旅游英语专业毕业论文(3)
3. Main Factors Causing the Differences
3.1 Geography
As we all know, different areas have different culture and custom. Because of the different location, natural conditions and geographical environment, different areas formed different regional culture which shows in that different nationalities using different language expression forms for the same kind of phenomenon or things. The geographical location and the environment lead to the differences between Chinese and western cultures. China is a big country with a vast territory abounding in natural resources, and the people’s way of life, customs, economic and cultural development, as well as general local conditions, all vary.
For example, Chopsticks and, knife and fork are the most basic differences between Chinese and western table manners. You Xiuling, the professor of Zhejiang University, said that east and west appear different tablewares are related to the environment. Chopsticks should be originated in the place of lots of bamboo. There are much wood in north China and much bamboo in south China. So ancestors use local materials to make chopsticks and they became China's most primitive raw materials of chopsticks. The emergence of knife and fork is much later than that of chopsticks. According to the research of professor You Xiuling, the origin of knife and fork is related to the life habit of ancient European nomads, who always took knife along them and live on horseback. They cut down and eat meat as soon as it cooked. From then on, westerners use knife and fork as their tablewares.
3.2 Tradition
The different ethnic and national historical development process may result in different history and tradition. Thousands of years of Chinese traditional culture reflected in the Chinese Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. As the core of Chinese traditional culture, Confucianism produces a profound and long influence on Chinese society. Confucianism has the traditional thought mainly emphasized “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faith”. Taoists advocated “customizations nature”, “pure” and he Buddhist is advocated “merciful Purdue beings” and “harmony”, “continued”. In the book Culture on Dinner Table, Mr. Yi Zhongtian said that the core thought of Chinese culture is group consciousness while the western core thought is individual consciousness. In sharp contrast, the western culture is a kind of “guilt” culture. They believe in god created man. The western culture, to be self-centered, the boundary between people is clear and they do not allow mutual interference. This individual culture contributed to western table manners without sharing a plate of food. But Chinese love peace and quiet life in the forest, and in the dining room use cheap chopsticks as tableware. The chopsticks can also reflect Chinese collective consciousness. Westerners prefer to colonize in restaurants, use a knife and fork in the class. Knife and fork also can reflect individual consciousness, and noble west of life.
