«Are all these measures to enhance and promote Chinese culture or a sign of losing confidence on one’s own culture?»
Christmas is approaching but instead of feeling joyful, many in mainland China have expressed frustration over China’s ideological campaign against Christmas as a Western festival.
In 2017, the Communist Party of China’s central committee and state council issued an official document entitled “Suggestions on the implementation of projects to promote and develop traditional Chinese culture excellence”. They outlined a cultural revival project that lists Chinese festivals like the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival, among others, as cultural conventions worthy of celebration.
To implement this policy, Chinese authorities have launched a series of ideological campaigns to crack down on non-Chinese celebrations. This year, just before Christmas, authorities in some cities such as Langfang, in Hebei province, have demanded shops to remove Christmas decorations on the streets and in window displays.
Anti-Western festival commentaries have flooded Chinese social media, making Christmas celebrations a difficult choice for some who feel they must keep their joy a secret.
Weibo user Long Zhigao screen captured his WeChat newsfeed on Weibo to reveal aspects of the debate. The headlines on the feed are 1. Western festival is approaching. To celebrate or not, that’s the question. 2. I am Chinese and I don’t celebrate Western festivals. 3. Say no to the celebration of Western festivals on the school campus. 4. The party-state has banned Western festivals. The celebration of festivals is now a political issue.
In addition to Christmas, the list of Western festivals also includes Valentine’s Day, Easter and Halloween, among others. A majority of the commentaries define Western festivals as “cultural invasion” or “national humiliation”.
For example, a widely circulated one said:
如果一个民族的群体热衷于另一个民族的节日，这说明文化入侵已是极其严重了。党员干部如果认识不到这点，那就是丧失政治敏锐性，也失去了先进性。
If people of a nation are too enthusiastic in celebrating other nations’ festivals, it indicates that the country is suffered from extremely serious cultural invasion.
