Chinese authorities have removed the Bible story from secondary school text books, days after its inclusion in the curriculum sparked a controversy in the communist nation.
The co-compiler of a Chinese textbook used in Beijing secondary schools said the “controversial Bible story” has been removed from the book after facing criticism that it spread Western values, state-run Global Times reported on 3 June.
The text, which also includes several Chinese myths, was published in 2006 and is used in Chinese language classes for first-year middle school students, the Daily reported.
Wang Kai, director of the Beijing Academy of Educational Science (BAES) textbook centre, said the textbook has been adopted by about 40 percent of secondary schools in Beijing.
The book triggered heated discussions online as some netizens questioned why the “Christian content appeared in a textbook in a secular country,” Global Times reported.
The BAES, one of the textbook’s two compilers and a textbook selection consultant for capital education authorities, has included extracts from the Bible’s Book of Genesis in its Chinese language textbook for first-year middle school students. The schools will begin to use the revised version in the upcoming fall semester.
The ruling Communist Party of China remained largely atheistic and discourages its members from practicing any religion though it permits practice of religion in general.
An employee from BAES previously told the Beijing Youth Daily that they had included the Bible story to broaden students’ horizons by introducing them to Western mythology.
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