Chinese New Year is the most important festival of the year for Chinese people. People all over the country look forward to reuniting with their families during this festival. Everywhere there are rich New Year's customs, and the streets and lanes are filled with a strong New Year's flavor. There is also good news that the “Chinese New Year” has been successfully bid for heritage. But one of the biggest controversies is why can't the “Chinese New Year”be replaced by the“Lunar New Year”? Let's reveal the secret together.

Chinese New Year

When we talk about “Chinese New Year”, people associate it with traditional Chinese culture such as lively dragon and lion dances, red couplets and lucky charms, and sumptuous New Year's Eve dinners. Introducing this festival with “Chinese New Year” on international occasions or when communicating with foreign friends will make them quickly realize that this is a unique way of celebrating the New Year in China, and it will also make them feel the unique charm of Chinese culture. In addition. Our Chinese New Year is based on China's unique calendar, called Lunisolar Calendar in English, which is not supposed to be a lunar calendar. The Chinese calendar actually combines both the phases of the Moon and the Sun's movements across the four seasons. The Chinese calendar takes the astronomical New Moon (called “shuo ri” in Chinese) as the beginning of each month, which reflects the lunar aspect of the calendar. The New Moon is defined as the moment when the geocentric ecliptic longitudes of While the 24 solar terms and the rules for inserting leap months represent the solar aspect of the Chinese calendar.

Lunar New Year

The Lunar New Year emphasizes that it is calculated according to the lunar calendar. Unlike the purely lunar calendar, the Lunisolar Calendar is a combined lunar and solar calendar that not only follows the phases of the moon, but also incorporates the 24 solar terms to ensure that the time is synchronized with the solar cycle, which guided the farmers in their production. To use the term “Lunar New Year” in itself is not in line with the history and culture of our Chinese New Year, and is disrespectful to China's excellent traditional culture.

Summary

In conclusion, the lunar New Year and the Chinese New Year are fundamentally different and should not be confused. We, as Chinese, should do our part to spread our culture properly and tell the Chinese story well.