Traditionalists: The Hanfu Movement

The Hanfu movement, some say, started around 2003 when a man named Wang Letian (pictured) wore Traditional Han Chinese clothing called Hanfu out in public. His actions (according some Chinese media outlets) started what is called the Hanfu Movement which is a group of people that wish to see Traditional Han clothing incorporated into daily life in China. Supposedly (again according to critical media voices) the movement was brought on by popular TV shows where the protagonist travels back in time to imperial China.

In China there are 56 different ethnicities. The Han Chinese comprise of about 91% of the population making them the dominate ethnic group in China.

The other 55 ethnicities have vibrant cultural traditions whose expression is seen as a good thing in China. The Han Chinese however have become a very Westernized people and this movement has been viewed (by some of the media and the government at least) very negatively.

Though some have called the movement frivolous, the Chinese government views it as dangerous.
To make TV "safer" for the people of China, the government's television censors have issued guidelines which all but ban TV dramas from featuring time travel saying they “lack positive thoughts and meaning.” and “casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation.”

The People's Republic of China, being a very repressive regime, is highly sensitive to anything that might challenge it's authority. When the Communist rebels under Mao took control of the country they set about to destroy the "four olds" in China. The four olds being Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits and Old Ideas. The Communists in China have a deep hatred for Chinese culture which they see as backward and dangerous to the Communist mentality and are suspicious of any cultural revival.

Criticisms of the movement include the movement is "awkward time travel" or those in the movement are just showing off or trying to attract attention. Critics also say that Hanfu is impractical for modern living.

One criticism against the movement which should be addressed is that those in the movement are mixing traditional and modern clothes together which is making an "awkward time travel". For example they criticize mixing Hanfu with modern shoes or backpacks etc. They also say that it looks awkward to see people wearing Hanfu using computers or going into modern buildings.

This criticism is empty however as the goal of the movement is not to "time travel" but to make Hanfu as common as western clothes and incorporate it into modern life. What they fail to see is how after the fall of the Qing empire, China broke completely with the National styles of Chinese clothing. In other words Chinese styles did not modernize, they were completely replaced with styles that are not Chinese in the slightest. Therefore those who wish to dress "Chinese" have no choice but to go back to more ancient styles of clothing as there is no modern version of Chinese dress; it is all western. Those in the Hanfu movement simply wish to be actually "Chinese" in their dress not return to living as ancients in ancient society.

There can be no doubt that to revive Chinese identity merely in the sphere of clothing would have drastic consequences on the rest of Chinese public thought that would hasten the decline of the very un-Chinese  Communists regime. It is important to note that already it has awoken the practice of many other Traditional Customs such as archery, tea ceremonies, traditional Han weddings and other rituals. This is why the "Reds" fear this movement and have taken the first step in crushing it; by banning TV from favorably portraying life when China was actually Chinese.

The war of between Revolutionaries and Counter-Revolutionaries sees battles at every element of human life. This is because The Revolutionaries seek to "change" (or destroy) the Moral Order and Natural Law that governs the universe. The way they think they can destroy Natural Law is by making Man into something Nonhuman which they do by convincing the masses to do the exact opposite of every Natural tendency of Man.

It is for this reason that something seemingly trivial like Traditional clothes must be cherished by Traditionalists and defended to the best of our ability; after all the Communist Revolutionaries in China think it very important and they should know.

Story of Tradition: St. Thomas and his Christians

I intended this post to be in honor of St. Thomas the Apostle whose feast day I thought was today. I later found out it was Thomas Aquinas' feast but I wanted to finish the post anyway.

The Catholic Church in India is comprised of three different groups. The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is one of the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome that trace their origin from St. Thomas the Apostle who is said to have come to India in 52 a.d. There are 5 million Indian Catholics that belong to this Church. This Church has its own liturgy derived from the East Syriac Rite of the the Catholic Church. The Church is governed by its own hierarchy that are subject to the Pope.

The other native Indian Catholic Church is The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. The population of this church is much smaller than the Syro-Malabar with only 500,000 adherents the majority of whom live in India in the southern state of Kerala.

The Liturgy of the Syro-Malankara is derived from the West Syriac Rite of the Catholic Church  and is also governed by its own hierarchy of bishops subject to the Pope.

Like the Syro-Malabar Church, The Syro-Malankara Church also traces its origin to St. Thomas when he came to India.

The Roman or Latin rite Catholics in India trace their origin to the Missionary work of St. Francis Xavier.

