Jang Won-young and New Jeans Daniel leave malicious comments to Chinese netizens during Lunar New Year greetings
Controversy over ‘Lunar New Year’s notation’… Absurd Chinese logic
Problems with the Northeast Project… It's hard to say a word
Controversy over ‘Lunar New Year’s notation’… Absurd Chinese logic
Problems with the Northeast Project… It's hard to say a word
Jang Won-young and New Jeans Daniel received a barrage of malicious comments from Chinese people. The Lunar New Year greeting was the start of the problem. Chinese people claim that expressions for holidays should be written in 'Chinese notation'. It's a situation where you have to be careful about what you say even when you say hello to your fans.
Recently, Jang Won-young sent Lunar New Year greetings through SNS, saying, “Happy Lunar New Year.” Immediately after the greeting was posted, some Chinese people visited Jang Won-young's SNS. They left a number of negative comments, saying that Jang Won-young's New Year's Day expression was inappropriate.
Some Chinese people's claim is that Jang Won-young did not label the Lunar New Year as 'Chinese New Year'. In addition to swearing at Jang Won-young, he continued to make comments that crossed the line, such as "die" and "get out of K-pop."
Daniel also received criticism for his ‘way of expression’. Previously, Daniel asked "'what r u bunnies doing for Chinese new year?'" through a communication platform with fans.
Afterwards, the expression of 'Chinese New Year' was criticized. As controversy arose, Daniel posted an apology on social media. He announced, “Because the Lunar New Year is a holiday celebrated in many countries and regions, including our country, my expression was inappropriate and I am deeply reflecting on this.”
After the apology was released, Chinese netizens visited Daniel's SNS again. The response was that the Chinese notation was not wrong and that an apology be issued.
An unintended controversy arose over the holiday designation. In relation to this, Professor Seo Gyeong-deok of Sungshin Women's University pointed out, "In China, the Lunar New Year is actually called 'Spring Festival', and when translated into English, it is expressed as 'Spring Festival'."
He continued, "The 'Spring Festival', which is said to have originated from a festival where ancestral rites were held to the heavens in the ancient times, actually changed its date frequently whenever the dynasty changed, but it is said to have been fixed on January 1st of the lunar calendar since the Han Dynasty, about 2,000 years ago." “In other words, it is a completely different holiday from Lunar New Year in origin and meaning,” he said.
Some Chinese people's insistence on labeling the holiday Chinese-style is part of the Northeast Project. The Northeast Project refers to China’s unified perception of history. It is simply a dangerous idea to not recognize the widespread culture of Northeast Asia as its own culture and to place it under China's influence.
The serious thing is that domestic celebrities are suffering from the collective criticism of the Chinese people. China is a huge market that cannot be left out of the entertainment industry. Because of this, even if domestic celebrities suffer psychological damage, they cannot provide a proper statement.
This is proof that the influence of K-pop is growing day by day. The unfortunate thing is that even the New Year's greetings given to fans have become controversial. The reality of K-pop idols is that they cannot say or do anything they want.
Reporter Junho Yoon, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr