Cultural differences between east and west东西方文化差异

CulturalDifferencesBetweenEastAndWestContents•1.Whatleadstotheculturaldifference?•2.Howdifferentlydopeoplebehaveindailylife?•3.Whatcanwedototreattheculturegap?PartIWhatleadstotheculturaldifference?•TheculturesoftheEastandtheWestreallydistinguisheachotheralot.Thisisbecausetheculturesystemsaretwoseparatesystemsonthewhole.•Theoriginoftheeasternculturesismainlyfromtwocountries:ChinaandIndia.Bothofthetwoculturesaregestatedbyrivers.InChina,themotherriveristheYellowRiverwhiletheIndianoneistheHinduRiver.YellowRiver黄河HinduRiver印度河•Thesetwoculturesweredevelopedforseveralthousandyearsandformedtheirownstyles.TheninTangDynastyofChina,theChineseculturegraduallywentoverseastoJapan,mixedintotheJapanesesocietyandshapedtheJapaneseculturenowadays.ThoughabitdifferentfromtheChineseone,itbelongstothesamesystem.•CulturesoftheAncientGreece(古希腊)andAncientRome(古罗马)arewell-knownasthebaseoftheEuropeanculture.•LiketheChineseculture,theEuropeanonealsocrossedwaters.WhenthecolonistsofEnglandsettleddowninAmerica,theirculturewentwiththemovertheAtlanticOcean(大西洋).SotheAmericanculturedoesn'tdistinguishfromtheEuropeanonealot.•Atthesametime,thedifferenceofthelanguagesystemsaddstotheculturaldifferences.IntheEast,mostlanguagesbelongtothepictographiclanguage(象形文字)whiletheWesternlanguagesaremostlybasedontheLatinsystem(拉丁语系).•Otherfactorslikehumanracedifferencecountsaswell.PartIIHowdifferentlydopeoplebehaveindailylife?•Section1:Greeting(问候)•HowdoweChinesegreeteachother?Informally,ifwemeetanfriendinthestreet,weareusedtosay:“Hi,haveyouhadyourmeal?”or“Whereareyougoing?”.Whenitisthecaseoftwogentlemen,theytendtoshakehands(握手).•However,inthewesterncountries,theabovequestionsarejustquestions,notgreetingatall.Theymaythinkyou’reinvitingthemtodinnerifyouaskabouttheirmeals.Usually,they’lljustgiveeachotherasmileorgreetwitha“Hi.”.They’llshakehandsonlyinsomeformalsituations•Section2:Expressinggratitude(表达感谢)•InChinesefamilies,werarelysay“Thankyou”tootherfamilymembersforreceivinghelporservice.Neitherwillwesaysobetweengoodfriends.•ButintheWest,thankyouisoneofthemostfrequentlyusedsentences.Teacherswillthankastudentforansweringaquestion;husbandswillthankhiswifeformakingacoffee.•Section3：Dining(用餐)•Easternersusechopsticks(筷子).Weholdourfood,meatorvegetable,withthechopsticks,sendthemtothemouths,biteoffapartofitandremaintheotherpartonthechopsticks.•Wearealsousedtoholdupourbowlswhenhavingriceorsoup.ButallthesehabitsareconsideredrudeintheWesterncountries.•TheetiquetteintheWestrequeststhatwheneating,bowlsandplatescannotleavethetables.Foodshouldbecutbyknivestofitintothemouths.Ofcourseyourmouthcannottouchtheplatesorbowls.•Section4:Symbolizing(象征)•Redmeansluck,fortunehere.WeChineseoftenusethiscolortodecorateinfestivals,suchasredlanterns,redChinesenodes,redbangers.Butredstandsforblood,revolutionsintheWest.Sothepresidentsavoidedwearingthisunluckycolor.PartIIIWhatcanwedototreattheculturegap?•Firstly,wecannotdenyanyofthecultures.Everynationhasitsowncharacteristicsandit’smainlythroughitsculturethatwefirstbegintoknowthenationanditscharacteristics.Sowecannotsaythatthiscultureorcustomisrightandthatiswrong.•Next,weshouldgettolearnhowtocoordinatethedifferentcultures.Wesaytheworldisbecomingsmallerandsmaller.Moreforeignerscomeandgoeveryday.Whenitisinthesamecountry,thesamecity,thesameneighborhood,theculturalcollisionisexpectedtobemoreserious.•Soweshouldtrytoavoidthishappening.Oneimportantthingistogetsomebasicknowledgeabouttheotherculturessoasnottomisunderstandsomeactionsorhabitsoftheforeigners.•Wecantakeinsomestrongpointsfromtheforeigncultures.Thoughtheredoesn’texistcorrectnessintermsofculture,itdoeshavethetermsofmoreadvancedormoresuitablefortheworldnowadays.Ofcourse,wecannotthrowawayourowncultureandacceptanotheronetotally.•Differentculturesaddthemostcolorfulelementtotheworldof21stcentury.Theculturalgapshouldnotbetheobstacletothecivilizationofhumanbeing.Itoughttobethemotivationofourgoingfarther.That'sAll.Thankyou!