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People in Shanxi, China celebrate the coming of the Year of the Rabbit.
The British Museum has sparked controversy for using “Korean Lunar New Year” (Korean Lunar New Year) in an online post as more than a billion people around the world are celebrating the Lunar New Year.
“Join us in celebrating the Korean Lunar New Year and enjoy the magical performance of the Silla Orchestra,” wrote the British Museum’s Twitter account in an event preview posted on January 12.
A screenshot of the post seemed to ignite a powder keg on Friday (January 20) following it was shared on Chinese social media by an online blogger. Many Chinese netizens questioned that the British Museum is “misappropriating culture” by labeling the Chinese lunar year with “Korean”.
“Give me back Chinese New Year!” commented one netizen.
“Isn’t it stealing to put your own country’s name on it despite adopting the traditional Chinese calendar?” another netizen questioned.
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british museum main gate
According to reports, some Chinese students went to the British Museum on Friday (January 20) to “rectify” the Chinese New Year’s history to passers-by.
The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year, originated from a traditional Chinese festival calculated on the lunar calendar. It is also widely celebrated in South Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries.
However, there are also some netizens who have different opinions, and they think there is no need to make a fuss.
“The Lunar New Year is originally celebrated by many countries. This event is a Korean band’s event, so it’s not a problem to add South Korea, just like Christmas, there are Russian Christmas and American Christmas,” wrote a netizen.
According to the event introduction, this celebration of the Lunar New Year mainly includes Korean traditional music and dance performances, as well as explanations by the curator of the Korean Pavilion.
According to reports, the event is sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The post has now been removed following a flood of criticism flooded the British Museum’s social media accounts. A link to the British Museum website also appears to be inaccessible. However, South Korean media reported that the British Museum held the event as scheduled.
The British Museum told the BBC that the event was a performance of Korean music and dance aimed at “presenting the traditions of Lunar New Year celebrations in Korea”.
“We celebrate Chinese New Year with UK and international audiences, including events with the local community within the museum, and wider wishes for the year across our online platforms,” a spokesperson said.
Chinese New Year name battle
Behind the incident at the British Museum is an increasingly contentious Chinese New Year “name attribution battle” on the Internet, including whether the traditional festival should be called “Lunar New Year” in English or “Chinese New Year”. “?
“Lunar New Year” literally translates as “Lunar New Year”, and is generally used to refer to “Lunar New Year”, while “Chinese New Year” means “Chinese New Year”. Although there is only one word difference, in the eyes of many people, these two words are very different.
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People in Hong Kong buy Lunar New Year decorations.
Earlier this month, Disneyland Resort (Disneyland Resort) tweeted that people are welcome to come to Disney to taste unique food during the Lunar New Year. But because it used “Lunar New Year” instead of “Chinese New Year,” it received a lot of critical comments that appeared to be from Chinese netizens.
“There has never been a Lunar New Year, it has always been Chinese New Year, for thousands of years,” wrote one netizen.
Chinese actor Wang Hedi also ran into trouble because of this. When his personal clothing brand “D. Desirable” posted Chinese New Year greetings on Instagram, using the phrase “Lunar New Year,” his account was quickly taken over by angry Chinese netizens.
The brand quickly deleted the post and republished one that read “Chinese New Year.”
On the other hand, Danielle, a member of the Korean girl group “New Jeans”, is facing the exact opposite crisis. When the Korean-Australian singer used the phrase “Chinese New Year” in a message to her fans, she was immediately slammed by South Korean netizens.
Danielle later wrote in an apology statement: “The Chinese New Year is a holiday in many countries and regions, including my country. My expression was inappropriate and I am deeply reflecting on it.”
Dali L. Yang, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, told BBC Chinese that the controversy is rooted in cultural sensitivities in a multicultural and transnational context.
“Although it is Lunar (actually Lunar) New Year in Han areas, people living in non-Han areas and other countries may have different traditions and cultures, which naturally need some recognition,” he said.
Zhuang Jiaying, associate professor of the Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore, also holds a similar view. He told BBC Chinese that Lunar New Year is a broad term that “describes a time of celebration, not something to do”.
He believes that although the Lunar New Year originated in China, the celebrations are different in different places, and thus have different names.
“For example, the Vietnamese calendar regards next year as the Year of the Cat, while in other regions it is the Year of the Rabbit. Celebrations may also change. During the Meiji Restoration, Japan moved their New Years away from the lunar calendar,” Chong said.
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Vietnam is also celebrating Lunar New Year, but unlike other regions, it’s the Year of the Cat.
In 2019, the city government of Sydney, Australia announced that it would change the local “Chinese New Year” to “Lunar New Year”. Authorities said the name change was a national effort to make the festival more inclusive. Previously, the city’s Korean, Vietnamese and other non-Chinese communities had been calling for the name change.
“Cultural theft”?
Due to the deep historical ties between China and South Korea, the cases of netizens from the two countries fighting over cultural affiliation in recent years are not limited to the Lunar New Year. Both sides often accuse the other of “cultural theft” in online forums, sometimes accompanied by rumors and nationalist sentiment shared by both countries.
For example, there have always been rumors on the Chinese Internet that “Koreans preemptively register the Dragon Boat Festival”, but in fact, South Korea’s declaration of intangible cultural heritage to the United Nations is a specific celebration in the Gangneung area of Gangwon-do, South Korea-Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival.
Last year, at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, a female performer dressed in traditional Korean clothing as a representative of China’s ethnic minorities appeared in a segment of passing the Chinese flag, which caused an uproar in South Korea.
South Korean politicians and the public criticized that this is equivalent to advocating that Hanbok is Chinese culture. China responded that it was “their wish and their right” for representatives of various ethnic groups in China to wear traditional costumes at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, while reiterating that the costumes were also part of Chinese culture.
In 2020, South Korea and China will also launch a war of words over the ownership of the international standard of kimchi.
“I think there’s too much nationalism here, probably fueled by social media,” Chong said. “Intensified political debate involving tradition, history and nationalism is strengthening belief in the need to claim social and cultural icons.”
However, Professor Zhuang said that this is not only between South Korea and China, there are similar disputes in other countries such as Southeast Asia. For example, there are also debates among the populace of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia regarding the origin of certain dishes and folk songs.
“But these debates tend to be softer — possibly reflecting less friction and tension between these countries,” he said.