With the acceleration of China's reform and opening-up and the increasing cross-border exchanges, the differences between Chinese and western etiquette culture are becoming more and more obvious, and the influence brought by these differences can not be ignored. It is necessary for us to understand these differences before the perfect integration of Chinese and western etiquette.
First, the differences in communicative language
Daily greetings, most people in China use "Have you eaten?" "Where to?" Wait, this shows a kind of intimacy between people. For westerners, this kind of greeting will make the other person feel suddenly, embarrassed or even unhappy, because westerners will understand this question as an "inquiry" and feel that the other person is asking about his private life. In the west, they just say "hello" or "good morning!" According to the time. "Good afternoon!" "Good evening!" Do it. And the British will meet and say, "What a beautiful day!"
In terms of address, in Chinese, only people who are familiar with it can "call them by their first names". But in the west, "name" is much broader than Chinese. In the west, "Mr" and "Mrs" are usually used to address strangers with unknown names. For women in their teens and twenties, they can be called "Miss" and married women can be called "Madam" or "Madam". Family members, regardless of rank, can generally call each other names or nicknames. At home, you can call your parents by their first names. All male elders can be called "uncle" and all female elders can be called "aunt". This cannot be done at home. Be sure to distinguish between Qing dynasty and Qing dynasty, old and young, otherwise it will be considered impolite.
There are many different farewell words in Chinese and western languages. For example, when saying goodbye to patients, people in China often say things like "drink more boiled water", "put on more clothes" and "go to bed early" to show their concern for patients. But westerners will never say anything like "drink more water" because it will be considered as pointing fingers. For example, they will say "take care" or "I hope you get well soon" and so on.
Second, the differences in catering etiquette
There is a saying in China that "food is the most important thing for the people", which shows the position of diet in the minds of China people, so China people regard eating as a top priority. Chinese food pays attention to the color, aroma, taste, shape and meaning of dishes, even exceeding the emphasis on nutrition. As long as it tastes good, nutrition is not important. Western diet pays more attention to the collocation and absorption of nutrition, which is a scientific concept of diet. Westerners pay more attention to the nutrition of food, ignoring the color, fragrance, taste, shape and meaning of food. Their diet is mostly for survival and health, and it seems that they don't pay attention to the enjoyment of taste.
In terms of dining atmosphere, China people like to be lively when eating. Many people get together to eat, drink and laugh, and jointly create a lively and warm dining atmosphere. People in China don't have any special manners at the dinner table, except at a very formal banquet. Westerners, on the other hand, like an elegant and quiet environment when eating. They think that they must pay attention to their manners when eating at the table, and they must not lose their manners, for example, they must not make ugly noises when eating.
Chinese and western banquet etiquette also has its own characteristics. In China, from ancient times to the present, most people respect the Left. When entertaining guests, you should arrange the distinguished guests in the left seat, and then arrange them in turn. In the west, respect rights, men and women sit separately, and couples sit separately. The seats of female guests are slightly higher than those of male guests. Men should open chairs for the female guests sitting on their right to show their respect for women. In addition, westerners should sit up straight when eating. They think it's impolite to bend over and eat with their mouths together, but this is the usual way of eating in China. When eating western food, the host does not advocate binge drinking. China's table wine is a must, and it is used to entertain guests. Sometimes, in order to show respect for each other, they will drink one cup after another.
Third, the differences in dress etiquette.
Western men usually wear conservative suits, white shirts and ties in formal social occasions. They like black, so they usually wear black leather shoes. Western ladies should wear formal dresses on formal occasions. In addition, ladies have the custom of wearing earrings when they go out. In western countries, especially in America, people usually like to wear casual clothes, such as T-shirts and jeans.
Nowadays, people in China are wearing more and more westernized clothes, and the traditional Chinese tunic suit and cheongsam have withdrawn from the historical stage. The dress of men and women in formal occasions is no different from that in the west. In daily life, you will see many people wearing vests, shorts, slippers and other indecent clothes.
Etiquette is a kind of culture, which has vertical inheritance and horizontal reference and integration. With the acceleration of the globalization of the world and the high-speed collision and integration of economy and culture, a large number of western cultures have flooded into China, and the traditional etiquette of China has been constantly impacted by western etiquette culture. How to protect the traditional etiquette of the Chinese nation, get rid of its dross, and make a reasonable and effective integration with western etiquette has become a topic that people keep thinking and discussing. More and more people realize that Chinese and western etiquette culture will penetrate each other and develop continuously.
