A Mystery: The Da Vinci Code in China

Edited by Tony Lambert, OMF China Researcher

The Hollywood blockbuster The Da Vinci Code stormed box offices in major Chinese cities on the first day of its general release in late May, despite the Chinese “patriotic” Catholic church’s call for all believers to boycott the movie.

By 5 pm on May 20 a long line had built up outside the cineplex in Beijing’s upscale Oriental Plaza, one of dozens of theatres showing the film in the capital.
“Even the worst seats are selling like hotcakes,” said the ticket-seller. The cineplex was showing The Da Vinci Code on all six of its screens—14 shows a day. In Guangzhou more than half of the seats were sold in one day. (China Daily May 20)

However, the official Chinese Catholic church was not amused. The film attacks Opus Dei, a powerful Catholic lay organization, and claims that the Catholic church has headed a sinister 2,000-year-old conspiracy to suppress the amazing “truth”—Jesus had married Mary Magdalene, and descendants of his royal bloodline are alive in the world today!

“The contents of both the movie and the novel The Da Vinci Code are totally fictional,” said a notice issued jointly by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and the Bishops’ Conference. “Some of the contents goes against and distorts the tenets and history of the Catholic church and caused grave confusion and misguidance to the mass of believers and readers from all social walks. Both the movie and novel have done enormous harm to the Christian faith.” (Xinhua May 19)

China Daily conducted a survey of movie-goers in Beijing. All interviewed were not religious. In Guangzhou an office worker said: “I did not quite understand the religious content of the film, as I have never read the book, and have little background knowledge of religion.” An associate professor at the Beijing Foreign Studies University said the film was nothing but an exciting thriller. “It presents research different from traditional Catholic teachings and interprets it for entertainment purposes. The churches used to oppose marriage, abortion and science. The opposition to The Da Vinci Code is nothing special.” (Xinhua May 22)

In reality, release of the film may have done harm to the Christian faith, as elsewhere. In Britain as many as 40 percent of the public who had read the novel were prepared to believe that Jesus had fathered a child by Mary Magdalene. China, like many other countries, is awash with occult books and DVDs most of which present alternative views of history and of Christianity as spurious as that presented in The Da Vinci Code. Many Chinese (and not just peasants) are taken up with UFOs, fortune-telling, qigong healing and spurious cults. The Chinese government strictly controls the number and categories of foreign films (especially Hollywood ones) which it allows into the country. In India, a number of states banned the film as harmful to Christian belief.

However, three weeks after the film was shown across China suddenly it was withdrawn! On June 9 a report appeared in the official China Daily stating that theaters all across the country would stop showing the movie from that date onward. It cited a film distributor saying the authorities wished local Chinese films to be shown during the peak summer season. (UCA News June 9)

This reason seems somewhat threadbare, however: Catholic sources reported that the government was worried the film could cause social instability. In some areas where the Catholic church is strong such as Hebei reportedly some Catholics were preparing to take action against local cinemas. Some Catholic websites had demanded the film be withdrawn for violating the new government religious regulations which came into force in March last year. They quoted Article 7 which states that religious publications should not have contents which “jeopardize the harmonious co-existence between religious and non-religious citizens” and “discriminate against or insult religious or non-religious citizens.” Religious Affairs officials in various places apparently channeled the concerns of local Christians to the central government.

In retrospect, the government seems to have had things both ways. By allowing general release of the film for a short period it allowed propaganda against the Catholic church when relations between the Vatican and China have reached a low ebb. Since May, the Chinese “patriotic” Catholic church went ahead with consecrating bishops in defiance of the pope, who denounced the action.

Unregistered churches, both Protestant and Catholic, continue to multiply. The blatant, open attack by The Da Vinci Code on Christ as portrayed in the New Testament may have suited the more hardline officials just fine. It may have served to confuse and undermine the faith of simple believers, and give specious excuses to non-believers to reject the gospel message of the historic, incarnate Christ who died for our sins and rose again in glorious reality.

On the other hand, by eventually compromising and withdrawing the film, the government may have pleased many Catholics and Protestants in China who were opposed to the film’s blatant anti-Christian message. We may never know—the real reasons may remain a mystery.

Many Chinese Christians are likely to seize the opportunity presented by the film to share the true gospel. One thing is certain—long after the film (which was panned by the critics when showed in Cannes as boring and laughable) is forgotten, the gospel will continue to change lives in China and throughout the world.

Many Chinese living overseas will have seen the film by now. RBC Ministries have produced an attractive booklet in Chinese refuting its distortions. The Da Vinci Code: Separating Fact from Fiction by Dennis Fisher has been translated as Dawenxi Mima and is available from RBC Ministries (NOT OMF) from their U.S. office at PO Box 293, Grand Rapids, Michigan, MI 49501-293 and in the UK: PO Box 1, Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 9ES. (For other countries see: www.rbcasia.org.sg )

We would be interested to learn from our readers of other Christian material in Chinese relating to The Da Vinci Code which can be used for evangelism.

WHAT CULTURAL REVOLUTION?

On May 16, 1966 the People’s Daily published a coded attack on Chairman Mao’s Communist Party political enemies. This heralded the beginning of the infamous ‘Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution’. All those whose political background was not ‘worker, peasant or soldier’ could suffer discrimination. For three years rampaging Red Guards terrorized the country, eventually splitting into fanatical factions which fought each other. Millions of Chinese suffered—especially intellectuals, religious believers and many Party members who disagreed with extreme Maoism. Hardly a family across the country was unaffected. The extreme “leftist” Maoist ideology lasted until Mao’s death in 1976 and brought the country economic misery and cultural devastation. China’s own rich cultural history and traditions were barbarously demolished.

But forty years later this important anniversary has passed in China with barely a mention. One of the vice presidents reportedly told a closed-door Party meeting that commemorations could upset stability and set back economic reform and that re-assessing Mao’s role is simply too difficult. The media have been banned from all mention of the Cultural Revolution. (The Times May 12, 2006)

History cannot be so easily air-brushed out. The Cultural Revolution caused deep scars which have yet to heal. Many Chinese today over the age of 40 still have grim memories of that era. Christians and other religious believers remember that all places of worship were closed in 1966 and only began to re-open in 1979. Bibles were burned and in many places even meeting for quiet prayer in twos or threes was highly dangerous.

Chinese Christians see through the tumult and suffering of the Cultural Revolution to the over-arching sovereignty and providence of God. Would the Chinese church have experienced revival and seen the explosive growth of the past thirty years or more without the Cultural Revolution? It is highly doubtful. The collapse of Mao’s atheistic utopia heralded the spread of the gospel of peace throughout the entire nation in ways undreamed of by the most optimistic Western missionaries. In particular, the dismantling of the last remnants of institutional Christianity in 1966 led to the quiet growth of house churches and a more authentic New Testament pattern of worship and witness. The dark night of the Cultural Revolution heralded a new dawn which has seen the vigorous growth of a truly indigenous Chinese church which promises to become the largest evangelical Christian community in the world (if it is not so already!)

We join with our Chinese brothers and sisters in China and throughout the world, many of whom have suffered deeply during the Cultural Revolution, as they recall that terrible epoch. May the Lord bring deep healing to those still feeling the pain of personal and family loss and of persecution and injustice. The Chinese of all nations of the earth (along with the Jews) have the longest and deepest sense of history. May they—and we—never forget. And may that history never be repeated.

Copyright 2006 OMF International