中西方婚礼在文化上的对比论文英文

毕业论文（设计）
（2011届）
题目The parison of Wedding in Chinese
and American Cultures.
毕业论文（设计）作者签名：
签名日期：年月日
摘要
摘要容：本文主要以婚礼为依据，从婚礼上的服饰、仪式、婚礼前的准备工作和音乐四个方面进行对比，从而体现出中国和美国在婚礼上的差异。

其次又分析了形成这些差异的原因。

主要的原因有三个：思维模式的差异、人生观和价值观的差异以及信仰的差异。

随着改革开放的发展，中西方的交流越来越频繁。

所以本文通过这些差异的对比，让大家清晰地了解中国和西方国家在婚礼上的差异，从而体现出中西方在文化上的差异。

只有这样才能使不同的民族更良好地沟通，也只有这样才能更好地进行跨文化交际和跨文化传播。

关键词：中美婚礼；差异；文化；跨文化交际；跨文化传播
Abstract
容：The article is based on the wedding. It is from four angles to narrate the differences between Chinese wedding and American wedding. I will go with an idea to contrast the costume, the ceremony, the preparation of the wedding and the music in Chinese and American weddings. And then I will display the reasons of forming these differences which are the different thought patterns, differentphilosophy and values and different religious belief between Chinese and American people. We will understand the differences and the reasons mentioned above clearly through these parisons. In my opinion, the purpose of knowing the differences of China and America is to make the different nations municate better. And only in this way can we do better in the intercultural munication and the cross-cultural transmission.
Key words:Chinese and Americanwedding; difference; intercultural munication;
cross-cultural transmission
Contents
Ⅰ Introduction (1)
1.1 The Significance of Wedding (1)
1.2 The Origin of Chinese Wedding (1)
1.3 The Origin of American Wedding (2)
Ⅱ The parison of Wedding Between Chinese and American Cultures (3)
2.1 The Differences of Costume in Chinese and American Wedding (3)
2.1.1 Costume in Chinese Wedding (3)
2.1.2 Costume in American Wedding (4)
2.2 The Differences of Ceremony in Chinese and American Wedding (5)
2.2.1 Ceremony in Chinese Wedding (5)
2.2.2 Ceremony in American Wedding (6)
2.3 The Differences of Preparation before Chinese and American Wedding (7)
2.3.1 Preparation before Chinese Wedding (7)
2.3.2 Preparation before American Wedding (8)
2.4 The Differences of Music in Chinese and American Wedding (9)
2.4.1 Music in Chinese and American Wedding (9)
Ⅲ The Reasons of Forming These Differences (10)
3.1 The Difference of Thought Patterns Between Chinese and American Cultures (10)
3.2 The Difference of Philosophy and Values Between Chinese and American Cultures (11)
3.3 The Difference of Religious Belief Between Chinese and American Cultures (11)
Ⅳ Conclusion (12)
Ⅰ Introduction
1.1 The Significance of Wedding
Wedding is a legitimate or a religious ceremony. It is for celebrating the beginning of a marriage. Each country and each nation has their own traditional wedding. Wedding is the most important ceremony in our whole life. There are three influential wedding in the world: Confucianism wedding; Hindu wedding and Christian wedding. Confucianism wedding is a traditional wedding of China and the Christian wedding is a tradition wedding of America. In Christianity, there is a clear significance of marriage. It is said that marriage is a decree from God. In my opinion, marriage is a new life for people who love their lovers and the wedding is a ceremony for people to verify their sweet affection.
1.2 The Origin of Chinese Wedding
The origin of Chinese wedding is from a myth and legend. It is said that in remote antiquity, there was likely to be some heavy flooding, almost all animals and human died except Nuwa and Fuxi. The God of Venus who is an immortal of Chinese ancient mythology asked them to get married to reproduce human, but both of them disagreed with this because they were brother and sister. However, if they didn’t get married, mankind would deracinate. At the same time, Nuwa and Fuxi came up with a method that if they can connect the bamboos which were cut down and then they would get
married. It was unexpected that those bamboos were connected. But they were still not willing to marry each other. Therefore, they thought out another way that if two millstones which rolled down from two mountains rolled together and then they would get married. Sure enough, the two millstones rolled together. But they also didn’t want to get married. Finally, Nuwa figured out a way that Nuwa ran first and then if Fuxi caught up with Nuwa they would get married. However Fuxi can’t overtake Nuwa. Fuxi met a turtle afterwards and the turtle taught him that he can run oppositely to catch up with Nuwa. Fuxi did what the turtle told him and he overtook Nuwa eventually. In the end, they got married. Chinese wedding was taking shape.
1.3 The Origin of American Wedding
When mentioning the origin of American wedding, we must first talk about the origin of Western wedding because American culture is influenced by Western cultures. The origin of western wedding is a legend. Itis from the Bible of Christianity. It is said that God created world in seven days.Jehovah God made a man named Adam with mud at the sixth days and blew some breath to him. Then Adam was alive suddenly. Jehovah God built the Garden of Eden and asked Adam not to eat the fruitagesof wisdom. Afterwards, Jehovah God wanted to make a spouse to help Adam, so he made a woman called Eve with one of Adam’s rib. Since then Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden happily. According to the original idea of Bible, that era is the golden age of human. However they couldn’t resist the lure from a snake and they ate the forbidden fruits. They understood the shame and they began to love each other. Ultimately Jehovah God
realized that both of them went against with his order. Jehovah God was very angry and dislodged them from the Garden of Eden. Since then there had appeared the ethnic group with love, enmity and warfare. From the discrimination mentioned above, people in primitive times got married with no more love and responsibility. With the development of social productivity and the perfection of political system, marriage had appeared. Western wedding had taken shape progressively.