Take catering as an example. Nowadays, foreign fast food and western food occupy a large proportion in the food market in China, and more and more people begin to try and accept these imported products. McDonald's almost represents a cultural fashion and becomes a symbol of American culture in the field of catering. At the same time, French aristocratic culture and English gentleman culture also poured into China with the diet. With the exchange of Chinese and western food culture, not only western dishes such as cakes, bread and cocktails have been brought, but also some advanced western cooking techniques and eating methods have been brought. All these have injected new vitality into China's ancient food culture. Of course, China's long and splendid food culture is increasingly influential overseas. Almost all over the world, a large number of China restaurants have appeared, and Chinese food is increasingly welcomed and loved by people all over the world. For example, Beijing roast duck has become an authentic delicacy in the hearts of foreigners.
However, in the process of the integration of Chinese and Western etiquette culture, China people are blindly keen on the West and unconsciously fall into two misunderstandings: First, the traditional etiquette of our Chinese nation has been replaced by western etiquette. Etiquette is the most representative thing of a nation. For example, among young people, holding western-style weddings and celebrating western festivals are tendencies that cannot be ignored. It is understandable to understand western etiquette only as folk knowledge. If people flock, they will lose their national self-esteem and their traditional etiquette will be submerged. Second, put the emphasis of etiquette education on the operational level, such as how many degrees to bow, how many seconds to stop shaking hands and so on. These problems are not impossible to talk about, but if we only make superficial remarks, etiquette will become empty formalism.
There is no denying that today's international etiquette is basically western etiquette. The reasons for this phenomenon are not only the strength of the west, but also the unity of western values and the westerners' high recognition and profound consciousness of their own culture. All this is closely related to the social foundation of Christianity, because etiquette is an important way of religious activities. Westerners have been educated and edified by this etiquette since childhood because of their devout belief in religion, which makes etiquette naturally manifest in human behavior. The high harmony between spirit and material, politics and culture gives people a high degree of self-confidence and superiority. It is the confidence and superiority of westerners that endows western culture with strong appeal and makes its etiquette culture regarded as the world standard. Compared with the current social situation in China, the gap between us and the West is obvious.
The integration of Chinese and western etiquette culture, in today's China, is more about learning from the West. But it is not difficult to learn western etiquette or create our own etiquette system. What is difficult is that we can also have a complete value system, a high degree of recognition and profound understanding of our own culture. We should learn western etiquette, not only its form, but also its inner soul. Only in this way can we establish self-confidence and superiority and establish appeal. The revival of the nation is not only the revival of strength, but also the revival of culture. Only when others agree with our culture can we really make our manners popular in the world.
If people are rude, they will not stand, if things are rude, they will not succeed, and if countries are rude, they will be uneasy. A society lacking etiquette is often an immature society. And a society with inconsistent or even contradictory etiquette standards is often an unharmonious society. Etiquette is the foundation of the whole social civilization and the most direct and comprehensive expression of social civilization. To create a harmonious society, we must start with etiquette. Today, China is facing unprecedented challenges. No matter in material, spiritual and cultural aspects, there is an urgent need for a complete and reasonable set of values to unify. Etiquette culture is undoubtedly this unified "Depth Charge". Only by recognizing the differences between Chinese and western etiquette culture and integrating them reasonably and effectively can we establish a etiquette culture system suitable for contemporary China society and realize the ideal of a harmonious society.
Chinese and western costume culture
Speaking of oriental costume culture, people will definitely think of elegant Tang costumes and implicit cheongsam, but we know little about western costume culture. In addition to modern suits, what we can think of is the grand and gorgeous aristocratic costumes of the Middle Ages in Europe. In fact, the cultural differences between Chinese and western costumes are not so simple. The characteristics of a nation's costumes are permeated with a profound cultural heritage of a nation. After thousands of years of historical precipitation, Chinese and western costumes have formed their own unique styles and systems.
First, color.
A nation's preference for color, in a sense, just reflects its subconscious personality characteristics. In ancient times, black was considered by China's ancestors as the color of the god who dominated everything. In Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the emperor's crown was black. Later, with the development of feudal centralization and autocracy, people turned their worship of the gods (black) to the worship of the earth (yellow), thus forming the traditional concept of "yellow is precious". The colors of traditional clothes are influenced by Yin and Yang and five elements, including blue, red, black, white and yellow. They are called positive colors, and other colors are intermediate colors. Positive color was reserved for the upper class in most dynasties, indicating nobility. In the folk, positive color is also the color that people like and pursue in clothing color matching.
