A Comarison Beween Chinese and Wesern Values 英语专业.doc

1、ContentsAbstract2Introduction3I.Comparison of Values Between China and Western Countries4A. Value Difference in Origin4B. Valve Difference in Daily Communication51. Social Relationship52. Verbal Communication7C. Value Difference in Family Education81. Family Conception82. Personality Education9D. Va

2、lue Difference in Behavior Patterns10II. Evaluation of the Two Values11A .Western Values11B. Chinese Values12C. New Tendency of Value in China and Western Countries131. Similarities132. Value Integration13Conclusion.13Notes14Bibliography15Acknowledgements16Abstract: Values are shared ideas about wha

3、t is true, right and beautiful that underlies cultural patterns and guide society in response to the physical environment. Value varies from different countries. China and western countries are quite different from value because of the totally historical and cultural divergence. It is first introduc

4、ed in this paper about the exhibition of the two values and makes a comparison between them in several aspects of life so as to get an overall understanding of the two values. Value is a crucial problem which can be considered as the core of inter-cultural communication. Probing into this can offer

5、us great help to learn the communication behavior of each other thus to improve the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication.Key Words: value; difference; cross-cultural communication摘要：价值观是指文化模式下人们对周围环境关于真、善、美的共享的理念。不同的国家有不同的价值理念。中西方由于历史和文化差异导致不同的价值观。本文首先从社会生活的多个方面举例阐述，对中西方价值观念进行对比分析，然后通过对两种价值

6、观的总体评价分析来更全面的认识中西方价值观差异，从而达到对中西方文化有一个全面完整的认识的目的。价值观可以说是跨文化交际的核心，研究和探讨价值观可以帮助我们了解各自的交际行为，从而提高交际的有效性。关键字：价值观；不同点；跨文化交际A Comparison Between Chinese and Western ValuesIntroduction What is value? According to Rokeach, “Values are learned organization of rules for making choices and for resolving conflict

7、s.” The “rules” are criterion which can help people to distinguish good and bad, beautiful and ugliness, right and wrong and true and false.1 Albert also said that “A value system represents what is expected or hoped for, required or forbidden. It is not a report of actual conduct but is the system

8、of criterion by which conduct is judged and sanctions applied.2 Actually value is a term which is hard to define. Among all these definitions, there is one thing in common. That is value is the essential element of ethnic culture, known as an eminent strength of peoples mind, to deeply and widely af

9、fect their behaviors. Chinese values and western values are quite different due to its different environment, historical background and philosophical foundation. Culture divergence indicates different origin, education, ways of thinking and communicating. Generally speaking, it is not difficult to c

10、ommunicate through language and custom. What is the real and most important barrier of cross-cultural communication is different value, which is the main cause of conflict and misunderstanding in communication between China and western countries. I.Comparison of Values Between China and Western Coun

11、triesThe value differences are mainly seen in the following fields: origin, communication, education and behavior patterns.A. Value Difference in OriginAs the producing and development of different countries and ethnic, there are two main reasons for the formation of values: development of history;

12、way of thinking. Under the influence of the two factors, a basic value once formed will be deeply rooted in peoples mind. It is a psychological activity used to control peoples behavior and choices which was in response to peoples thinking.3China has a long history including two thousands feudalism,

13、 which affected peoples value both in ancient and modern time directly and indirectly. Chinese value can be seen in Chinese traditional virtues. Such as obedience to authority, showing respect to elders and protecting the younger etc. Besides, religion is under the control of ethnic philosophy found

14、ation. Chinese Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are three main factors of the formation of Chinese people are thinking patterns. Two key concepts of Confucianism are Ren and Li, which can illustrate Chinese peoples reserves and circumbendibus. 4 The two values are quite acceptable in social life, i

15、llustrating all the good qualities that make an ideal man. Man should be wanly and benevolent to others or love them and respect themselves. Self and all individual must emerge themselves into the group or the collective. All men are brothers and sisters. Which can be called “he”(means harmony) in C

