Wenzhou ‘“ a city situated at the Southeast of Zhejiang province in China had banned the schools from celebrating Christmas. Is there any harm if people learn about Conficius and Santa both?
India isn’t the only country stuck in the rift between ‘sanskar’ and ‘western influence’. Wenzhou – a city situated at the Southeast of Zhejiang province in China had banned the schools from celebrating Christmas.
Yes while the festival was celebrated all over, in China, Wenzhou, also known as China’s Jerusalem due to the densely populated Christians there; banned schools from holding Christmas related celebrations.
Reports suggest that the ban came as a university in Central China made the students watch a documentary on Chinese sage Confucius instead of celebrating Christmas.
Reports from China made headlines earlier this year during the Govt. led demolition campaign where churches were stripped off cross.
Authorities in Wenzhou this year created news as they had demolished some churches and removed around 400 crosses from the churches.
People trying to protect the cross from being removed from Wenzhou’s Guantau church.
The officially atheist Chinese Communist Party felt that the growing population of Christians is kind of a threat and celebrating Christmas is Un-Chinese and western influence.
To put it in Indian context, China feels Christmas is against their Chinese sanskar.
As per reports there were street protests in Changsha, Hunan province where people were dressed in ethnic Chinese style and protested against the Christmas celebrations asking people to resist as it was western influence.
The banners read as “Resist Christmas”, “Be good sons and daughters of your country, stand against Western holidays.”
They called the celebration ‘kitsch’ – a German word for much hyped stuff.
As per reports China’s current Christian population is estimated to be around 60 million and is rapidly growing. Every year during Christmas the people who get into the celebratory mood attract severe backlash from the Communist Party.
The concept of Christmas is foreign to them as many people have reportedly called it a western/ foreign infiltration into their traditional Chinese culture.
Be it China or India, religion is a different thing altogether. Traditional values would be different for different people. At the end of the day it is about the faith one follows and how is it justified to impose another faith?
Is there any harm if people learn about Conficius and Santa both?
image source: AFP
