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Music
SARFT bans Xu Wei?Posted by Joel Martinsen, June 21, 2006 1:12 AM
![]() 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:
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:
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. Links and Sources
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Comments on SARFT bans Xu Wei?
Can I repeat the oft quoted line by some generic Islamic leader seen in the media everytime there is controversy surrounding the religion of Islam?
"Islam is about tolerance, acceptance and understanding..."
Sorry...laughing my ass off right now...
It is weird that this accusation comes so late... In Xu Wei's Concert in 2005 in Beijng, the song 'Travel of the Swan', which is the intro of the concert, is also beginning with, what I assume are, lyrics from the Qu'ran
You're right, DRC. The recording of that concert has been for sale for months now. It's possible that Xi'an just has more observant Muslims who are also Xu Wei fans.
Here's a link to the Travel of the Swan song off the Beijing concert live album (no disrespect intended): http://www.jueku.net/user/wmadown.asp?id=58868