The cultural differences between China and the UK begin with language and have a significant impact on each other's lifestyles, education, business exchanges and values. The similarities between China and Britain lie in the long history, profound cultural accumulation and the influence of their own characteristics on the world pattern. In language, daily life, interpersonal communication, social cognition, religion, values, national identity and other dimensions are subject to different cultural shocks.
1.1Chinese culture review
The inclusiveness and openness of the Chinese culture has a long history, unique, this is unremitting, Chinese culture has become an important reason, however, since the early 18th century, after the qing government to shut down the heavy door Chinese culture become a closed culture system and start "sleeping", so before napoleon called the opium war of China is a lion "sleeping". After the Opium War, China was confronted with "great changes unseen in three thousand years", under which modern Chinese culture began to "awaken".
In recent one hundred years, China has experienced the sino-japanese war, the war of aggression against China, the eight and the baptism of the two world wars, the closed doors from "knowing the world," the first man to Lin zexu and open, the modernization process of westernization movement, from education to the economy, where the original only to understand local, expanded to understand the country and around the world. After a period of development, the advanced Chinese people represented by Yan Fu and Liang Qichao reflected on the reasons for the bankruptcy or failure of westernization Movement, which pushed Chinese culture from closed to open, and the heavy door opened further on the original basis. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects: 1. The emphasis of the introduction of "Western learning" changed. Before that, it was mainly natural science, but now the number of social sciences increased greatly. 2. The introduction and influence of Western ideas; 3. Influenced by the introduction of Western ideas and culture, People's Daily life and behavior style have become more "Western". As Mr. Zheng Dahua pointed out, "The rise of the new cultural movement is not only the inevitable result of Chinese culture moving from seclusion to openness, but also plays an important role in promoting Chinese culture and further opening up."
It was in the period of the New cultural movement that Modern Chinese culture began to "wake up" and moved from being closed to being fully open. In September 1915, Chen Duxiu founded The New Youth in Shanghai, which marked the rise of the new culture movement. Chen Duxiu published in the first issue of his article "To Inform The Young People", in which he put forward six requirements to the young people, among which the fourth one is "the world, not the locked country", calling on The Chinese youth to have knowledge of the world. The founding as a starting point to the "new youth", accelerate the process of the open of Chinese culture, if during the opium war heavy doors opened only a small crack, the westernization movement period heavy doors open a smaller part, after the sino-japanese war in 1895, in the late 19th century early 20th century heavy doors are open to more than half, so, in the new culture movement period, China's heavy doors are completely open. With the rise of the New culture movement, almost all kinds of western learning as well as a variety of doctrines, thoughts, theories, concepts and theories were successively translated and introduced to China. First of all, in terms of the social ideological trend, in addition to the democratic, liberal, reformist, anarchist and other Western political ideological trends introduced in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, western historical theories and achievements were also disseminated in this period, just like philosophy. During this period, there also appeared a wave of translation and introduction as well as western advanced knowledge and achievements in natural science. As Mr. Zheng Dahua pointed out, "The rise of the new cultural movement is not only the inevitable result of Chinese culture moving from seclusion to openness, but also plays an important role in promoting Chinese culture and further opening up."
1.2British culture review
Each country has its own unique cultural characteristics, which are the characteristics that the people living in the region have developed in the course of generations and belong exclusively to the country. They are one of the signs that distinguish them from other groups. Of Britain's cultural characteristics and its unique geographical characteristics associated with thousands of years of history, from the geographical conditions to affect a wide range of heroic myths and legends - king Arthur and his knights, to political revolution established a constitutional monarchy, and then to the industrial revolution, etc., various factors to the British culture.
The group subject produced by British culture is divided into two parts, aristocracy and commoners. The British aristocracy originally came from the western European continent, and they brought the chivalry. Later, the knighthood gradually became the aristocracy due to the interference of various factors, and the chivalry also became a part of the aristocracy. After the industrial Revolution, the new aristocracy and the bourgeoisie rose, and the gentry class began to develop and grow. Because the British aristocratic worship psychology generally, in the process of the development of British noble spirit, ordinary people also affected by the large, gradually, the gentleman spirit and noble spirit contains some of the spirit is no longer a nobleman's exclusive, but constitutes the value orientation of the average Briton, achievement of the British national character and spirit of the UK.
The essence of the English spirit is a "gentlemanly way". The tradition or gentlemanliness originated from England, which was formed in modern England as a definite system of ideas and way of behavior. Courage, courtesy and responsibility constitute the core of the British spirit. The national spirit of a country is the spiritual pillar on which its survival and development depend.
1.3How to influence each other
The impact of differences in Chinese and English for each other's countries is embodied in the international cultural exchange presents new characteristics, internationally, in recent years, satellite communications, computer multimedia, the Internet and other new technology rapid development, brings profound changes to the development of human society, people's autonomy and freedom, can in the Internet world swimming, vision is open, the two countries use the international media on politics, economy and culture influence each other. In the domestic environment, Chinese intellectuals tend to be more rational in cultural exchanges, and the general public adopts a rational "integration" attitude towards foreign cultures, absorbs and integrates beneficial foreign cultures, and carries out "comprehensive innovation" to promote the development of national culture.
2. The value difference for Chinese and British
The values rooted in the cultural foundation, the biggest difference between China and The UK comes from the aspect of individual self-identity, namely people's cognition and belief. Values also influence people's behavior and bring complementary synergies for political and social functions as well as institutional reforms.