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: 国产精品午夜免费观看网站 | 俄罗斯一级毛片免费播放 | 久久厕所视频 | 日本理论在线播放 | 欧美牲| 黄色国产网站 | 高清国产美女一级毛片 | 一级做a毛片在线看 | 九九九精品视频 | 99久久99久久精品免费看子伦 | 日本免费二区三区久久 | 久久九九精品视频 | 女人张开腿男人猛桶视频 | 国产一级在线观看 | 中文字幕亚洲区 | 特级欧美午夜aa毛片 | 成人合集大片bd高清在线观看 | 国产免费一区二区三区免费视频 | 国产日本在线 | 久久院线 | 日本一级高清片免费 | 国产成人女人视频在线观看 | 国产一区二区亚洲精品 | 日本一本久道 | 国产免费一区二区在线看 | 国产精品亚洲欧美日韩一区在线 | 天堂mv亚洲mv在线播放9蜜 | 国产亚洲欧美日韩在线看片 | 99精品视频在线观看免费 | 亚洲v视频 | 亚洲免费视频播放 | 各种偷拍盗摄视频在线观看 | 99久久精品国产一区二区三区 | 国产孕妇孕交大片孕 | 伊人狠狠丁香婷婷综合色 | 最刺激黄a大片免费观看 | 亚洲视频在线观看免费 | 亚洲成人影院在线 | 奶交性视频欧美 | 性欧美高清极品xx | 99综合视频 |