Each country has its own unique culture, and these cultural characteristics are the characteristics of the people living in the region that are unique to the country and are one of the marks that distinguish them from other groups in the development process of generations. The significance of culture to a nation is very powerful. In the macro, it can influence the national policies and development, while in the micro, it reaches every person in this social group and connects people growing up in the same environment with culture.
Culture, in the final analysis, is about human survival experience induction, discipline summary, essence excavation, prospective experiment... An ideology formed and accumulated. It exists in the material products, spiritual products and people's production and life style (including the ideas active in the human brain and the institutions and norms running in social life).
When it comes to the similarities and differences between Chinese and British cultures, the most prominent one is the British "gentleman" culture and the Chinese "gentleman" etiquette. Both emphasize the word "let", but there are many differences in the expression form of "let".
The gentility that originated in Britain is not only reflected in proper etiquette and dress, but also its rich inner spirit is worth exploring. As a carrier of value, the meaning of gentleman is constantly changing. The value of the early gentleman reflected the chivalry which emphasized the hierarchy and responsibility. Over time, the core of the gentlemanly spirit came into being -- "clarity of understanding, just reason, sound judgment, and broad knowledge." The modern meaning of the gentlemanly spirit includes "chivalric courage, a moral sense of public service and a character of silence founded on firm and composed character, and courtesy which is constant even in the most difficult situations.
In traditional Chinese culture, there has always been a "gentleman", a modest gentleman's moral character and words and deeds are often the object of emulation by people. The etiquette and customs in Chinese culture have a set of self-appropriate value system, which reflects the unique "noble spirit" of Traditional Chinese culture. There is a spiritual connection between the gentlemanly demeanor and the gentlemanly demeanor, a borrowed word. The sense of responsibility and sense of right and wrong supported by ability and upbringing can be said to be the common pursuit of Both China and Britain.
With the intensification of globalization, exchanges and cooperation among countries become increasingly frequent, and more and more people travel, study, work and live abroad, cross-cultural verbal communication becomes more and more important. Meanwhile, cultural differences also have a great impact on the daily communication between China and the UK.
The Idea of Life in Britain is based on the principle of the individual as opposed to society. Individualism is a universally accepted value for Westerners. They understand it as "emphasizing individual independence and creativity, allowing its free development without or less being restricted by social and religious forces", and they often use candid pragmatic strategies.
In the light of the Oriental life philosophy, especially the Chinese, everyone belongs to a dense natural and harmonious interpersonal network, and what they pursue is not personal realization, but self-cultivation in the living environment. Chinese people stress collective harmony and interdependence, without stressing individuals, and understand Individualism as "Individualism". They often adopt a euphemistic, implicit and modest pragmatic approach. In order to take into account, the "face" of both sides, The Chinese language pays attention to and emphasizes polite words and deeds, and USES politeness as pragmatic means to strive for harmony. Pragmatically, it is shown that "elegant language is chosen, profanity is banned, euphemism is used more, and blunt words are used less".
In terms of discourse style, Chinese people rely on implied statement, avoid direct, and prefer to use metaphor and analogy to explain an opinion, for English-speaking people, they understood Chinese in the presentation, explanation, to clarify its views and debate is cyclical, lack of complex and powerful method of debate.
When criticizing or admonishing the other people, the Chinese often use euphemisms, double negatives, understated statements or historical allusions, which are indirect but effective. When making a request, the Chinese try their best to avoid saying face-saving words and avoid a tone and attitude of arrogance, longing and selfishness. By explaining the reasons for the request, the speaker leaves the other party the freedom to say yes or no, thus saving face on both sides. These speech styles and communication strategies originate from the Chinese cultural tradition of paying attention to overall harmony.
Because of these differences in speech styles and communicative strategies, both parties often make misunderstand or fail in daily communication between Chinese and English. Both parties often judge others by their own patterns and strategies, and mistakenly evaluate and respond to each other's words.
However, these cultural differences caused by differences in history, region, customs, morality, religious belief and other aspects require a long time for cultural integration, mutual exploration and understanding of each other's thinking, understanding and views, strengthening cultural communication, and pursuing common progress.
Contents
Abstract
Contents
Introduction
1. The similarities and differences between Chinese and British cultures.
1.1 Chinese culture review
1.2 British culture review
1.3 How to influence each other
2. The value difference for Chinese and British
2.1 value education
2.2 ideology education
3 The difference of cultural characteristics
3.1 Language
3.2 History
3.3 Lifestyle
3.4 Soft power
4. Conclusion
References
C. 参考文献
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