[The Editors' Verdict] East Asian Youth Clinging to Superstitions

Wedding Halls Fully Booked in China Due to "Muchunnyun" Superstition
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Replaces Lunar Calendar Beliefs in South Korea
Superstitions Reflect Deep-Seated Anxiety Among East Asian Youth

[Image source=Wedding Map]

Ahead of the 2024 Gapjin Year (甲辰年) Lunar New Year, wedding venues across China have become fully booked due to the influx of grooms and brides. Considering the birth rate has fallen to its lowest level since the founding of the country, this might be welcomed by the Chinese government, but in reality, it is a happening caused by the superstition of the ‘Muchunnyun (無春年)’ or ‘Year Without Spring.’ People are rushing to get married before Ipchun (立春), the beginning of spring, on February 5th, resulting in fully booked wedding halls.

This Muchunnyun superstition originates from the traditional lunar calendar used in the three East Asian countries. In 2024, Ipchun falls on February 10th, which is after the Lunar New Year. This is because an intercalary month (leap month) was inserted last year, 2023, to account for the difference in days between the lunar and solar calendars. As a result, 2023 is a so-called ‘Ssangchunnyun (雙春年)’ or ‘Double Spring Year,’ with Ipchun occurring twice, while 2024 becomes a Muchunnyun.

Since Muchunnyun has fewer days compared to the leap month year, it is also called ‘Gwanyeon (寡年),’ meaning ‘scarce year.’ This term is associated with widows, leading to the superstition that “if you marry in a Muchunnyun, you will become a widow.” Based on this superstition, wedding businesses marketed that marrying in a Ssangchunnyun would bring good fortune, further reinforcing the belief.

With China already facing two consecutive years of population decline and a sharp drop in newborns, the government is struggling to find solutions to reverse the rapid low birthrate trend and encourage marriage and childbirth. The spread of such superstitions has only added to their difficulties.

Marketing based on lunar calendar-related superstitions was once popular across the three East Asian countries, but in the 2020s, it has become news predominantly emerging from China. South Korea, known as the origin of Muchunnyun marketing, has seen traditional superstitions lose ground due to the spread of new ‘superstitions’ imported from the United States.

In South Korea, until the early 2010s, marketing using lunar calendar superstitions such as ‘Ssangchunnyun marketing’ and the ‘Golden Pig Year’ was very popular, but it almost disappeared around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. These superstitions and folk beliefs have been completely overtaken by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

Koreans’ obsession and blind faith in MBTI far surpass the Muchunnyun superstition in China. People now treat their MBTI type like a business card in every social setting, including dating and marriage, and MBTI compatibility is checked more often than traditional fortune-telling based on saju or palja. It has even become a universal indicator used in corporate recruitment tests.

Originally, MBTI was a personality indicator created in 1944 by American teacher Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It was designed to help students with career counseling and lost popularity in the U.S. due to lack of scientific evidence, but it became hugely popular in South Korea later on.

The blind faith in superstitions like MBTI or Muchunnyun reflects how anxious East Asian youth are. Employment and housing insecurity ultimately lead to survival anxiety, and the desire to cling to something creates a vicious cycle that spreads superstitions. This anxiety is the fundamental issue causing low birthrates and must be confronted directly.