How should we correctly treat folk customs and traditions

Respect for the customs and habits of ethnic minorities is an important part of the national policies of the Party and the State, and an important element of national equality and national unity. Respect for the customs and habits of ethnic minorities means that we should start from the principle of ethnic equality and national unity, respect the equal rights of all ethnic groups, and should not discriminate against or insult any ethnic group just because their customs and habits are different; the maintenance or reform of the customs and habits of an ethnic group should be decided by the cadres and masses of the ethnic group, and cannot be forced or interfered with by other ethnic groups or individuals; no ethnic group can take its own customs and habits as a criterion for measuring and demanding other ethnic groups, nor can it take its own customs and habits as a criterion for its own individuals. No ethnic group can use its own customs and habits as a criterion for measuring and demanding of other ethnic groups, nor can it use its own personal preferences to deal with ethnic customs and habits, or with matters related to customs and habits. Practice has proved that respect for the customs and habits of ethnic minorities is of great significance.

I. Is conducive to the protection of equal rights and democratic rights of all ethnic groups. China's Constitution provides that "the Chinese people*** and all nationalities in the country are equal." All nationalities "have the freedom to maintain or reform their own customs and habits." This means that all nationalities have equal and democratic rights, whether to maintain or reform their own customs and habits. Respect for the customs and habits of all nationalities is in essence a concrete manifestation of the principle of equality among nationalities and of the development of socialist democracy; infringement of national customs and habits means trampling on the equal and democratic rights of nationalities. Article 147 of China's Criminal Law stipulates that: "If a State employee unlawfully deprives a citizen of his or her legitimate freedom of religious belief or infringes on the customs and practices of a national minority, and if the circumstances are serious, he or she shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or to criminal detention." The Criminal Law categorizes the crime of violating the customs and habits of ethnic minorities as a crime of violating the personal and democratic rights of citizens, which in essence protects the equal and democratic rights of ethnic minorities under the law.

II. Is conducive to the maintenance of national unity. Each ethnic group has deep feelings for their own customs and habits, they tend to regard the respect of other ethnic groups for their own customs and habits as respect for their own ethnic groups, and the contempt for their own customs and habits as discrimination against their own ethnic groups. Therefore, any words or deeds that do not respect the customs and habits of ethnic minorities, even if they are done in jest, are likely to irritate and hurt national feelings and are not conducive to national unity.

Three. Is conducive to the prosperity and development of national culture. Minority customs are an important part of the national culture, some of the customs of the various ethnic groups is itself in the form of song, dance, sports to show. Many ethnic groups tend to preserve and develop their own ethnic culture and art through their own customs. For example, the ethnic minorities of our country have created their own characteristic literature and art in the course of their long-term social life, and many of them have been passed down from generation to generation among the masses in the form of folk oral literature in the form of singing songs and story-telling, which has been constantly consolidated and developed. Some of them are manifested in their characteristic daily utensils, clothing, architecture, handicrafts and so on. It is precisely because of the diversity of ethnic customs and habits that ethnic cultures are so colorful and varied, and the contents and forms of culture and art have distinctive ethnic characteristics. Therefore, respect for minority customs is conducive to the development and prosperity of national culture and art.