www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
Lifestyle

To be politically correct, Santa's not for everyone

By Lisa Carducci ( China Daily ) Updated: 2009-01-06 09:59:28

When a former Chinese student asked me if I would go home during the "merry Christmas", I felt it was time to set things straight: "First of all," I answered, "I consider China as my home now, and Xmas lasts only 24 hours, so I don't have time to go back."

To be politically correct, Santa's not for everyone

A common misunderstanding among many of my Chinese friends is to believe that Christmas is the beginning of the new year in the West and all non-Chinese persons celebrate the festive occasion in the same way.

Also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and Kris Kringle, this legendary figure doesn't represent "Western culture", but belongs to "some" Western cultures. And there are more Western cultures than there are Western countries.

Saint Nicholas was the bishop of Smyrna in what is now Turkey in the 4th century. He was generous and loving toward children and he often threw gifts through their windows. According to another legend, he used to hide coins in their shoes and for this reason he became the model of Santa Claus.

Saint Nicholas is revered among Catholic and Orthodox Christians and by Anglican and Lutheran churches. Through centuries, his bishop's robe was changed into a red coat and trousers with white collar and cuffs.

The American version of Santa Claus received its inspiration from the Dutch legend of Sinterklaas, brought by settlers to New York (then Nieuw Amsterdam) in the 17th century. This image became very popular in the United States. In 1931, Coca-Cola commercialized a plump and jolly Santa Claus image created by the artist Haddon Sundblom.

In the West, to some, the Santa Claus tradition is a diversion from the original religious meaning of Christmas and commercialization of Jesus' birthday. Santa Claus is opposed as an intrusion upon national traditions in several European countries. Saint Nicholas allegedly brings gifts to good children on Christmas Eve (Dec 24) or on his feast day, Dec 5 in the Netherlands and Dec 6 in Belgium.

To be politically correct, Santa's not for everyone

When Santa Claus gives gifts to the whole family, on Christmas day, confusion is total. In Italy, for instance, an old woman called Befana distributes gifts to children on Jan 6. In Canada, when I was a student in a French and Catholic school, we were taught to wait until Jan 1 for opening our gifts, unlike the English Protestants who did it on Xmas day.

Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity on Jan 7. Moreover, it is now well known that Jesus was born in the summer, probably in July of the Gregorian calendar, but the Church fixed the date of Winter Solstice as Jesus' birthday in a way to "sanctify" a pagan festival.

Before wishing "Merry Christmas" to Westerners perhaps one should check whether they are religious or atheists, or whether they are Christians (Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox), or Muslims, Buddhists, Jewish or Hindu.

Another cultural mistake, in my opinion, consists in decorating offices, hotels, stores, buses and all other places where "foreigners" (including from Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iraq, Brazil, Cuba and others) go in China with Santa Claus images, as if all non-Chinese persons were Americans.

As Christmas becomes more popular in China, I wonder why the Chinese don't celebrate the Muslim Aid-el-Kebir as well?

 

Tags
Editor's Picks
Hot words

Most Popular
...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲欧美另类色妞网站 | 欧美白人和黑人xxxx猛交视频 | 国产精品91在线播放 | 久久久一本精品99久久精品66 | 伊人狼人影院 | 99热com| 免费视频久久久 | 免费高清特黄a 大片 | 亚洲精品一区二区三区四区手机版 | 国产成人精品男人免费 | 精品一区二区三区在线观看l | 国产一区二区三区精品久久呦 | 日本激情视频在线观看 | 97国产精品 | 久久橹 | 久久只有精品视频 | 性刺激久久久久久久久 | 一级生性活免费视频 | 亚洲九九香蕉 | 国产精品福利午夜一级毛片 | 看真人一一级毛片 | 黄在线网站 | 免费高清在线爱做视频 | 欧美日韩精品一区二区三区 | 亚洲欧美日韩精品久久亚洲区 | 久久国产免费观看精品3 | 亚洲精品成人一区 | 手机在线精品视频每日更新 | 国产1区2区三区不卡 | 久久精品免费观看久久 | 高清一级毛片 | 三级视频网站 | 精品国产免费观看久久久 | 玖玖精品视频在线观看 | 国产精品99久久久久久人 | 欧美日韩精品一区二区三区视频在线 | 成人免费的性色视频 | 亚洲国产精品线在线观看 | 国外成人在线视频 | 欧美日韩一区在线观看 | 亚洲成人网页 |