I Now Say "Lunar" New Year

 

I have celebrated this holiday on my father’s side of the family my entire life. Until a year and a half ago, I called this holiday “Chinese” New Year. I learned the name of this holiday from my family, and as a child, I thought only Chinese people celebrated this holiday. With our ancestry coming from China, it made sense that we would celebrate. I do not believe that anyone who calls this holiday “Chinese” New Year is wrong. It is indeed a very important celebration for the Chinese. What I want to share with you is why I made the personal choice to switch to calling it “Lunar” New Year and why I’ve taught my daughter to call it that too.

Last year leading up to this holiday, a friend posted an Instagram story, and in that story, she described why her family says “Lunar” New Year. While I cannot remember the exact wording of her post, it basically explained that the holiday was celebrated by more than just the Chinese population. This hit me. It was true. In my own personal context, I do not identify as Chinese, even if my lineage can be traced back to China. When anyone asks, I am Thai, but this holiday is still important to my family. I then looked up places where a significant group of the population celebrated the Lunar New Year (this still probably isn’t a complete list):

  • Vietnam (Tet)

  • South Korea (Seollal)

  • Thailand

  • Singapore

  • Philippines

  • Malaysia

  • Indonesia

  • Mongolia

  • Taiwan

While one could argue that in several of these countries, it is the Chinese population or those with Chinese ancestry that celebrate, having lived in seen the Lunar New Year celebration in several of these countries, I can tell you that the traditions and practices are different, with of course some crossover and similarities. Either way, I find that overall, each is unique to the people from these places.

I personally switched to calling this holiday Lunar New Year because I am Thai, and I celebrate this holiday. I want to learn more about how this holiday is honored in other countries and cultures and teach my daughter about how this makes people different but, at the same time, connects us all as humans across the globe. By making this switch, I am trying to include and respect all groups that follow the Lunar calendar and consider this the beginning of their year.

Thanks for reading!

 
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