【中文标题】中国，圣诞快乐！
【原文标题】Merry Christmas, China!
【登载媒体】赫芬顿邮报
【原文作者】Tom Doctoroff
【原文链接】http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-doctoroff/merry-christmas-china_b_798931.html
中国欢迎圣诞节并不说明这个国家正在西方化，表象是具有欺骗性的。
电台中播放着圣诞歌曲；上海、北京和广州所有顶级写字楼都装饰成节日的模样；电梯中播放着圣诞音乐，即使在共产党的办公楼中也是如此。圣诞老人、带着红色尖顶帽的雪人和拉雪橇的狗无处不在。百货商场以前从未以圣诞节的理由促销，现在所有的商场都在降价。
到底是怎么了？有一点可以肯定：中国人并未发现耶稣的意义。只有极少数人能说出圣诞节背后的含义——死于人类罪行的上帝之子的诞生之日。当然，福音基督教在中国逐渐传播，尤其是在农村地区。在诠释基督的教义时，他们很狂热，甚至很勇敢。但似乎所有的中国大陆人都很少理解教义中的深刻含义。在大多数人看来，中国的耶稣往往是可以和“佛祖”互换的概念。他不过是一个祈祷的对象，是一个在迷茫和恐惧时可以倾诉的对象。通过接受其金科玉律来换取自身的救赎这一概念太抽象了，对于当今社会中那些实用主义、野心勃勃、世俗头脑的新一代中国人来说，这个概念没有什么吸引力。在中国，道德标准是相对的，是随内部环境的不断变化而变化的。而基督教的道德标准是绝对的，耶稣之言“对他人，对弱者，尤其是对陌生人的仁慈之心”是没有妥协的概念。从一个消费者的角度来看，西方基督教的教义根本无法理解，而且没有吸引力。（另外，大部分中国人不知道犹太教徒与基督教徒的区别，更不用说承认教皇的罗马天主教和不承认教皇的新教派之间的区别。）
那么，为什么中国人要过圣诞节？有两个原因。首先，圣诞节促成了一个双赢的局面。它可以让人们有机会娱乐、放松，同时让人们消费。其次，也是比较微妙的一个原因，西方的节日，尤其是圣诞节和情人节，是孔子（没错，是孔子）社会环境中的人用来强化个体特征的工具。
对汉族人来说，圣诞节不是“西方的”，而是“全球的”和“现代的”，它给人带些许的“身份”，这正是面子至上的中国人所追求的终极目标。圣诞老人是进步的象征，它代表这个国家越来越适应国际秩序，中国在确保自身利益不受损失的情况下，注定要融入这种秩序中。欢度圣诞节的人是在发表一份宣言，他们在宣布自己是新生的一代，可以接受新鲜事物，并将其融合在中国的大环境中。
更进一步说，圣诞节是对未来的投资。中国的男人背负着沉重的负担，而女人在感情方面是相当苛求的。未来的丈母娘们不会承认姑爷，除非他可以买下一套房子。在购房成本变态飙升的背景下，这简直是无法达成的要求。对于期望跻身中产阶级的家庭来说，汽车是必备品。中国人之间的结合基础是物质的可靠性，而不是浪漫的爱情。当然，对激情的渴望是全人类的共性，但是在压制个性的中国，在一个家族依然是基本生产单位的社会中，仅有爱情是远远不够的。男人首先，也是最关键要做的一件事就是设法证明自己，他们必须证明自己感情上的忠诚和物质上的潜力。圣诞节的礼物是中国年轻男人宣布自己实力的绝佳机会。“亲爱的，我可以为你做任何事情。”这是表忠心的常规手段。
在2010年，圣诞节的庆祝活动还是相当新鲜的（春节则是不可侵犯的家族重大节日，即使是那些戴耳环唱摇滚的前卫家伙们也不敢怠慢）。然而在过去15年以来，情人节彻底变成了一个社交仪式。如果一个男孩没有给他的女朋友奉上昂贵的礼物，他就不会再有女朋友了。原因很简单，情人节存在的目的就是单纯的“证明你的爱”。这个现象也可以解释大规模流行订婚戒指的原因。钻石是新兴的必备品，在大城市人口中的普及率达到85％，而1995年这个数字是10％。在中国，戴比尔斯的口号“钻石永恒”被理解为“为了你，一切皆有可能”。（请原谅这种粗俗的理解，但是夫妻间的实际关系可以解释为什么当丈夫暗示床底之欢时妻子经常不予理会。然而如果丈夫有了小蜜，妻子肯定要闹离婚。这是对“和谐社会”的严重威胁。）
中国人接受圣诞节并不是在暗示“西方化”，圣诞节实际上是被用来昭示中国人极为明确的目的：在一个极度需要外部承认的社会文化中，努力提升个人的身份。
祝所有人节日快乐！
原文：
Just because China has embraced Christmas does not mean the country is becoming Western. Looks can be deceiving.