In the west, the most popular colors in Roman times were white and purple. White represents purity and integrity, and purple symbolizes nobility. In the Middle Ages, the stained glass windows in exotic churches were richly decorated, which led people to pursue the colors of heaven, so the colors full of religious flavor in costumes were yearned for by people. Since the Renaissance in Europe, with the upgrading of luxury clothing, bright colors have been welcomed by people. French people especially like cloves and roses, and they are also obsessed with subtle sky blue and holy white. Spaniards advocate elegant rose red and gray tones; In Britain, black is considered a mysterious and noble color.
Second, shape.
In terms of appearance characteristics, the appearance of China traditional clothing emphasizes the sense of longitudinal direction, and mostly adopts drooping lines, long sleeves and tubular gowns and skirts. Vertical bar decoration makes the body look slender. Clothing in the Qing dynasty was bulky, with cuffs and hem spread out. The Gao Qi bun and flowerpot shoes of women in Qing Dynasty, together with the cheongsam hanging to their feet, made the flag bearer look slimmer than women in previous dynasties. The slender appearance of the clothing makes up for the short stature of the orientals, creates an optical illusion in the senses, and achieves perfect harmony in proportion. The smooth shape of clothes matches the softer contour lines of China people's faces.
The appearance of western classical clothing emphasizes the lateral sense, and often adopts the shoulder contour with lateral expansion, the huge skirt with expanded sleeves, overlapping lace and so on. , make the clothing lines exaggerated and radiate outward. The appearance characteristics of western clothing are compatible with the passionate temperament of westerners, the obvious ups and downs of facial contours, and the tall and straight figure compared with orientals.
Third, the pattern
Chinese and western costumes also show a diversified trend in the choice of patterns. Hanfu likes to use patterns to express auspicious wishes. Since ancient times, auspicious patterns have been widely used, from noble silks and satins to folk printed fabrics. Such as dragon and phoenix, dragon and phoenix dance and dragon ball play. It is not only a metaphor for totem worship, but also expresses the feelings of "descendants of dragons"; The design of a crane and a deer in the same spring, a magpie climbing a plum tree and a phoenix wearing a peony reflect people's hope for a happy life.
The patterns on western European clothing are constantly changing with the changes of history. Many flowers and plants were arranged in ancient times, and gorgeous flower patterns were popular in Italy during the Renaissance. In the period of Louis XV in France, influenced by the decorative style of rococo, S-shaped or spiral rattan grass and light and soft garden flowers and plants were popular. Modern influential popular patterns include Du Fei pattern of Fauvism, opal pattern designed by geometric line vision principle, etc.
With the development of economic globalization, the integration trend of Chinese and western costume culture has been strengthened unprecedentedly. China clothing industry is trying to connect with the world, taking a road of fashion and national characteristics, and integrating western fashion elements into traditional clothing design, while China elements are affecting the development of international fashion industry. While discussing the cultural differences between Chinese and western costumes, we should also consider the importance of maintaining national characteristics under the impact of globalization. The key is to find this point and find the fusion point of national culture and Datong culture.
Cultural differences between China and the West from Dayu's flood control to Noah's Ark
Ancient civilization began with the struggle between human beings and floods. Both the legend of Dayu in China and the story of Noah's Ark in the west show that the struggle against floods began in ancient times. However, in the face of the flood disaster, Dayu not only summed up the lessons of his father's failure to build a dike, dredged the riverbed and dug channels, but also "waited for the thunder, put the people first, suppressed the flood for thirteen years and refused to enter the house for three times", and finally appeared in the western part of "Kyushu is sparse, Jiuze is sprinkled, and summer is in Ai 'an" (Biography of Historical Records). The story of Noah's Ark recorded in the Bible is widely known. The two stories spread in the East and the West through the ages, lasting forever, accumulating their own civilizations, full of cultural differences between China and the West, and deducing a colorful cultural world.
Dayu's flood control and Noah's Ark embody different world views between Chinese and western cultures. Noah relied on the revelation of God to escape the disaster that God brought to people through the ark, while Dayu regarded the flood as a natural phenomenon and led the people to dredge together to overcome the flood. Noah also left seeds for human reproduction, but it also provided a precedent for human beings to confess their sins to God, while Dayu left human beings with the idea of living in harmony with and fighting against nature. These two fundamentally reflect the difference between world outlook and cosmology. In China, the origin and development of the universe is generally regarded as a dynamic natural process, and man is an organic part of the universe. People should adapt to the process of the universe, that is, "the unity of man and nature." It is this view of the universe that made Dayu face the flood, guided by the situation, not "blocked" but "sparse", and made the ancient emperors of our country unite the people along the river basin in the struggle for water control, forming a great nation, casting a great era of water control and creating an ancient oriental civilization. In the west, they try to find an unchanging absolute existence for the universe, and stipulate the basic properties of everything from this absolute existence. As one of the sources of western civilization, Judaism-Christianity theology regards God as the creator of time and everything, and God saved Noah, thus deducing western civilization.
