When Did "Chinese New Year" Become "Lunar New Year"?

A Documentary Timeline from Hong Kong's Colonial Records · January 20, 2026

In recent years, public institutions, corporations, and governments have alternated between the terms "Chinese New Year" and "Lunar New Year." Rather than approaching this as a cultural or political debate, this post looks at archival English‑language primary sources to trace how official terminology changed over time.

The question is simple:

What do official documents actually say?

This case study focuses on British Hong Kong, where public holidays were codified in ordinance and regularly amended. The result is a clear paper trail showing when "Chinese New Year" was used in law and when it was replaced by "Lunar New Year."

1. 1875 — "Chinese New Year's Day" in Colonial Law

Source: Public Holidays Ordinance, No. 2 of 1875 (Hong Kong Government Gazette; now on Hong Kong e‑Legislation as historical law).

The Second Schedule of the 1875 ordinance lists bank holidays and includes an entry explicitly named:

"chinese new year's day."

In other words, in late 19th‑century British colonial legal language, the official English term for the festival was "Chinese New Year's Day." The phrase "Lunar New Year" does not appear anywhere in this ordinance.

2. 1912 — Continued Legal Usage of "Chinese New Year"

Source: Holidays Ordinance, No. 5 of 1912 (Hong Kong Government Gazette; consolidated later into Cap. 149 General Holidays Ordinance).

When Hong Kong revised its holidays legislation in 1912, the wording continued to refer to:

"Chinese New Year's Day."

By the early 20th century, the formal legal wording remained unchanged, reinforcing that "Chinese New Year" was the standard English term in colonial statutory language for this holiday.

3. 1967 — "Chinese New Year" Still in Force

Source: Holidays (Amendment) Ordinance, No. 19 of 1967 (amending the holidays framework that later became Cap. 149).

On the eve of the 1968 change, Hong Kong law still referred to the holiday explicitly as:

• "Chinese New Year's Day"
• "the second day of Chinese New Year"
• "the third day of Chinese New Year"

Up to and including the 1967 amendment, the codified legal terminology in Hong Kong remained consistently "Chinese New Year," not "Lunar New Year."

4. 1968 — Legal Supplement No. 3 and the Switch to "Lunar New Year"

Key Source (Bill): Holidays (Amendment) Bill 1968 — Bill No. 11 of 1968, published in Legal Supplement No. 3 to the Hong Kong Government Gazette on 11 April 1968.

PDF via Hong Kong e‑Legislation: elegislation.gov.hk

Key Source (Ordinance as enacted): Holidays (Amendment) Ordinance 1968, Ord. No. 18 of 1968.

PDF: elegislation.gov.hk

In this 1968 amendment, the holiday names were formally rewritten. Where earlier ordinances had spoken of "Chinese New Year's Day," the amendment introduced:

• "Lunar New Year's Day"
• "the second day of Lunar New Year"
• "the third day of Lunar New Year"

This is the earliest clear, traceable change in legal terminology from "Chinese New Year" to "Lunar New Year" in Hong Kong's English‑language statutes.

5. Companion Bill: Explicitly Replacing "Chinese New Year's Day"

A parallel change appears in labour law.

Source: Industrial Employment (Holidays with Pay and Sickness Allowance) (Amendment) Bill 1968, Bill No. 12 of 1968, also in Legal Supplement No. 3 (11 April 1968).

PDF: elegislation.gov.hk

In the "Objects and Reasons" section, the Bill explicitly states:

"The Bill also substitutes references to Lunar New Year's Day for existing references in the Ordinance to Chinese New Year's Day, to accord with a similar amendment to the Holidays Ordinance."

This sentence directly confirms that:

1. "Chinese New Year's Day" was the old statutory term.
2. "Lunar New Year's Day" was intentionally introduced as a replacement in 1968.
3. The drafters themselves saw this as a coordinated change across multiple ordinances.

6. Legislative Council Hansard: Explaining the Change

Although not part of e‑Legislation, the Legislative Council debates provide context for the 1968 wording shift.

Source: Hong Kong Legislative Council — 10th April 1968 (Hansard).

PDF: legco.gov.hk

In the debate on the Holidays (Amendment) Bill 1968, the government explains the reasoning behind the amendments, including the move from "Chinese New Year" phrasing to "Lunar New Year." This debate can be cited or reproduced as an additional figure to show how officials presented the change at the time.

7. Early English Journalism — "Lunar New Year" Before 1968

Outside the law, English‑language newspapers had already experimented with broader terminology.

• Early 20th‑century papers such as the North‑China Herald used phrases like "Lunar New Year festivities" and "Spring Festival" alongside "Chinese New Year."
• This shows that "Lunar New Year" existed in English journalism before 1968, but did not replace "Chinese New Year" in Hong Kong's statutes until that year.

In short, journalistic usage was mixed, while legal usage in Hong Kong followed a clear sequence: "Chinese New Year" (1875–1967) → "Lunar New Year" (from 1968).

8. Summary Timeline (Hong Kong Legal Terminology)

Observations

• "Chinese New Year" was the dominant official legal term in Hong Kong from at least 1875 through 1967.
• "Lunar New Year" appears in English‑language newspapers earlier, but only enters Hong Kong legislation in 1968.
• The 1968 Bills and Ordinance, preserved today on Hong Kong e‑Legislation and in the Government Gazette, provide a clean documentary pivot point from one term to the other.
• Terminology has therefore evolved over time rather than being fixed, with legal, political, and cultural factors shaping which label appears in which context.

9. How to Cite and Use These Documents in Your Own Work

If you are writing your own article or blog post and want to reproduce figures, here are the most convenient primary sources to screenshot or quote:

1. 1875 schedule showing "chinese new year's day"
   Public Holidays Ordinance, No. 2 of 1875 (historical law; HKU Historical Laws or equivalent).
2. 1968 Legal Supplement No. 3 (Bill No. 11 of 1968)
   elegislation.gov.hk (look for the clauses changing "Chinese New Year" to "Lunar New Year").
3. Holidays (Amendment) Ordinance 1968 (Ord. 18 of 1968)
   elegislation.gov.hk (final enacted text).
4. Industrial Employment (Holidays with Pay and Sickness Allowance) (Amendment) Bill 1968, Bill No. 12 of 1968
   elegislation.gov.hk
   Especially the "Objects and Reasons" paragraph that literally describes substituting "Lunar New Year's Day" for "Chinese New Year's Day."

These documents, taken together, give a precise, archivally grounded answer to the question: when did "Chinese New Year" become "Lunar New Year" in Hong Kong law?

This post is part of an ongoing effort to document historical English terminology usage across institutions.