Religion 17/12/24 The Chinese Christmas war - Christmas is an additional example where no one can explain clearly what Chinese Christmas is about

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The Chinese Christmas war

Christmas is an additional example where no one can explain clearly what Chinese Christmas is about

A man dressed as Santa Claus takes a photograph with a group of children outside a mall in Beijing on Dec. 24, 2017. (Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP)

Michel Chambon, Notre Dame
China

December 25, 2017

Over the past few weeks, newspapers worldwide have reported on how several Chinese authorities — ranging from provincial administrators to various university leaders — have called for a ban on Christmas celebrations. The popularity of Christmas across China seems to worry the communist authorities who perceive it as an expansion of Western culture.

Such political statements provide a fresh opportunity for Western activists to point out the lack of religious freedom in China and condemn the Chinese government. However, this politico-religious judgement needs to be balanced, and here, I propose to unfold what stands behind the Chinese Christmas.

In contemporary China, Christmas falls in the public domain. Today, “shengdanjie” (Christmas) is not something that only Chinese Christians celebrate or something related to baby Jesus.

It is first and foremost about a wide range of decorations that invade the streets and squares. It is about advertisements that spread through malls and cell phones to fuel commercialism. And for most citizens, Christmas is about the omnipresent image of Santa Claus.

The first point to highlight is that Christmas in China is not much about “Christianity” nor about “religious ideology” or “religious freedom.” There are no debates about the meaning and message of Christmas.” In the Chinese public domain, Christmas is a mix of commercial consumption colored with dreams about the wealth of the West and its magic Santa.

Amid these images and meaning, there is no family meal or gift exchanges so central to Chinese culture. Christmas is located in the streets and the malls where many wear a red hat for fun.  This polysemic Chinese Christmas is puzzling.

The second point to highlight is that the current Chinese Christmas tends to reflect a vague notion of love.

Numerous observers note that Chinese societies have almost three “Valentine Days.” Chinese people mark their own traditional one in August, adopt the Western one on Feb. 14, and now, convert Christmas into a celebration of love.

In the eyes of most Chinese citizens who are not interested in a formal (and Western) idea of religion, Christmas is about an ambiguous but cute notion of love. Christmas is romantic!

Thus, many young people have a date with their significant other, and some pay a visit to their parents. This may sound superficial. But in a country with Confucian roots, this promotion of love disturbs traditional ideals of kinship, marriage and commitment. In many ways, this “love affair” of Christmas is a challenge.

My third point is that in this environment, where Christmas brings several meanings, Chinese Christians have to fight hard to bring back baby Jesus! Christ is quite out of the picture. Still, in most of their churches and buildings, it is Santa with his red hat that is most visible and remains so throughout the entire year. Foreigners visiting Chinese churches in the middle of the summer are always surprised to see some Santa and Christmas decorations still on the walls. 

This brings me to my main point. The Chinese Christmas is a broad and undefined cultural process encapsulating all kinds of meaning and purposes. Like in many parts of the world, there is no single and clear message. The celebration of Christmas is just as invasive as it is confusing. And Chinese Christians are the first ones to criticize this Chinese Christmas fever where Christ disappears behind Santa, commercials, and a romantic notion of love.

This phenomenon illustrates what historians and anthropologists like V. Goossaert and D. Palmer have already theorized. The Chinese cultural-religious landscape is extremely vivid and creative, absorbing all kinds of influences, while constantly challenging what defines “religion.”

This rich but unclear socio-religious landscape upsets and puzzles Chinese authorities who do not know what to think of it and how to best regulate and define “religion.”

Clearly, this Christmas fever is an additional example where no one can explain clearly what Chinese Christmas is about. It can be so confusing that those obsessed with cultural invasion and Chinese superiority read in it a sign of Western influence. Communist hardliners are then prompt to attack it.

But they are not that different from French conservatives who advocate for a ban on Halloween in France. In turn, those obsessed with religious freedom and who believe that there is a clear and universal definition of religion are prompt to see in the Chinese Christmas a pure Christian phenomenon. They claim that communist anti-Christmas statements are against “religious freedom.”

In my understanding, both camps simply ignore what Chinese Christmas is and refuse to recognize it. They oversimply it and use it, as the fortune teller uses a crystal ball, to preach about their own worldview.

In conclusion, one could see in this Chinese Christmas war a truly Christian process. The coming of Christ does not appear as politicians or religious leaders expect or would like it to.

Chinese Christmas confuses, surprises and even upsets everyone. This is exactly what Christ, who came in an unexpected and surprising way, did 2,000 years ago. His coming in China today is again unpredictable and out of control.

Michel Chambon is a U.S. based doctoral student who has spent the last two years in China researching for his dissertation on religion in the country.

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