The Catholic Indians have derived their Culture from three different sources Hindu, Syrian and Portuguese Colonial era. These influences blended together has given Indian Catholics their own Independent Identity.

To the mentality of Indians, including Indian Catholics, to worship a deity requires something visual. As a result of this, images of Christ and the Saints are very important to Indians.

Throughout the areas where Catholicism is prominent, there are Shrines that attract many pilgrims who consider their pilgrimages there as important times in their lives.

One interesting practice that is really a Hindu practice adapted to Catholicism is the leaving of an offering of either Salt, Peppercorn, Coconut or other sweets at a statue of a Saint. This practice is called Prasdam. The Prasdam or Offering left at the Statue is considered sanctified by that particular Saint. The Offering is left by those devoted to the Saint as a gift to others who are devoted to the Saint. These other devotees who receive the gift consider it a gift from the Saint himself.

Processions and Parish Feasts are extremely important to Indian Catholics who spare no expense in conducting extremely elaborate and colorful events. These feasts are held throughout the year except during Lent. Processions can include decorated Elephants carrying images of Saints, Colorful Umbrellas, Statues carried on shoulder palanquins and decorated chariots.

Feasts are so elaborate in fact that a bishop in India was concerned that a huge portion of the Parish's funds were going to feasts. This forced him to restrict feasts to only nine days.


Like the rest of the world the Catholic Church in India has some problems,  the greatest being the rise of the Catholic Charismatic movement and the local bishops' acceptance of it.

Thankfully unlike most of the Catholic world, Communion in the hand is not allowed.

Like Indian Society as a whole the "Caste" system is present in the mentality of Indian Catholics. Most Non Latin Indian Catholics Consider themselves to be of the high caste Nambudiri Brahman. Interestingly Latin Rite Catholics in India are of a Lower Caste than the Syro-Malabars and Malankaras.

The Catholics in India carry on a Catholic Rite that is as old as the Church herself and are a people that see their Traditions as something to be proud of (unlike their western brothers in the Church that seem to consider their heritage something irrelevant and undesirable in their lives).

It is good to remember that there are more than just "Western" Catholics in the Church and that East and West both have different beautiful expressions of the same True Religion, Catholicism.




I derived the information for this post from https://www.catholicsandcultures.org

Traditionalist Writers: G.K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton is an author greatly renowned in both the conservative Catholic world and in Non Catholic circles as well.  Loved for his humility, humor, easy-going attitude and love of life, G.K. Chesterton has converted numerous people to the Catholic faith and orthodoxy (Traditionalism).

 As an author G.K. Chesterton wrote quite extensively writing around 80 books, several hundred poems, several hundred short stories, several thousand essays and a few plays. His writing consisted of almost every topic one could think of. From Politics to Fiction, from Religion to Economics chances are G.K. Chesterton wrote something about it. 

Though less known today, G.K. Chesterton in his day was a champion of the common man and a defender of private property thus finding himself battling both the Capitalists and the Socialists. He considered both systems to be wrong and instead promoted the system of Distributism in many of his essays.

Distributism, also called Third Way economics is a system where, as much as possible, Capital (things that produce wealth i.e. machinery, land, animals, businesses etc.) is owned by the majority of people as opposed to several multi billionaires who have a monopoly on the market. Family owned Capital, Craftsmanship instead of mass production and more local instead of international markets are features of Distributism. The book 'Outline of Sanity', a compilation of Chesterton's essays on this system, discusses Distributism.

G.K. Chesterton was also known for his views on Patriotism and his dislike for Imperialism. To Chesterton, England was his country not the British Empire. His love was specifically for Merry England and would often praise distinctly English things like English pubs, beer, songs and legends. He greatly disliked the industrialization of his country and called for people to return to the land. He also supported Craftsmanship, disliking mass production and he called for people to buy from the "small shops" and stay away from the big departments stores.

Chesterton was quite skeptical of the Skeptic and often denounced Materialism and the many other modern ideas of the time.

Not all of Chesterton's views are compatible with Traditionalists however, especially his praise of the French Revolution. This was mostly due to his love of Democracy and the common man.

Excepting his few erroneous views G.K. Chesterton's writings continue to encourage, educate, entertain and win over Traditionalists and though many groups claim him as their hero, I am sure he would not have disliked being called a Traditionalist were he to have seen this time. Let us devote ourselves therefore to reading the marvelous works of this Traditionalist Writer: G.K. Chesterton.