Christmas tunes play on radio stations. Every Grade A and Grade B office building in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou is decked out with holiday displays. Christmas music is piped into elevators far and wide, even in Communist Party buildings. Santa, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf, are ubiquitous. Department stores never used to have Christmas sales. Now they all do.
What's going on? One thing for is sure: the Chinese have not discovered Jesus. The meaning behind Christmas - the birth of God's son who died for our sins - can be articulated by a small percentage of the population. True, evangelical Christianity is spreading, particularly in the countryside where adherents can be quite passionate -- and brave -- as they proselytize the word of Christ. But, as a rule, mainland Chinese know very little about the deeper meaning of his teachings. In the eyes of most, China's Jesus is, more often than not, interchangeable with China's Buddha. He is someone to pray to, someone to turn to particularly in periods of uncertainty or fear. The idea of having a relationship with Jesus through acceptance of his "golden rule" in exchange for salvation is a nuanced abstraction. It is not a powerful offer for today's pragmatic, ambitious, worldly new generation of Chinese. In the PRC, morality is relative; standards shift based on ever-morphing external circumstances. But Christian morality is absolute. Jesus' word - charity to others, including the weak, particularly strangers - is non-negotiable. The tenets of Occidental Christianity are poorly understood and, frankly, unattractive as a consumer proposition. (By the way, most Chinese do not know the difference between Jews and Christians, let alone the difference between Catholics who acknowledge the Pope and Protestants who do not.)
So why is Christmas hot? There are two reasons. First, Christmas is win-win. It fuses fun, a universal release, with transactional gain. Second, and more subtly, Western holidays, particularly Christmas and Valentine's Day, are useful tools in reinforcing individual identity within a Confucian - yes, a Confucian - context.
To the Han, Christmas is not "Western." Instead, the holiday is "international" and "modern" and carries a whiff of status, the ultimate commodity in face-driven China. Santa is a symbol of progress. He represents the country's growing comfort with a new global order, one into which China is determined to assimilate, without sacrificing national interest. Individuals who make merry are making a statement. They are declaring themselves new generation players, able to absorb new elements and apply them in a Chinese framework.
On an even deeper level, Christmas is an investment in the future. Men here carry a heavy burden. In matters of the heart, women are demanding. Mothers-in-law will not approve of a prospective groom unless he can afford an apartment, an increasingly elusive requirement given skyrocketing real estate costs. Cars have become "must buys" for couples intent on entering the ranks of the middle class. Chinese relationships are rooted in dependability, not romantic love. Of course, the desire for passion is universal. But, in anti-individualistic China, a society in which the clan remains the basic productive unit, love is not enough to seal the deal. Men need to, first and foremost, prove themselves. They must establish their commitment in terms of both emotional dedication and material potential. The Christmas gift is one more opportunity for young Chinese men to proclaim, "Darling, I would do anything for you." It has been embraced by as a means of demonstrating steadfastness.
In 2010, Christmas festivities are still rather new fangled. (Chinese New Year, an extended-clan affair is inviolable, even for hip, earring-sporting cool guys.) For 15 years, however, Valentine's Day has been de rigeur. If a boyfriend does not give his girlfriend an expensive present, he will no longer have a girlfriend. The reason is obvious. Valentines Day's raison d'etre remains unadulterated: "show me your love." This drive explains the phenomenal spread of engagement rings. Diamonds are a new cultural imperative; they have achieved 85% penetration in primary cities, up from less than 10% in 1995. In China, DeBeers' tagline, "A Diamond is Forever" has been translated as "For you, anything is possible." (Pardon the generalization but marital practicality also reveals why a Chinese wife often looks the other way if her husband has a "happy ending" massage. She will, however, ask for divorce if he has a mistress, a much graver threat to a domestic "harmony.")
Chinese adoption of Christmas rituals does not imply "Westernization." It has been co-opted to advance a distinctly Chinese agenda: projection of status in a culture in which individual identity is inextricably linked to external validation.
Happy Holidays, everyone! |
狗仔卡
发表于 2010-12-24 23:54
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变色卡
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千斤顶
显身卡
发表于 2010-12-24 23:59
我可惦记圣诞了，因为有人请吃饭，中国人就这习俗，P大的节日，也得聚聚搓一餐，至于耶稣？真不好意思把您老给忘了
楼主