16、hinese value.However, as early as the 17th century, Britain has put its feudalism into an end and set up capitalism. They wanted to escape the control placed in their lives by the King and government, priests and churches, noblemen and aristocrats. To a great extent, they succeed. In 1766, the Briti

17、sh colonial settlers declared their independence from England and declared that the power to govern would lie in the hands of people. They were free from the power of kings. Three times industrial revolutions have to a large extent improved peoples material life and freed their thoughts. The capital

18、 democratic thoughts influenced every aspect of western life ranging from political and social fields. Individual freedom and equality play the dominant role in either the development of the society or personal pursuit of individuals. When it comes to the origin of a powerful country-America, it can

19、 be traced back to the beginning years of its history, when first American immigrants came to the North American continent looking for better life and shaking off the yoke of European feudalism and the oppression from all kinds of powerful classes. Later on, the Declaration of Independence: we hold

20、these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”5 Western countries philosophy background is based on Aristotles logical and later on based on rationali

21、sm which permeates every aspect of life in the western world in 16th and 17th century. Therefore, western people are more logical and straight, they cant understand Chinese peoples reserves. B. Valve Difference in Daily Communication1. Social RelationshipAs for social relationship, Chinese people pu

22、t more emphasis on kinship and emotion, while western people are more self-oriented, characterized in candor, freedom, independence. They emphasize individual initiative independence, individual expression and even equality and privacy. They believe that everybody gets chances; even children can cal

23、l their parents name directly and compete with them. Western people seldom take kinship, emotion into serious consideration. They are equal and just to everybody. Self-reliance, self-expression, free competition, personal freedom are what they pursuit.Chinese always asks ones age, marriage, job or s

24、alary when they meet each other. But westerners do not. These greetings that are regarded as a very common thing in China are cultural taboos in western countries. Westerners believed all these are personal privacy. Even within families, people often do not know the exact salary of other family memb

25、er. This does not mean that the family members are not close to each other. Besides, it is rude and strange to pay a visit to others without permission or arrangement. One must telephone before he goes. No one has the rights to read any others letter even parents mustnt read their childrens private

26、letters. In the fast food shop, everyone hold their own plates enjoying their own meal without any interference to other person. All these differences exist actually in social life. One more example, here we suppose a pair of good friends: one is a Chinese girl Ling noticed that Nancy had some visib

27、le gray hair. She told her so. But Nancy said to Ling that she shouldnt have told her at that moment because there were men around. In Chinese perspective, when Ling drew Nancys attention to her grey hair on her, she was not aware that western women would be uncomfortable about it while there were m

28、en around. But in American perspective, being overweight, going bald, going gray, are very sensitive things about their bodies. This might be funny if it wasnt for the fact that negative body imagines are a serious psychological problem. Going gray is a powerful symbol of increasing age for many wes

29、tern women. Older people in the west are not given the respect they receive in other cultures. Getting older has so many negative connotations for western women: the loss of child-beating capacity, the loss of physical attractiveness to men, increasing infirmity, decreasing opportunities to do somet

30、hing with ones life. A common perception in the west is that gray hair makes a man look distinguished, but makes a woman look old and unattractive. (It should be recognized though, that many men are also sensitive about going grey, too) 6However, under the great influence of Chinese tradition, Ren a

31、nd Li are core concepts of Chinese people. Ren serves as the goal of life, while Li serves as the norms and means for achieving the acceptable ends of social life. Because of Ren and Li, China is considered to be a harmonious country in the word. The relationships between family members are so close

32、d that obligation and responsibilities are superior to self-freedom. Parents are obligated to feed their children and gown-ups have responsibility to support their old parents. Traditionally speaking, in Chinese society, there is hierarchical system in nature. In such a society, there are norms and

