ContrastbetweenChineseandWesternculture

ContrastbetweenChineseandWesternculture
Contrast between Chinese and Western culture
--- different ways of showing politeness Y ou must shake your head and say NO when it comes to talk something about the differences between Chinese and Western culture,although you may be a native, living in a Chinese-speaking country and are proud of speaking English fluently.Nowadays ,Trend of globalization is becoming more and more apparent ,and knowing another’s language and not his culture is a very way to make a fluent fool of one’s self. So it is urgent for us people to learn something different about cultures,especially ways of showing modesty、politeness and respect when getting along with people.
You may have heard the story about Li Hongzhang,one of the top officials in the Qing Dynasty ,was invited to visit the U.S. He was warmly welcomed.One day,Li was hosting a banquet for the American officials in a popular restaurant.As the banquet stared,according to the Chinese custom,Li stood up and said, “ I am very happy to have all of you here today.Though these dishes are coarse and not delicious and good enough to show my respect for you,I hope you will enjoy them...
The next day,the English version of his words was shown in the local newspaper.To his shock,the restaurant owner flew into a
rage,he thought Li damaged the reputation of his restaurant and should apologize.All the fuss made Li rather embarrassed.
As Chinese ,we all know what Li said is just some formulaic polite expression common in type and could hear that nearly everywhere.But why westerners react differently? The reasons are as what i am going to say about differences between Chinese and Western’s ways of showing their modesty and politeness.
In China,with the limitation of Confucianism,people tend to deny himself and being modest.When it comes to praise from other people,Chinese are more likely to say “That’s not true” or “No,just so so!” But in the opinion of Western people,it is manifestations of hypocrisy,they stress personal value and confidence.If there are praises,they will accept them proudly.it is common sense that Praise makes progress.
In the story about Li Hongzhang, we can easily know his words are not inappropriate although they do convey the meaning of respect.But “When in Rome,do as Romes do”is really more necessary,isn’t it? This case happened in Western countries,and the audience was Western countries. America is a Western country with highly valued individualism and they express themselves rather directly.They could not understand the Easterners’ over-modesty,for
they tend to comprehend what they hear literally,and a clash was inevitable.
So,never put the cart before the horse when you are in a different country. If one day ,one entered into a big western company,saying “My ability is limited”,most likely the person would be refused.On the contrary,if you said how capable you were,he may be hired.
From all the above,we can know that social interactions may vary greatly owing to different cultural backgrounds,especially when it comes to the expression of politeness.Thus,it is necessary for us to learn more about not only how to speak foreign language but also how to act exactly when dealing with different things.
Class 2
Number 60
1110831236。