A South Korean university professor initiated a campaign to change the English word for the Lunar New Year from “Chinese New Year” to “Lunar New Year”, causing dissatisfaction among Chinese netizens. On January 21, he shared messages from Chinese netizens on Facebook.
Xu Dide, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, a private university in Seoul, South Korea, said on social media including Facebook and Instagram on the 18th that it is regrettable that many people around the world are using “Chinese New Year” to describe the Lunar New Year.
Xu Dide gave an example. The stamps officially issued by the United Nations, as well as global companies including Apple and Nike, all call the Lunar New Year “Chinese New Year”.
He said that the Lunar New Year is not a festival unique to China, but also a festival in Asian countries such as South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines, so the English translation should be changed to “Lunar New Year”.
Xu Dide said on Facebook on the 21st that Chinese netizens flooded into his personal account on social networking platforms to leave messages and carry out indiscriminate attacks.
These comments included “Korea steals Chinese New Year”, “Chinese New Year is a Chinese invention”, “Chinese New Year, absolutely correct” and “Don’t steal traditional Chinese elements”.