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LiteratureReviewInthepastfewyears,alotofstudieshavebeendoneandpublishedonthereasonsoftablemanners’differencesbetweenChinaandtheWest.Fromthepastliteraturereviews,wemayseethatthisfieldofstudyhasbecomemoreandmoreimportantandmanypeople,notonlyscholars,butalsosomeforeigntradeclerks,havebeeninvolvedinthestudy.Mannersineverycountryaredifferent.WhatispoliteinChinamaynotbepoliteinothercountries.Realizingthispointwillhelpusenjoywesternfoodwithyourforeignfriends.Myresearchwillfocusonthistopicandanalyzethereasonsofthedifferences.Inaccordancewiththeformerresearchers'studies,therearethreereasonsthatcausedthedifferences.Theyareculturalbackground,historicalbackgroundandcustoms.Differentnationsorregionshavedifferentculture.Intermsofthedifferentculturalbackground,wewillmainlyintroducetwoaspects.Theyarereligiousbeliefsandvalues.MostChinesebelieveinBuddhism,ConfucianismandTaoism.TheBuddhistadvocates“mercifulPurduebeings”and“harmony”.WesternersmostlybelieveinCatholicismorChristianity,andbelievethatGodcreatedman(ZhangWenjuan,2009)andthewesterncultureisself-centered,theboundarybetweenpeopleisclear.AndalsoZhangWenjuanpointedoutinherpaperthat“thousandofyearsofChinesetraditionalcultureintheChineseBuddhismmakesChinesetablemannersmodest.”(2009)Differenttablemannersreflectdifferentnationalheartindifferentculture,suchas,chopsticksinChina,knivesandforksinWest.Sothetablemanneristhereflectionofnationalculturalidentification.(DongBaojun,2005)Otherwise,differentvaluescancausethedifferenceoftablemanners.Incross-culturalcommunication,valueisthecoreofculture.Asaresult,everycountryorsocietyhastheirownvalue.Tosomeextent,tablemannersareanepitomeofacountry’svalue.ClydeKluckhohnthought,valueis“aconceptofindividualorcollectivepossesswhichisdominantorrecessive,ithasnationalcharacters.Theconceptsaffectpeople’schoicesamongthevariousbehaviorpatterns,methodsandgoals.”(2005)InChina,collectivismistheguidingvalue.Butinwesterncountries,theyemphasizeonindividualism,self-worthandrespect.Thesharpcontrastvaluesalsogiveexpressiontothetablemanners.(2005)JustasChineseoftenshareaplateoffoodtogether,whilewesternersofteneatfoodintheirownplate.Astothehistoricalbackground,ChinaandtheWestobviouslyhavetheirdifferenthistory.InChina,thetablemannerscoulddatebacktoZhouDynasty;tablemannershaveshapedquitecompletesystem.AfterbeinghighlypraisedbyConfucius,tableetiquettebecametheimportantpartofpowerfulcountry.FromQingDynasty,themoderntablemannersgraduallyshaped.(DongBaojun,2005)What’smore,thewesternetiquettealsohasalonghistory.ThewesterntablemannersoriginatedfromMerovingianDynastyinFrance.Itisdevelopedfromthespiritofknightduringthe11thcenturyto12thcentury;banquetbecamethecenterofwesternfeudalism.In13thcentury,itgraduallyhadaccesstofamilyandfriendship.(MargaretVisser,2007)Withrespecttothecustom,theeatingprocessusuallyconsistsofthreeparts.Theyarebeforedinner,inthedinner,afterdinner.Therearesomeetiquetteswhichshouldbeobservedduringthewholeprocess.Beforedinner,weneedtonoticethearrivaltime,seatingarrangement,orderdishesandsoon.Inthedinner,wealsoneedtoknowusageofnapkin,usageoftableware,specialtipsandsomedrinkingetiquette.Afterdinner,Chineseandwesternersalsohavedifferentwaysofpayingthebill.Thewesternersusuallygivetiptoserver.Theusualamounttotipisbetween15%and20%ofthetotalamountofthebill.(HaoHan,2007)ButChineseusuallydon’tgivetiptoserver.Basedonalltheabovediscussion,Ihavechosen“ananalysisonthereasonoftablemanners’differencesbetweenChinaandtheWest”formyresearch,andasthetopicofmythesis.Anditisbelievedthat,fromwhathasbeendiscussed,itisstilldevelopingontheetiquette.Learningandusingtherightetiquettewillnotonlystepupourimpression,butalsopromotethecommunicationbetweenpeoplewhocomefromdifferentcountriesandhavedifferentculturalbackground.Bibliography[1]PostElizabeth.西方礼仪集萃[M].齐宗华译.北京三联出版社，1991.[2]MargaretVisser.餐桌礼仪:文明举止的起源,发展和含义[M].刘晓媛译,北京新星出版,2007.[3]董保军.中外礼仪大全[M].民族出版社,2005.[4]段洁.餐桌礼仪与口才[M].中国经济出版社,2007.[5]杜学增.中英文化习俗比较[M].外语教学与研究出版社，1998.[6]浩瀚.礼仪英语情景会话模板[M].国防工业出版社,2007.[7]林莹，毛永年.西餐礼仪[M].中央编译出版社，2009.[8]曲蒙.国际礼仪指南[M].文汇出版社，2006.[9]孙美玲.餐饮礼仪[M].陕西旅游出版社，珠海出版社，2009.[10]王琪.现代礼仪大全[M].地震出版社，2005.[11]张文娟.现代商业:中西方餐桌礼仪存在的差异[J].现代商业杂志出版社，2007.