In less than one week, we will be celebrating China¡¯s traditional Spring Festival.

While Christmas is gaining popularity in China, some people have pointed out that many Chinese are celebrating Christmas only for fun, regarding Christmas as a day of rejoicing without any understanding of the religious connotation of the festival. These criticisms are quite justified. Though Christmas has become a fashionable festival in China, it is just an excuse for people, especially young people, to have fun and enjoy themselves. Their Christmas is devoid of the inherent connection to religion that the festival has in the West. For young Chinese, Christmas is a carnival-like party; for businesses Christmas is a time for profits.

On the other hand, many traditional Chinese festivals are losing their sheen as foreign festivals are coming in and taking over. Young Chinese would rather celebrate St Valentine¡¯s Day than the Qixi Festival, or Chinese Lovers?Day, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar. As for Chongyang Jie (Double Ninth Day) which pays tribute to the elderly, they think it can be replaced by Father¡¯s Day or Mother¡¯s Day. If this situation goes on through one generation after another, I wonder what will become of our traditional festivals.

As a matter of fact, not only traditional festivals but also much of our traditional culture is now largely ignored at home or have even disappeared so completely that our traditional culture is in danger of losing its substance.

The dilemma concerning our traditional culture and traditional festivals is a thought-provoking problem. Traditional Chinese culture has been attacked from within for almost a century. In the early 20th century, radical intellectuals attacked it as the root of China¡¯s ills and advocated a ¡°wholesale Westernization? which included accepting Western cultural norms and values. During the ¡°cultural revolution?(1966-76), traditional Chinese culture was smashed to pieces. And in the time of economic reforms, traditional Chinese culture is regarded by some as the main subjective obstacle to China¡¯s modernization drive. In a period of cultural turbulence, traditional festivals have been tossed back and forth between suppression and revival.

Actually, the relationship between tradition and modernity is not a zero-sum game in which one gains at the expense of the other, but a relationship in which both can gain, as illustrated by the examples of Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. We need to preserve our traditional heritage, including traditional festivals, because they are important characteristics of our ethnic identity.

On the other hand, while we are concerned about the fact that many traditional Chinese festivals are fading out among young Chinese, I think we need to rethink the ways we celebrate them.

Traditional Chinese festivals are an important element of Chinese culture, but that does not mean they cannot be changed. The meaning of a traditional festival is more important than the form it takes.

Most traditional Chinese festivals originated from ancient rites related to agriculture. To keep up with the fast-changing times, we can change the way a festival is observed without losing its meaning. In other words, we can draw inspiration from Western holidays to revitalize our traditional festivals so as to make these festivals more appealing to young people. This should pique young people¡¯s interest in Chinese traditions and culture, and strengthen national cohesion among all the people in our society.