Editor's note:
The Jade Rabbit bids farewell to the old year, and the Golden Dragon welcomes the New Year. Among the twelve Chinese zodiac signs, the dragon is the only fictitious mythical animal; in traditional Chinese culture, the dragon is a symbol with unique meanings.
The Year of the Dragon is approaching. China News Service's "East-West Question" has launched a series of "Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon" planning series since February 6. From the origin of the dragon in Hongshan culture to the evolution of the dragon in the Dunhuang Grottoes, from more than a hundred years Explore the cultural flavor behind the Spring Festival in the Year of the Dragon from how foreigners celebrated the Spring Festival in the past to why Chinese people at home and abroad are called "descendants of the dragon." Please stay tuned.
China News Service, Beijing, February 14th: Title: The Spring Festival is overseas, adding a dish to the dining table of human culture
——Exclusive interview with Lu Lu, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University
Author Tian Jing Chen Yubo
As the Chinese Spring Festival approaches, whether in New York, the United States, Madrid, Spain, or Sydney, Australia, there will be red lanterns, dragon and lion dances and other celebration activities. Overseas Chinese people gather in the streets and alleys to celebrate the traditional festival. This year is the first Spring Festival since it was listed as a United Nations holiday, and it is also quite special because it coincides with the Year of the Dragon. How can the Chinese Spring Festival, which is becoming more and more international, better "go abroad"? How can we make foreigners with different cultural backgrounds fall in love with Eastern festivals? Lu Lu, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's "East-West Question" and believed that the original intention of the Spring Festival culture "going overseas" was never to replace local culture, but to add one or two more dishes to the table of human culture.
It’s not that the more lanterns and the louder the gongs and drums, the better
"The Spring Festival is not a festival, but a series of festivals." From the mainland, the cultural connotation of the Spring Festival is very rich. After Laba and the first month of the next year, a complete Spring Festival is formed, including Laba, Xiaonian, New Year's Eve, Yuan's Day, etc. Multiple holidays.
On February 5, 2024, Chinatown in Panchiran, North District of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, was filled with lanterns, Spring Festival couplets, red envelopes, and Chinese knots, attracting people to buy. Photo by Li Zhiquan
In recent years, the Spring Festival atmosphere has been very strong overseas, especially in big cities where overseas Chinese are concentrated. The celebrations have been very lively and have become a part of the local scenery. Lu Lu once conducted a field investigation specifically on this. He summarized the current way of celebrating the Spring Festival overseas as "large scale, heavy colors, and high decibels." The advantage of this is that it can increase the visibility of the Spring Festival and let foreigners know how Chinese people celebrate the Spring Festival. However, if the scale is not properly grasped, it can easily lead to misunderstanding and even conflict between the local people and the government.
Lu gave an example. During the 2016 Spring Festival, he found that many places in Madrid were covered with red lanterns. Even the sign of the city hall was blocked by red lanterns. "If there were Christmas trees on the streets somewhere in China, we would definitely feel uncomfortable."
Lu Lu put forward a vivid "living room theory" - spending the Spring Festival overseas is equivalent to being a guest in a local's home. You should not make a lot of noise in other people's living rooms and just be the "Mai Ba". You must distinguish the guest from the host and respect the local culture. Don't overwhelm the guest.
"It's not that the more lanterns, the louder the gongs and drums, the better, or the more lions dancing, the better." Compared with "large-scale, heavy colors, high decibels", the mainland advocates "small-scale, multi-level, long flowing water, "Continuous thread" is a silent way to moisturize things.
On January 30, 2024, as the Spring Festival approaches, Chinatown in Manhattan, New York, USA, is decorated with lanterns and colorful lights to get more festive. Photo by Liao Pan
How to attract the participation of local people when celebrating the Chinese New Year? Lu Lu, who is used to thinking academically from life, summed up the "steak theory": when enjoying steak, many customers prefer medium-cooked meat with medium-cooked meat. Land suggested that when performing Spring Festival performances overseas, Chinese programs can be paired with foreign programs and the proportions can be flexibly adjusted, which may make it easier for foreigners to "digest and absorb" traditional Chinese culture.
The Spring Festival is a window for foreigners to understand Chinese culture
As a "cross-border professor" who was born in the Chinese Department, worked as a journalist and editor, and engaged in academic research, publishing poetry collections and writing scripts, Lu Lu attaches great importance to cross-disciplinary and cross-field thinking. He believes that Spring Festival cultural exchanges actually need to pay attention to psychology. "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you; don't do to others what you want to do to yourself. Be sure to think about whether what you are talking about is what others like and need, and pay attention to scarcity, difference and complementarity. .”
Lu Lu pointed out that the original intention of "going abroad" for Spring Festival culture has never been to replace local culture. "We are just adding one or two more dishes to the table of human culture. We are not removing other dishes, but playing a complementary role."
