Chapter 114 Christmas in East Africa
While Europe and the United States were immersed in the festive atmosphere of Christmas, the colonial governments of East Africa also planned Christmas celebrations in the East African colonies.
As part of the Germanization of East Africa, all residents were required to participate compulsorily. Of course, in this era of lack of entertainment activities, people still liked to join in the fun.
For immigrants from Europe, this Christmas is very novel. After all, there is no winter in East Africa. The overall climate is very similar to the summer in Europe, giving them a feeling of celebrating Christmas in summer.
Not to mention the Chinese immigrants, I have never seen them before. On the contrary, I feel very good about the Paraguayan immigrants, because the latitude of Paraguay is relatively close to East Africa. The temperature in Paraguay is above 10 degrees all year round, and the altitude is about 300 to 600 meters. In the north, An extension of the Brazilian Plateau, with the La Plata Plain to the south.
Especially the northern part of Paraguay also has a savanna climate, so Paraguayan immigrants to East Africa are very adaptable to the local climate. This also means that although Paraguayan immigrants are mainly women and children, the losses in East Africa are the least.
European immigrants and Paraguayan immigrants have a clear idea of how to celebrate Christmas, but the Chinese have less knowledge.
Those who came early, participated last year, but have not seen those who came this year, so in order to let the Chinese take the initiative to participate, while avoiding conflicts (after all, Christmas is a religious holiday, and there are many rules and taboos.).
The East African government sent a large number of preachers, mainly teachers, to explain the details and taboos to the Chinese immigrants. Otherwise, if a joke was made, it would not end well.
This time, East African Christmas is definitely an unforgettable day for the Chinese immigrants. In addition to the hand-in-hand guidance of the East African colonial government, they also felt the religious fanaticism of some Westerners for the first time.
The East African colonial government required the Chinese to participate. In addition to the Chinese, some Serbians also had different ideas about Christmas.
This is not because they don’t celebrate Christmas, but because the Eastern Orthodox Church uses a different calendar than the Catholic Church, so there is a date difference.
However, now that we have come to the East African colonies, there is no longer any control by the church, and the right to interpret Christmas has fallen into the hands of the East African colonial governments.
Anyway, ordinary people's understanding of religion cannot be as systematic and rigorous as that of priests. In addition, the power of the Roman Church has gradually declined over the years, and its right to speak has gradually fallen into the hands of various countries.
As long as East Africa does not force these immigrants to change their faith (Catholic and Orthodox), but only make minor changes, these European immigrants are still acceptable.
A typical example is Chinese immigrants. The East African government only requires them to participate in celebrations, but does not require them to believe in religion.
This is the East African version of freedom of belief. As for why you must participate in Christmas, it is just because it is an official holiday in the East African colonies.
How to realize the Germanization of the East African colonies naturally involved activities such as festivals that could promote German culture.
In the morning, the East African colonies organized people to hold festive parades and performances...
Although Christmas is not a holiday unique to Germany, but occurs throughout the West.
But it is also an important way for Chinese immigrants to experience and learn Western culture. Just like the immigration plan, this forced participation in Western festivals such as Christmas will continue until 1880.
By then, relying on inertia, many Chinese will naturally continue to celebrate Christmas and other Western festivals, especially those children who have received German cultural education.
In this way, immigrants are basically unified during the festival, which can be regarded as a kind of cultural integration.
Of course, in addition to festivals, language, clothing, architecture, and living habits...these forced immigrants are consistent with German culture and can change the cultural traditions of immigrants.
It is not just the Chinese immigrants who have been changed, but all East African residents. For example, their living habits are actually not all the same as the German tradition.
Instead, it is combined with modern lifestyles and improvements, such as hygiene, civility and courtesy...
Ernst added many excellent cultural contents to "German culture", which are actually healthy lifestyles, and at the same time eliminated many dross of traditional German culture.
Therefore, the German culture in the East African colonies was an improved German culture, which was different from Europe in many ways.
These are the most basic cultural contents that are closely related to ordinary people's lives, and more advanced ones such as poetry, books, music in the German region...
It is simply not accessible to a large number of illiterate people in the East African colonies. In the future, when East Africa develops and the number of educated people is more, it can be improved.
…
No matter how much you say, it cannot be compared to the real material enjoyment. In order to celebrate the festival, the colonial government of East Africa distributed many materials that are rarely seen in ordinary times.
In addition to all kinds of meat, double the amount of flour and rice, there is also a lot of sugar and fruits, and every household can get some.
As for the bachelors who eat in the canteen, the canteen also prepares corresponding food.
In short, everyone has a share. For these immigrants, eating well and being full are more practical and enjoyable than those activities.
At night, after dinner, it was already dark, and Christmas in East Africa was finally over.
There is no Christmas tree, candlelight, gifts...these elements of Christmas like we imagined on Christmas Eve.
This is Christmas in East Africa, where materials are scarce and facilities are rudimentary. Even candles are only available in government agencies.
It’s a dark Christmas Eve, so it’s better to go to bed early. Moreover, East Africa is so far away from Europe, so European immigrants feel less burdened.
This is a normal psychological state. In a strange environment, people will always be infected by the environment.
For example, before European immigrants came to East Africa, they were still influenced by tradition and religion was deeply embedded in their lives (as we all know, European churches are grassroots organizations), and they ended up in East Africa.
These people saw all kinds of people, all kinds of skin colors, all kinds of different beliefs, and even no beliefs. After comparing them, they found that they were still living the same life. Everyone was just scraping food in the fields.
In this way, inadvertently, everyone's respect for the traditional culture they have accepted has weakened. This is the difference after seeing the world.
Don’t worry about whether this influence is good or bad. Anyway, it is two-way. After European immigrants come into contact with Chinese, their religious beliefs will weaken, and after Chinese immigrants come into contact with European immigrants, they will also be infected by Europeans with different mental outlooks.
Therefore, national integration is ongoing all the time, but the prerequisite for national integration is that there is a primary and secondary issue that can be recognized by both parties.
The priorities in East African culture are very clear, and Germans take it for granted that German culture is the best, while other immigrants feel inferior.
Especially people like the Serbs, who currently do not even have a motherland and have always lived under the German aristocracy.
Now that the East African colonial government has given everyone the opportunity to become Germans, they must seize it. (Black person:?)
After all, being strong is the essence of human beings, and German immigrants are backed by a top power like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and a military power like Prussia serves as a facade. Even the East African colonies are also the territory of the Germans (Ernst). With such strength, other immigrants Naturally, I admire you in my heart.
But if the status of German immigrants is put first because of this, other people probably don't agree with it. Then we might as well just join Germany and become Germans, and the problem will be solved.
Therefore, the assimilation method of the East African colonies was a conspiracy to make everyone willing to be assimilated.
(Black man: (▼Van▼ # ), you should give me a chance!)