the Cultural Revolution, everyone concealed their religions.
Buddhas destroyed, instead, Mao’s images hanged. If you wanted to survive, you had nothing to do, but to cooperate with the Communist Party. The only opportunity for the Evangelical church was to break away from the Western organisation, and all its influences. The church got buildings to operate from, and members were advised to look for finances (self-financing), to expand. The name ‘Three-Self Church’ came from there”.
The current membership of this church is difficult to figure out, as there are countless registered congregations in addition to state recognised and gazetted churches. However, according to statistics carried out in 2013, in Germany, Catholics and Protestants were almost at per with each other, with nearly sixty per cent of the total population. Germany has a small number which coincides with the people. The estimated six per cent of Christians in China fits well into the vast Chinese population.
Also, in Shanghai we met Peter Kreuz, a catholic pastor whom we had known for a long time at the German Chamber of Commerce Abroad meeting. Kreuz’s church is called CCPA (Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association). To be officially recognised in China, CCPA church had to be renounced from the Pope. It is not a trifle in this faith, which regards the Pope as the head of the Church.
Peter Kreuz now works in Anton Rebe’s company. Foreign priests in China do not get work permits. They only get short term visas, since they do not work for the Chinese church. They work for a legalised company and put it on their name cards.
Hong is already preparing for the Chinese New Year. She wants to spend it will all her relatives. I will present a speech in Chinese or in Suzhounesian, which will be stressful for me because they understand my Chinese, I don’t understand their Suzhounesian.
However, I am always grateful for their warm reception as a family, to a ‘Laowai,’ a Chinese name for foreigners. It is rare in China because Chinese people are always suspicious of foreigners. History maintains that they have all the right reasons to do so, and perhaps these are one of them.
Struggle for land possession in China only benefited a few, leaving many scrambling in a quest for the same. The first Opium War in the middle of the 19th century resulted in the cessation of Hong Kong to Great Britain. A few years later, France also came in during the second Opium War, which forced China to drop opposition to international trade relations. At that time, the Chinese’s economy had collapsed, which saw the end of its dominance in Asia. Great powers such as Germany, Britain, Russia, Japan and France, used this opportunity to compete for dominance, in dividing China.
At that time, the Qing government was in a severe financial crisis.
The Chinese’s economy was not strong enough to sustain itself. It, therefore, had to borrow money from Western countries, pledging to surrender its marine customs. As a result, significant powers gained control of Chinese’s finances, opened branches of banks throughout the country, handled capital exports and issued banknotes. They manipulated and dominated the Chinese economy.
In just five years after 1895, there were nearly a thousand factories in China. They dominated railway construction, ship transportation and mining.
Astonishingly, until the end of the 19th century, the US had played no role at all in the conquest of China, but that was not going to last long, because it proposed that it should be given equal advantages and opportunities in the Chinese market too. They accepted the proposal without any conditions, which later resulted in it becoming entrenched in China. In the 1930s, however, China put up resistance battles against Japan. During World War II, with its allies together, it brought Germany, Italy, and Japan to their knees.1 Briefly that was the story. I wanted to give you a synpopsis of what happened. Let me now go back to the Chinese NewYear Festival.
I will use the upcoming holiday as an opportunity to practice Chinese language, prefereably on my notebook. Soon it will be Valentines Day again. As if she had read my mind thinking about her, Hong wakes up and comes to me. The temperature outside is about 14 degrees Celsius. She is still having a little bit of a cough, I think of advising her to visit a a doctor.
The Chinese New Year is dedicated to the horse. Many legends and folk tales surround the origin of the twelve zodiac signs. Many other ethnic minorities do not adopt the animal selection and its order that is mostly used in China. There is a popular legend that Emperor Xuanyuan once announced that twelve animals should form his imperial bodyguard. The animals use rabid means against others, to secure the best place. This unfair struggle used to be organised through an order in which animals would be arranged.
There is another legend of a day being divided into two-hour cycles, where the selection and ranking of animals would depend on which one was the most active during these cycles.2
Hong was born in a horse year that repeats itself every twelve years, which is why she customary wears red underwear. According to the Chinese culture, wearing red underwear, drives away evil spirits, at least to some extent. There is also another belief to the contrary that the year of the horse is not as good as the Dragon year, since only half as many children would be born in this year. Whether that is true or not, I don’t know, at least, I would not tell Hong.
In a sense when you think about it deeply, those who believe that being born in a horse year may not be desirable, I could somehow agree with them. I see that a newly born horse would seem restless, struggling to move and searching for adventures. In that case, the year of the horse would fit to be described in juxtaposition to a newly born horse, as exciting, being adventurous and lively. On the other hand, it could also be symbolically interpreted as struggling to live, being stressed, or yearning for help, which would mean going through hard times. In comparison to that, I try to give my wife, as much as possible, the space she deserves, without restrictions. She is not a type of woman you can put down anyway. As a modern person, I have no problem with it. What is essential to me is to have financial security and freedom, as a horse also stands for. Financial independence is vital in life. Having stated that though, I always avoid being seen to be a materialistic person.
I once asked Hong, whether she knows about big people such as Merkel, Cameron, Holland, and the Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan, being born in the horse year.
"A female Prime Minister as Merkel in China is more than a dream. It is a far-fetched hope It could be possible maybe in future, not now", she retorted. Hong told me that in Chinese history all Emperors were male, except Empress Wu Zhao, who was accused of poisoning her husband to come to power."
It is now time to go jogging along the river. The weather is not all that pleasing. Smog is worst this time of the year. The sun has no choice but to struggle to pierce through thick smoggy clouds. In China, around this time of the year, the weather is bleak, which sometimes makes me uncomfortable. All I can see right in front of me now is a one big grey mass of smog. When local people see me jogging in this weather, they take me for being mad.
"That is the problem with foreigners", I heard one of them retorting, they did not expect me to know the Chinese language.
Anyway, I am not too much bothered about what people say. I will continue jogging, as long as it helps me to keep healthy and fit.
Anyway, nothing much to worry about, because after the Chinese New Year celebrations, Hong and I will go for a holiday in Thailand.
After jogging, I return home and go straight to a cold bathroom to take a quick shower, and afterwards get some brunch, after which I will check on my emails. Many of these emails are from German Chamber of Commerce Abroad, or from LinkedIn, the international networking site for businesspeople. I also received many New Year's Festival greetings cards. This evening we must go to the pharmacy to buy a cough mixture and tablets since
