SARFT bans Xu Wei?

Rumors are circulating that Xu Wei is the latest artist to be on the receiving end of a SARFT smackdown.

In a concert in Xi’an in May, Xu Wei added a recording of a section of the Qur’an to the intro to his song “Travel of the Swan,” offending Muslim listeners. Muslim groups in China began discussing it online, and Xu Wei fans rushed to his defense. Comparisons were made to the Danish cartoon affair. Because of heightened sensitivity to religious issues in the wake of The Da Vinci Code‘s cancellation, SARFT reportedly added Xu Wei to the broadcast blacklist sometime last week.

In a blog entry titled “Xu Wei – a victim of fundamentalism” posted on 17 June, former radio host Yang Yue (aka dj-tiger) writes:

Starting yesterday, Xu Wei, a quiet, genial singer who has persevered through tough times, has disappeared, perhaps forever, from our public broadcast stations. A strongly-worded document from SARFT has banned Xu Wei from the nation’s radio and television stations. A categorical ban of this level we’ve been through several times before, but as viewers or listeners, you may not be aware of the existence of these bans. [author goes on to discuss bans on Cui Jian, Teresa Teng, and A-mei]

What did Xu Wei do wrong? At his Farewell to Youth concert, Xu Wei selected “Travel of the Swan” as his opening song. The live accompaniment played by his band was not the version on the album; it was a new arrangement, and some chanting effects had been added the intro. It was that bit of chanting that brought disaster to Xu Wei. Muslims in the audience could easily identify the chanting as verses 31-36 of chapter 83 of the Qur’an. To followers of Islam, the Qur’an is incomparably holy, and it absolutely may not be used in a pop song, much less sung at such a foul place as a commercial music concert (the above is quoted from several Muslim forums). I am someone who has come out the media system, and I am fully aware of the degree of tension the government feels toward ethnic issues. After Muslim fans heard of this use of the Qur’an, the situation developed in an inevitable, frightening direction. Some Islam followers wrote letters to local Islam Associations in protest, and then to the Islam Association of China and the National Religious Affairs Bureau. The subsequent situation would be simple: in a multicultural country like ours with complex ethnic issues, one singer is insignificant. The simplest way to calm things down is to have that singer disappear completely.

Is it the song “Travel of the Swan” that is banned? The album through the time (时光·漫步)? All of Xu Wei’s albums? The singer himself?

Who knows? Wang Xiaofeng reports that he asked some radio and TV people and “it appears there’s nothing of the sort.” In the comments to his post, however, one commenter says that his own contact with a TV station confirmed the ban. Other commenters report that orders for the album with online booksellers have been canceled. A Baidu MP3 search for the song comes up empty here in Beijing.

Reaction to the reported ban has generally been disappointment. In a posting on IslamCN titled “Some thoughts of mine,” a forum member identifies several issues surrounding the concert. He notes that other bands in Xi’an had previously used the Qur’an in their songs, but that this is something that “pious Muslims cannot accept.” The concert organizers were to blame as well, having misidentified the Qur’an recitation as “Buddhist music.” The recording used was an internationally-famous rendition of the Qur’an, a fact first identified by Chinese Muslims and later communicated to the international Islamic community, who lodged a protest.

The writer concludes, however, by recognizing that Xu Wei most likely did not intend any disrespect:

The intro to the first song got everyone’s attention. When Xu Wei introduced the guitarist, he spoke the concert’s only line of local dialect, “This is our Muslim brother.” Anyone who’s been to Xi’an knows that a strong Islamic culture is a feature of Xi’an. This shows that Xu Wei recognized and wanted to show off this feature. There was no ill-will; on the contrary, the original intent may have been goodwill.

Of course, my own opinion is that neither the disdain of the right-wing Danish government nor the over-sensitivity of the Chinese communist government is the correct way to handle things. I’ve seen Xu Wei’s interviews, and in impressions from other channels, like former Warner president Xu Xiaofeng, Xu Wei is acknowledged as a humble, kind person. I believe that he is fundamentally different from those Danes, most importantly because he did not harbor an intent to harm Muslims. If communication is strengthened in this affair, it should be easy to reach an understanding.

Finally, this matter can only reduce, not increase, the impression young Han Chinese have of Muslims. I urge you to join me in drafting an open letter, petitioning the lifting of the ban on Xu Wei.

Many similar responses can be found in forums devoted to Islam and to Xu Wei.

This is not to say that all responses have been measured and polite. Many posts and threads have been deleted from general forums like Baidu, but judging from the number of posts urging people to remain calm and to avoid extremism, there was certainly a heated response from some people in the Muslim community. And there has been no shortage of posts from non-Muslims mocking religion in general and Islam in particular.

It seems only time will tell whether there really has been a ban, and how far-reaching it is. The bars at Houhai may soon have to find another, less controversial folk rocker to put on continuous repeat.