Teaching Christmas in China

Well those of you who know my utter lack of religiosity will find this funny!  I continued with my Christmas lessons with a discussion on the birth of Jesus. So I put up a Nativity Scene on the big screen in my class and we discussed all of the players; Mary, Joseph and Jesus, the Angel Gabriel, Caesar Augustus, the 3 wise men, the star in the East, and of course the virgin birth in the manger.  I printed the story for them from a Christian website, and they were amazed to learn that a large part of the West believes that this story is completely factual.

I also discussed the concept of Original Sin and how many Western Christians believe that if you don't take Jesus as your Savior then of course you are going to hell.  They noted that with 1.5 billion Chinese, perhaps hell will be a very crowded place!

Buddhism tends to be the predominant religion here, although the majority of the young people I have met don't have a religion.  The older generation still has many superstitions and gods, but with capitalism in full force, the younger generation has left these superstitions by the wayside.  It's interesting to note that the lack of religion does not indicate a lack of morality or caring for others.  On the contrary, the Chinese we have seen do such a wonderful job taking care of their young and their old (and their foreigners! ) .  They are very family centered, with Grandma and Grandpa involved heavily in the family and in the day-to-day raising of the children.

Christmas here is apparently a commercially driven celebration.  The stores would like it to be a bigger deal so that more shopping will be done; it's certainly good for the economy. However, it's currently more of a Western imported novelty that doesn't appear to have caught on yet with the general population.  That said, my students seem to enjoy singing the Christmas Carols and hearing the stories of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus!