Chinese Mid Autumn Festival/Does it make sense to abandon some good traditions? 中秋/好传统是否适合抛弃- 月旦评征文

Today's Chinese Mid Autumn Festival. I received a lot blessing and regards from my families and friends by Wechat in China. Even though we don't celebrate the holiday in US, I can feel the excitement and happiness of the holiday back at home. Wish everyone a great and happy holiday.

中秋的晚上，陆续收到国内亲戚朋友们的微信祝福。虽然远在美国没有过中秋，但也从大家的祝福中体会到过节的气氛。 在此祝福大家中秋快乐。

If you don't know about WeChat. WeChat is like Facebook + PayPal in US. It's the most popular social medial in China. A while ago, I was having dinner with an old friend in China. We happened to have a friend whom just got married. My friend told me, nowadays with WeChat getting popular and convenient, many couples sent their wedding invitation by WeChat instead of sending any invitation card. He was pretty unhappy about it and suggested the tradition should not be changed and be replaced by technology.

现在微信已经走入千家万户，成为国人主要的沟通工具。之前有一次回国和多年的老朋友一起吃饭。大家聊起朋友结婚的事。他告诉我们，虽然微信越来越普及，但是他觉得有些旧俗还是不能改。现在有很多朋友在结婚的时候连一张请帖都没有送，只是在微信上通知。对于这样的通知，他说他从来都是当做没看到。 我这位朋友是比较遵守旧俗的人。他非常传统，不希望很多优良传统被新科技所取代。

In US, the tradition here is still to send very elegant cards to invite people to their wedding. I tend to agree with my friend. It's not about a card. It doesn't really cost a lot money. For many people, this is a symbol of respect and formality. And usually after the wedding, the couple will write a thank you card and send it to all the attendees, expressing their appreciation of attendance and blessing from the guests.

在美国结婚，这里的传统还保留着寄送非常精美的卡片来慎重通知亲戚朋友。个人也赞同朋友的意见。一张小小卡片不值多少钱，可是表达的是起码的尊重，并更显得正式。而且美国人在婚后，还要再写一张感谢卡寄给每位客人，对大家的参加和祝福表示感谢。

Image credit：pixabay.com

We all embrace development of technology, but for some good traditions like wedding invitation still mean a lot for people. We shouldn't try to replace it for simplicity and convenience. If people are worried that some friends may not come due to whatever reasons, it's suggested that they send a message in WeChat and ask if they can make it so they can plan budget accordingly. Following that, it's better to send a formal invitation card. By doing that, they are inviting only those that have confirmed and are interested to come, and I believe their blessing would be real and sincere. Getting married is one big thing in the lifetime, we all wish to get the best wishes and blessing from families and friends, why would we let a small card get in the way?

科技进步固然好，但是一些优良的传统还是要保留的，不要为了省事而简化。 如果是怕一些朋友不来，那么先用微信通知喜事并要求回复是否可以参加，以便统计人数。然后对那些确认要来的朋友再发请帖，这样即不会对朋友造成负担和抱怨，而且得到的祝福更真诚。结婚是件人生大事，希望都能够得到亲戚朋友的祝福，千万不要为了一张小小的请帖而蒙上一点阴影和不愉快。

I also heard that there are many people whom tried to invite as many people to their wedding as possible, regardless if they really know them or not. I am not quite sure what their intentions were. Again, getting married is probably one time deal in life, it's not an opportunity for making money. It would not worth it to imply pain or unhappiness onto someone else. In US, usually people don't invite work colleagues to their wedding unless they are very close and have established friendship beyond work. Last week, one work colleague got married, she only invited 3 people from the whole company. She had been planning the wedding for almost a year. And everybody at work knew about the good news and were happy for her and gave her the blessing. For her, the wedding was very personal, and should be kept as personal. Blessing from work colleagues were enough for her.

我听说也有很多人在结婚的时候把熟和不熟的都请上。不知道他们的用意是什么？结婚是两个人一生一次的人生大事，不是作为敛财的机会。为了一点小钱而让别人记你一辈子那真的不划算。美国人结婚一般同事都不会请，除非是比较要好，已经建立私人感情的同事。我们产品部的一位同事上周末结婚，她整个公司就请了三位。我之前一次在和她聊天的时候提起这里的风俗。美国人结婚一般都要提前半年甚至一年以上就开始规划。准新郎和新娘也会把好消息很早就告诉同事，可是并不会真的请大多数的同事去参加他们的婚礼。我当时问那个问题的时候，甚至有点自告奋勇的感觉，只要她点头，我是一定会很高兴地去参加。可是人家直接就告诉我，这里的传统一般同事是不请的！入乡随俗吧。

This is quite different compared to the case where people invited a lot guests that weren't even friends. Actually think about it, wedding is a personal event for your families and friends to witness the process and happiness when you tie the knots and give their support and blessing. It should be full of joyfulness, why would you want to invite people whom were reluctant to come? This is why I am all for using WeChat for asking for attendance confirmation and card for official invitation.

相对于国内有些人那种什么人都请真是有很大的差别。其实想想也是，结婚是私事，是件高兴的事，为什么要给别人添麻烦和压力呢？ 所以，我是非常赞同那种微信和旧式请帖共用的做法。

I am sharing an extreme case, it doesn't really represent majority in China. My point is more focus on if we should abandon some good traditions for the convenience that technology brings us. Personally I think we should not as that's what makes us a Chinese. This is just my person opinion. I believe you have may different thoughts, It would be great if you could leave your comments below for better interaction. Thanks for your time and reading.

今天借着中秋微信祝福聊聊科技的进步和传统习俗的一些看法。估计有点跑题了。敬请谅解。我相信这以上例子只是一小部分人的极端做法。我更多的是想呼吁保留好的传统习惯。因为那是我们的魂。 如果您对这个话题有什么看法，请在留言区留下宝贵的意见大家一起互动一下。 谢谢你的时间和阅读。

PS- 这是晚上刚在门口拍的月亮，明月代表我的心，祝大家中秋快乐！阖家幸福！