Dayu's flood control and Noah's Ark embody the differences between Chinese and western cultures-radical and steady, vigorous and demure, analysis and synthesis. Facing the "evil" of human beings, the way God takes is to destroy human beings. This breakthrough in the original balance has produced a new leap and mutation, which is a prominent feature of western culture. Therefore, it is full of agitation and reverie in philosophy, praising chivalry in literature, and publicizing the beauty of sportsmanship and masculinity in art, which is a one-sided excavation in the way of thinking and a split in the language of philosophers, seeking common ground while reserving differences. Therefore, God doesn't need to think as a whole. Only by grasping one end, human beings can reproduce. Philosophers and thinkers can forge their own theoretical buildings, form their own schools and theories, and have only one focus, thus reproducing the typical characteristics of western culture-analysis. On the contrary, in the face of flood disaster, the ancient emperors of China made waves after waves, and Dayu finally found a water control strategy in the contradictory thinking of "blocking" and "dredging", and comprehensively used all kinds of original knowledge and skills at that time to successfully control water. This embodies the typical comprehensive thinking characteristics of oriental culture and accumulates the stable and dignified core of oriental culture. In the words of philosophers, it is to be one, seeking common ground while reserving differences. Therefore, the overall concept of China's philosophy has lasted for a long time, China's culture has become indifferent, quiet and far-reaching, and the feminine beauty of China's aesthetics has become advocating. It's like the depths of the sea, with beautiful corals, floating algae and leisurely marine fish. Compared with the rough sea, it forms a quiet and colorful picture. This is the realm of oriental culture.
Dayu's flood control and Noah's ark reflect the differences between Chinese and western ethics. On the surface, these two stories have formed the difference in water control thought between western countries to evacuate people and eastern countries to divert water, but in a deeper level, they reflect that western culture attaches importance to natural human rights, emphasizes individual standard and publicizes subjectivity, while eastern culture emphasizes etiquette, collective standard and ethical responsibility. In the story of Noah's Ark, although we can't see the trace of Noah's struggle for mankind, we can see his elaborate plan to build the Ark, feel his main spirit of seizing the opportunity and persevering in building a big ship, and realize his contingency thought of coping with the crisis by using external conditions and making progress by retreating. In the long-term development of western culture, from the democratic thought of ancient Greek culture to the extreme of Renaissance, it depicts a picture of pursuing independent personality, liberating individuality and emphasizing individualism. On the one hand, it has promoted the sudden emergence of western culture, with talented people and outstanding achievements; On the other hand, it has also caused ideological confusion, the infinite expansion of individualism, and formed the individualism values of self-expression. Dayu's spirit of water control has been passed down from generation to generation, which has cultivated China's thought of introspection and self-discipline and his cultural view of valuing righteousness over profit, and formed an excellent national cultural tradition of China people's modesty, courtesy and social responsibility. The long-term accumulation of this culture has resulted in the social structure and ethical responsibility of "being loyal to the monarch and ministers, loving the father and filial piety, and singing with the woman". On the one hand, it ensures the harmony of interpersonal relationships, promotes national unity and social stability, and enables the great nation to last for thousands of years. On the other hand, it also limits people's individuality and creativity, which is not conducive to the establishment of democratic ideas and systems. In addition, the west attaches importance to the horizontal relationship between husband and wife, while the east attaches importance to the vertical blood relationship. Noah took his wife to avoid water, and Dayu inherited his father's career. After four days of marriage, he went to water conservancy, which also reflected the ideological and cultural characteristics of the east and west being closed and open.
There are many reasons for the cultural differences between the East and the West, and the differences are brilliant. Noah's Ark and Dayu's flood control show us the beautiful landscape of Chinese and Western cultures, guide us to the source of cultural differences between China and the West, inspire us to think about the characteristics and essence of Chinese and Western cultures, and urge us to learn from each other and "discard the useless" each other. China's "quiet" traditional culture and the "vigorous" culture in the West are in harmony, and the sense of responsibility in the East and the thought of rights in the West complement each other, thus creating a beautiful picture of human civilization.