According to incomplete statistics, nearly 20 countries around the world have listed the Spring Festival as a legal holiday. Last year, the United Nations also listed it as a holiday. The international influence of the Spring Festival is undoubtedly gradually increasing. But Lu Lu believes that it is not so important how many countries and how many foreigners celebrate the Spring Festival. It is more important to let them understand the true connotation of the Spring Festival culture. We should introduce "the beauty of the Spring Festival, the joy of the Spring Festival, and the outlook of the Spring Festival" to overseas countries.
On January 28, 2024, a dragon statue appeared in Union Square in San Francisco, USA. Starting from that day, dragon statues with different designs will be displayed in different locations in San Francisco to welcome the upcoming Year of the Dragon in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Photo by Liu Guanguan
From a mainland perspective, the Spring Festival is a window for foreigners to understand Chinese culture. It is a food expo and a Chinese clothing expo. Whether it is the eight major cuisines or the costumes of various ethnic groups, they are all concentrated presentations of beauty. At the same time, the Spring Festival is lively, joyful and peaceful. During the Chinese New Year, people fully enjoy their leisure time. "Who said that Chinese people only work every day and never enjoy themselves." Lu Lu said that letting foreigners understand the joy of the Spring Festival can also break foreigners' stereotypes of Chinese people. Happiness, joy, and comfort are the common pursuit of all mankind. .
In addition to the beauty and joy of the Spring Festival, what is more important is the view of the Spring Festival. Lu Lu believes that the Spring Festival can reflect the values of the Chinese people. For example, worshiping ancestors during the New Year reflects that we have not forgotten our roots; worshiping gods and heaven during the New Year reflects our concept of the unity of nature and man; on the first day of the first lunar month, we pay attention to not killing, not touching soil, and not using scissors, which actually gives all living things a chance to recuperate.
On February 6, 2024, the passenger flow during the Spring Festival Transport on Nanjing Railway in Jiangsu remained at a high level, and passengers carrying luggage traveled at the train station. Photo by Yang Bo
During the 40-day Spring Festival Transport 2024, which kicked off on January 26, officials expect 9 billion people to travel. From the perspective of land, this event, nicknamed "the largest human migration on earth," actually best reflects the Chinese people's view of family. Family reunion is the Chinese people's obsession during the New Year. Compared with the individualism promoted by the West, Easterners pay more attention to collectivism. The two cultures complement each other perfectly. The emphasis on human relationships, family ties, and nostalgia contained in the Spring Festival culture is the unique perspective that Chinese culture provides to world culture.
Lu Lu said: "If you don't introduce these cultural connotations and just look at how many foreigners celebrate the Spring Festival, it will be soulless."
Overseas Chinese are the best spokespersons for Spring Festival culture overseas
There are more than 60 million overseas Chinese distributed in nearly 200 countries and regions around the world. Lu Lu believes that they are the best "spokesmen" to tell the story of Spring Festival culture.
On January 28, 2023, a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York, USA, was full of diners. New Yorkers lined up outside major well-known Chinese restaurants to wait to taste the "taste of the Chinese New Year". Photo by Liao Pan
Lu Lu said that taking the Chinese community and Chinatown as the center and slowly spreading out like ripples is the best way for Spring Festival culture to "get out of the circle". "We must follow the path of localization, localization, and folklore." For example, overseas Chinese invite their neighbors next door to celebrate the festival, eat dumplings together, and introduce to them how the Chinese celebrate the New Year and what customs they have. This is The most natural way of cultural exchange.
Lu Lu emphasized that the Spring Festival culture should be viewed from a larger perspective. It is not only Chinese culture, but also represents Asian culture and Eastern culture. Cultures are compatible, and the Spring Festival should be regarded as the common denominator of culture, making it a bond that unites Eastern and Asian cultures. (over)
Interviewee profile:
Lu Lu, China’s first postdoctoral fellow in journalism and communication (Fudan University). He used to be a reporter and editor-in-chief of China Youth Daily, Beijing TV and other media, and a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University. He is currently the director, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Audiovisual Communication Research Center of Peking University. He is also the vice president of the Chinese Popular Culture Association and the festival etiquette committee. Director of the Association, Vice President of China Radio and Television Research Association, President of Beijing Writing Society, Dean of Peripheral Communication Research Institute of Huaqiao University, etc. Since 1998, he has undertaken more than 30 national, provincial and ministerial projects including major national social science projects, published more than 400 papers on media and peripheral communication and cultural industries, and 22 monographs, edited and translated (including 4 poems); in 2004, he was selected as one of the “Top Ten” radio and television theoretical workers in the country by the China Radio and Television Association (now China Broadcasting Federation). At the end of 2023, the peripheral communication theory created was rated as one of the three major theories of original journalism and communication in China by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.