Japan regarding exclusive economic zones (EEZ). The justification often cited is historical "legitimacy." China bases its claim to the Senkaku Islands (called Diaoyudao in Chinese), which are disputed with Japan, on records from 1403 during the Ming Dynasty, when envoys traveling to the Ryukyu Kingdom (present-day Okinawa) changed clothes there.

China and Japan’s governments themselves have gotten involved, citing unfamiliar holidays, clothing, and food to claim these as their own cultures. However, the South Korean government’s systematic efforts at the center of this competition are not noticeable. It is time to pay attention not only to expanding Korean culture globally through the Korean Wave but also to its defense.