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Bitter Winter

A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

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Home / Pictures

Shop Signs with Religious Symbols Removed

02/05/2019Wang Yichi |

“Promoting religious belief or using religious words is not allowed in public places,” is the party line in China’s central province of Henan.

Christianity has taken a massive hit in Henan. Not only nearly 7,000 crosses have been recently dismantled, but church and meeting venues of all sizes were sealed off or demolished. The Chinese Communist Party is also focusing on shops and businesses.

The signboard of Canaan Creative Art Studio”before being dismantled
The signboard of “Canaan Creative Art Studio” before being dismantled.
The two Chinese characters for Canaan
The two Chinese characters for “Canaan” have been dismantled from the “Canaan Creative Art Studio” signboard and discarded on the ground.

On the afternoon of August 31, 2018, at a shop called “Canaan Creative Art Studio” in Tongxu county, under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng city, an officer from the Bureau for Industry and Commerce forced the shop owner to remove the Chinese characters for “Canaan” – the Biblical Promised Land – from the signboard; he also demanded the removal of all indoor decorations containing the characters for “Canaan.”

signboard before the two Chinese characters for Canaan on were removed
The indoor signboard before the two Chinese characters for “Canaan” were removed.
signboard after Chinese characters for Canaan on were removed
The signboard after the characters for “Canaan” were removed.

According to sources, officials from the local Bureau for Industry and Commerce previously told the shop owner to remove the two Chinese characters for “Canaan” from the signboard on the grounds that religious beliefs and symbols “cannot be promoted in public places.” The officials said that municipal authorities would come for an inspection and that before the entire signboard is replaced any words with religious connotations must be covered up. So, the shop owner used two red flags to conceal the characters for “Canaan.”

The two characters for Canaan are concealed by two red flags
The two characters for “Canaan” are concealed by two red flags.
Chinese characters for Canaan have been replaced
On the art studio’s signboard, the Chinese characters for “Canaan” have been replaced with the Chinese characters for “Painting Path.”

Advertisements for “Canaan Creative Art Studio” on streetcars were also torn off.

The advertisements for Canaan Creative Art Studio
The advertisements for “Canaan Creative Art Studio” on streetcars were torn off.

This is not an isolated incident. On the same street as the art studio, there is “Canaan Dance Studio.” The Bureau for Industry and Commerce sent personnel there to remove the “sensitive” word as well. Since the sign was both in English – “J-N Dance” (“J” and “N” signifying the first letters in the word Jiā nán – Hanyu pinyin romanization of the Chinese characters for “Canaan”) – and Chinese “Canaan Dance Studio,” the signboard has been modified, leaving only Chinese characters for “Dance Studio.”

The words J-N Dance Canaan were removed
The signboard of “Canaan Dance Studio” has been modified, leaving only Chinese characters for “Dance Studio.”

“This isn’t only happening in the city. It’s the same in villages. Any phrases with religious connotations cannot be used, regardless of whether it’s English words or Chinese characters,” one nearby resident said.

Reported by Wang Yichi

Tagged With: Authorities Against Christians

bw-profile
Wang Yichi

Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.

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