當"中華福爺爺"遇上"聖誕老人"

The kindly "Chinese Fortune Grandpa" wearing Han Chinese clothing and holding a fortune bag debuted at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas. The final image of the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competition that cost millions of yuan. Its debut seems to be a sign of competition against "Santa Claus", according to a report by Guangming Daily.

聖誕節第二天，身着漢服、手持福袋、慈眉善目、笑容可掬的“中華福爺爺”在北京太廟隆重問世。“中華福爺爺”是花百萬巨資從全球徵集來的作品，選在這個日子發佈，似乎有和“聖誕老人”叫板的意思。

Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights, Christmas songs, Christmas trees, and the images of "Santa Claus" in recent days, and the business of hotels and restaurants has been exceptionally brisk. As a matter of fact, foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people, particularly the youth.

近一段日子來，我國許多城市，聖誕霓虹燈閃爍，滿耳是聖誕歌，滿眼是聖誕樹和聖誕老人的形象，旅館酒樓的生意也異常紅火。不得不承認，在一些人特別是年輕一代的眼裏，傳統節日有日漸式微之勢。

"Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual connotations," said noted writer Feng Jicai. More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day and Christmas. However, many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines, have never heard suona music, and cannot recognize wormwood or calami. Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared. Under such circumstances, even the "Chinese Fortune Grandpa" is unlikely to defeat "Santa Claus".

作家馮驥才曾說過：“一些傳統節日之所以中斷乃至消亡，實際上是它的精神內涵被人忘記，它的精神載體不復存在。”現在越來越多的人開始在情人節、聖誕節互贈禮物，卻不知道年畫、糖人，沒聽過嗩吶，不識艾草、菖蒲。原本產生於民間的端午節、清明節等傳統節日，一些節俗也已不再見於民間。在這種情況下，即便是花巨資從全球徵集來的“中華福爺爺”，如果遇到派發禮物的“聖誕老人”，恐怕還是要落下風的。

However, it is not a bad thing to some extent. It constantly reminds people to restore the "true face" of traditional festivals. China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays, which brings more paid leaves to the public, and is conducive to awaken the public awareness of traditional festivals. Obviously, this method cannot truly root traditional festivals in the hearts of people and their charm has turned into an empty shell of culture.

但這種下風，在筆者看來，卻並不是什麼壞事，它在不斷提醒着我們如何還原傳統節日的“本真面目”。近年來，國家將清明、端午、中秋等傳統節日列爲法定節假日，在給公衆更多休假福利的同時，一些專家也認爲，此舉有利於喚醒公衆對傳統節日的認識。很顯然，這種“一設了之”的做法，並不能將傳統節日真正植根於國人心中，傳統節日的經典魅力充其量只剩下“文化空殼”。

In modern society, festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning and connotation largely depend on their understandings and usages by people. Compared with foreign festivals, traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior in cultural connotation, but lack of fashionable elements pursued by modern people. If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals, and only take pleasure-seeking as the essence, the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance of fine traditional culture will be cut off. In this sense, the figure of "Chinese Fortune Grandpa" is a cultural logo, showing Chinese people's understanding and expectations of traditional culture and demonstrating the tolerance and strength of modern civilization. The creative combination will award marks for the "Chinese Fortune Grandpa" in its "contest" with "Santa Claus".

節日作爲一種文化載體，在現代社會裏，其意義和內涵很大程度取決於當代人對其理解和使用的方式。傳統節日和洋節日相比，在文化和內涵上並不遜色，缺少的就是被現代人所追捧的時尚元素。倘若我們不去體味傳統節日所蘊涵的歷史文化，甚至僅把吃喝玩樂視爲節日的要義，那就難免會淡化節日的意義，更會人爲地割斷對優秀傳統文化的繼承、對共同精神家園的守護。從這個意義上講，“中華福爺爺”作爲一種文化標誌，既承載了國人對於傳統文化的理解和期許，又展現了現代文明的包容和力量，相信這種創造性結合會給“中華福爺爺”在與“聖誕老人” 下一個回合的“較量”中加分不少。

In fact, any traditional culture cannot be self-enclosed in the era of global village. Nowadays, some of Chinese people are keen on celebrating foreign festivals while foreigners more like to celebrate traditional Chinese festivals. In the face of cultural conflict and integration, we should dig the tradition as well as tolerate diversified choices. Noted sociologist Fei Xiaotong had said that as one of the major powers with ancient civilizations, China should have broad breadth of mind and cultural ambition. Therefore, the "Chinese Fortune Grandpa" should coexist with "Santa Claus" and jointly bring joy to people.

其實，在地球村時代，任何傳統文化都不可能自我封閉。當下，一些中國人愛過洋節，不少外國人也熱衷於中國的傳統節日。面對這種文化的衝突和融合，我們既要挖掘傳統，又要寬容選擇。社會學家費孝通先生曾經提出作爲一個世界大國和文明古國，中國應有這樣的文化胸懷和文化志向：“各美其美，美人之美，美美與共，天下大同”。我想，如果中華福爺爺”遇上了“聖誕老人”，它們應當和諧共處的，攜手並行的。