Chinese people around the world are celebrating the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, but in Sydney, Australia, the decoration of the local Chinatown has caused a lot of controversy. According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on February 2, the Sydney City Council widely used white and blue lanterns in the Spring Festival decorations of local Chinatown, and also wrapped trees with white and blue cloth, which was criticized as "cultural disrespect". Some Chinese expressed confusion and dissatisfaction and reluctance to go to "death-themed" Chinatown, but the creators of this group of works said it was an attempt to "accommodate a new narrative".
2022 is known as the Year of the Water Tiger. As part of Art Deco, Sydney City Council reportedly adorned Chinatown with many white and blue lanterns and wrapped trees in white cloth, allegedly inspired by traditional Chinese water bottles representing the "Yin and Yang of the Year of the Water Tiger". But here's the problem: In Chinese culture, white and blue are seen as more associated with death, illness and funerals, while Sydney's "cultural disrespect" has caused outrage from the local Chinese community. And, given that this is the largest Lunar New Year celebration outside of Asia, it has also attracted international attention.
The South China Morning Post reported with pictures
"People say they don't want to go to Chinatown because they don't want to go to a funeral," said Ho Shen Huixia, a leader of the Chinese community in Australia and a Chinese mp, adding that the "disaster" has not helped Sydney's economic recovery after two years of sluggish business activity and a pandemic lockdown.
According to the South China Morning Post, in Chinese culture, white lanterns and white cloth symbolize death, and blue and white lanterns are also used for funerals. Ho said she had raised the issue with Sydney City Council and subsequently the decoration of "white and blue cloth wrapping the trees" had been removed, but the blue and white lanterns had been retained. She said she respected the artist's work, but it was culturally short-sighted and hindered the Efforts of the Chinese Community to raise awareness of Chinese and Asian cultures. "It's a laughing stock," she said.
The office of Australian-Chinese businessman Richard Yuan is just off Sydney's Chinatown. This, he argues, reflects the City Council's "ignorance of Chinese culture." "I never thought this color would be suitable for any Chinese celebration, let alone a Spring Festival celebration," he said, adding that chinatown is likely to be less visited now.
Many others have also reportedly expressed their displeasure on the Sydney City Council's Facebook page. Sydney resident Chung Kai-won said: "Lanterns in Chinatown are white and blue. In the Chinese tradition, white and blue are used for funerals! What bad luck! ”
Asked if the local community had been consulted about the symbolism of the colours, a Sydney City Council spokesman said they had spoken to representatives of a number of groups, according to the South China Morning Post. The creator of this group of works is Australian Chinese artist Susan Chen. The Sydney City Council said it was decided after a "rigorous selection process".
"Susan has a deep connection to the region – her family first came to Chinatown as an immigrant in the late 1970s and opened a restaurant in Chinatown – and she drew on her own experience growing up in Sydney when designing her artworks." A spokeswoman for Sydney City Council said. Chen said she chose these colors because they are identical to traditional Chinese ceramic vessels in her work, intended to represent the "Year of the Water Tiger", "for traditionalists, this may seem like an unexpected Lunar New Year palette, but it is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese themes and perfectly fits the theme", "it is an attempt to enliven and expand the traditions around the Lunar New Year, including new narratives and new experiences".
According to the South China Morning Post, there are also some people who attend Sydney's Chinatown event who seem to care less about color, leaving a message on Facebook saying they like the art decorations. Netizen Amanda Evans said, "I just got home and my family had a great five hours at the festival." Another man named Hazel Hollingsworth said, "The best day I've had visiting my daughter is in Chinatown."
In response to the controversy caused by the Spring Festival decoration in Sydney's Chinatown, the Global Times-Global Network reporter asked the Chinese in Sydney on the 2nd. Many people said that such decorations do not conform to Chinese New Year customs, mainly cultural differences. For example Chinese hope to see more red during the Spring Festival, which represents auspiciousness and harvest. But Australian culture believes that red represents bloodshed. The occurrence of such a thing shows that the designer neither understands Chinese culture nor studies it with heart. It's incredible that this happened in Sydney, where 500,000 Chinese live.
Under the south China Morning Post's reporting page, the two comments with the most likes are as follows, both of which believe that the Sydney City Council's Spring Festival decoration is inappropriate.
"Maybe some young Chinese Australians have no concept of China's history, culture and traditions. ABC (Chinese born in Australia)"
"Imagine if someone replaced the red and green decorations of Christmas with purple and orange, causing the same confusion and ridicule. The truth is that the artist has been in Australia since the 1970s and has illustrated the problem: she is Australian in every way and is completely disconnected from Chinese culture. On this occasion, [choosing her work] was a terrible choice. ”
Source: Global Times-Global Network/Wang Miao Wang Panpan