Chinese-Australians mock Sydney's 'death-themed' Lunar New Year lanterns as a 'laughing stock'

Sydney's hopes of reviving its downtown business activity amid a Covid-19 reopening may have hit a snag as the local Chinese diaspora shuns its "death-themed" Chinatown.

The local city council has decorated its Chinatown with white and blue lanterns and wrapped trees with white cloth for its Lunar New Year celebrations, as part of an art installation inspired by traditional Chinese water vessels representing the "yin and yang for the Year of the Water Tiger".

There's just one problem: in Chinese culture white and blue are the colours of death, illness and funerals and Sydney's cultural faux pas has drawn the ire of the local Chinese-Australian community.

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And, given it is the largest Lunar New Year celebration outside Asia, it has also attracted international attention.

"People are saying they don't want to go Chinatown because they don't want to go for a funeral," said Helen Sham-Ho, a Chinese-Australian community leader and the first elected Chinese-born parliamentarian in Australia.

The debacle would do nothing to help revive the city after two years of lacklustre business activity and pandemic lockdowns, Sham Ho added.

In Chinese culture blue usually symbolises illness, while white lanterns and white sash and cloth indicate death. Blue and white lanterns are also used at funerals.

Sham-Ho said she had raised the issue with the council and subsequently, "white and blue decorative tree wraps" had been removed but the blue and white lanterns were kept.

While Sham-Ho said she respected the artist's work, she said it was culturally shortsighted and stymied efforts by the community to promote awareness of Chinese and Asian cultures.

"It's a laughing stock," she said.

Chinese-Australian businessman Richard Yuan, whose office is next to Chinatown, felt it was a reflection of the council's "ignorance of Chinese culture".

"I never thought the colour was appropriate in any Chinese celebration, let alone new year celebrations," he said, adding visits to Chinatown were now likely to fall.

Others complained about the decorations on the council's Facebook page.

"The lanterns in Chinatown are in white and blue. In Chinese tradition, white and blue are for funerals! That's bad luck!" Sydney resident Zhong Qi Yuan said.

Asked if it had consulted local communities about the symbolism of the colours, a city council spokeswoman said it had spoken to representatives of many groups including the local business chamber, the Haymarket Chamber of Commerce, local businesses, the Chinese, Thai and Korean consulates and cultural centres.

The city defended the choice of the artwork created by Chinese-Australian artist Susan Chen saying it was selected after a "rigorous selection process".

"Susan has a deep connection with the area - her family opened a restaurant in Chinatown when they first arrived here as migrants in the late seventies - and she drew on her own experiences as a Chinese-Australian growing up in Sydney when designing the artwork," the council spokeswoman said.

Chen said she chose the colours as they were the same as the traditional Chinese ceramic vessels featured in her artwork and were meant to represent "the water element of the tiger".

The water tiger is the zodiac sign for the new lunar year celebrated by China and many Asian countries and is seen as bringing strength and new energy.

The lanterns represented "traditional blue and white porcelain vases" similar to water vessels, Chen said.

"Blue oxide on white" was the "classic, immediately recognisable and traditional surface decoration for Chinese porcelain", she added.

"It may seem an unexpected Lunar New Year colour palette to traditionalists, but it is one that is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese motif, and entirely appropriate for the subject matter," Chen said.

"It is an attempt to enliven and broaden the traditions surrounding Lunar New Year as inclusive of new narratives and new experiences."

Other festivalgoers were less concerned with the colours, saying on Facebook they enjoyed the art installations and decorations.

"I've just got home and my family have had an awesome five hours at the festival," said Amanda Evans.

Another, Hazel Hollingsworth, said that the "best day out when I visited my daughter was in Chinatown".

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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