33、means to maintain this hierarchical social order between the emperor and his subjects, father and his sons and daughters. If the people in lower social position are obedient to and respect those in higher positions and the humble respect the venerate, the younger respect the elder as this norm advoc

34、ates, the society will be in order. This does not mean that it is a recovery of feudalism. It builds social order which leads people to a harmony and happy life. These relationships set up family members, relatives and close friends, and meet peoples needs of mutual help and satisfaction both materi

35、ally and emotionally.2. Verbal CommunicationUsually, westerners are treated as those people who are brave enough to express themselves, fond of being the center of attention, and enjoying taking a risk and all the things curious in the world. They speak in a simple, straight way, while Chinese talk

36、implicitly and exclusively. Western countries are more developed than China, so their life styles are quite different. Their time values are distinct. Fast life steps, fast-food can indicate that westerners are foursquare. They never hesitate to make a decision, so they said what they thought about

37、and never considered for a long time before speaking out just like Chinese people. They showed what they like.Chinese people are restrained by many traditions and show a courtesy and prudence in expressing their ideas. For example, if someone praises that “You have done a good job.” Westerners may d

38、efinitely say: thank you very much, while Chinese peoples reply is “Theres still problem. You overprized me.” Westerners hope themselves to be acknowledging by the society. Although Chinese people feel happy to be praised, they dare not show the feeling out in fear of being said self-proud. Another

39、example, two American visitors traveled to Yunnan with their admirable guide Zhang in very hot weather. Sight-seeing is a thirsty business; they did not trust the water and enjoyed excellent beer. They politely offered some to Zhang but he refused. They said nothing more and drank their beer, while

40、poor Zhang watched. On another day, Zhang quickly accept their offer of beer. Only when visitors saw that Zhang in fact like beer, did it occur to me to ask him whether maybe in Chinese culture it was not polite to accept on the first offer. Indeed, it was not. Chinese customs show that Zhang was be

41、ing modest, polite and well-behaved and had every intention of accepting the beer at the second or third offer, impressing with his modesty. But Zhang did not understand North American rules, which firmly say that you do not push alcoholic beverages on anyone. A person may be allergic. Whatever the

42、reasons behind the rule, you do not insist on offering alcohol. And while I certainly did not figure Zhang for a Mormon, a Muslim or a reformed alcoholic, so unconscious and so strong are our communicative competence rules that we equally politely never made a second offer of beer to him, who probab

43、ly thought Americans, are most uncouth.7 These two examples showed the value difference in daily communication between China and western countries. Because western people are brave to express themselves, they are always frank and never strike to be modest. Take teaching or taking lectures as an exam

44、ple. If you declare first that your capacity is limited, it is unavoidable to make mistakes or the audience are welcome to pick out your demerits, etc. they will consider that why you came now that you can not do well in this field. Chinese people invite friends to have dinner; the host will say the

45、 dishes are not enough and taste not well as the common. But, the western people are used to say that those dishes are the best prepared by the hostess.C. Value Difference in Family EducationIn terms of value differences of family education, they can be illustrated from two aspects: family conceptio

46、n and personality education.1. Family ConceptionIn the west, self-interested is above anything. People pay more attention to their religion. They do not have strong sense of family as Chinese do. What they focus on are individuals. In western families, home is a private territory which even protecte

47、d by law. Before entering other family members bedroom, one should knock the door first and get the allowance from the owner. Even parents must ask for permission can they enter their childrens rooms. Besides, one must make an arrangement before visiting. Individualism is the most essential part in

48、English philosophy. It emphasizes individual initiative, independence, and even privacy. It pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose. Everyone is expected to look himself or herself and his or her immediate family. People are more self-oriented. Because of individualisti

49、c culture in English-speaking countries, their peoples sense of family becomes weak.As for this point, differences are even more obvious. Chinese people appreciate the close relationship of family. Children should be obedient to parents, brothers and sisters should mutually help each other. Family members tie tightly with each other. From the culture background, the Chi