ⅡTheparison of Wedding Between Chinese and American Cultures 2.1 The Differences of Costume in Chinese and American Wedding
It is obvious that costume in Chinese wedding and costume in American wedding is as different as chalk and cheese. For example, the color and the style of Chinese wedding costumes are different from American’s. Now let me demonstrate this contention.
2.1.1 Costume in Chinese Wedding
At the mention of the costume in Chinese wedding, we have to date back to ancient China. In Zhou Dynasty, people thought that the color of black represented the universe.
Therefore, the tone of their costumes at the wedding is black with a little crimson. It’s very solemn and simplicity. It is said that in Qin Dynasty, the color of wedding gowns is as same as that in Zhou Dynasty. In Han Dynasty, the color of the wedding dress is like that in Zhou and Qin Dynasty. But there are also some differences. The bridegroom and the bride needed to wear the warped shoes and the bride had to adorn the hairpin to b up her hair. In Sui and Tang Dynasty, the style of wedding gowns is as same as that previously. But the tone of the costumes had changed a lot. The bridegroom wore crimson clothes and the bride wore cyan clothes. It seems very jubilant and enthusiastic. In Ming Dynasty, Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang made a new institution. When the mon people got married, the bridegroom can wear the fake official robe like an officer, the bride can wear a phoenixcoronet on her head and wear a red long dress and also wear a robe of rank on her shoulders. Itjust looks like an empress. Besides, before the bride get into the bridal sedan chair she must wear the red veil to cover her head and embroidered shoes on her feet. The tone of all clothes at the wedding is red during that time. The style and tone of wedding gowns in Ming Dynasty is from generation to generation. Since then this kind of wedding gowns has been used for more than 500 years. Nowadays at some traditional weddings, there usually appear phoenix coronet and official robes. In Qing Dynasty, the bridegroom usually wore a skullcap, a long gown and a mandarin jacket like a Manchu. And except phoenix coronet and robes of rank, the bride also wore a long red dress with an embroidered gown. In my opinion, the most beautiful wedding costume is Ming’s style. It is not only enthusiastic but also dazzling and charming. Besides, I think all the costumes in each dynasty are also
treasures to show about the traditional culture of China.
2.1.2 Costume in American Wedding
The bride in America always wears a wedding dress and the bridegroom wears western-style clothes. It is unbelievable that there are only 200 years for brides to wear white wedding dress(吴，2006). The wedding dress was a ceremony dress of Catholic. When people got married they must accept the prayer or the blessing from priest because western people thought that the marriage was an order from God and the priest is envoy of God to convey the order. Therefore, the bride had to wear the ceremony dress of Catholic to express that she was pure and honest. However before 19 centuries, the style and tone of the bride wedding dress weren’t unified. Some of brides wore flaxen long dress, and some of them wore blue long dress, others wore pink long dress with some jewels on it. In 1840 Victoria wore an 18 feet white wedding dress and was unfolded before everyone’s eyes, andall people were fascinated by the white wedding dress(吴，2006). Therefore white wedding dress played an important role in wedding dress of western countries. In addition, the bride had to wear a veil to cover her face. It is because that only in this way can they keep away from the demon. Also it is said thatthe bridegroom needed to hold a sword on his right side formerly because of dueling with the guy who wanted to rend the bride away from him. Generally, the traditional costumes of American wedding lay stress on the four key points,”new”; ”old”; ”borrowed”and ”blue”. The”new”means the new white wedding dress, which signifies the beginning of new life. The “old” is the old
veil. It means unforgettable love and kindness of the bride’s parents. The “borrowed” is the handkerchief borrowed from the bride’s best friend to show the precious friendship. The “blue”is the blue satin which means sincere love of the newlyweds. Through discovering the costume in American wedding(文晋，2008), we can understand that the features of western culture are very interesting and historic. 2.2 The Differences of Ceremony in Chinese and American Wedding
The ceremony in Chinese and American wedding is different from each other absolutely. In general, ceremony in Chinese wedding is quite lively and jubilant; on the contrary, the ceremony in American wedding is very quiet and holy. I will refer to some details.
2.2.1 Ceremony in Chinese Wedding
The wedding ceremony is the most important part in wedding. In our country, when the bridegroom picks up the bride from the bride’s house, it always besets with difficulties. For example, the family of the bride will not let the bridegroom enter the house except that the bridegroom gives them red paper containing money as a gift; after the bridegroom get into the house, the family of the bride will hide the shoes of the bride in order to stop the bride going out with the bridegroom. And then when they e out of the house, the bride has to step over a brazier and a saddle, which means booming and safe. After that they will get to the bridegroom’s house wherea wedding ceremony will be held. The toastmaster of wedding ceremony is always a matchmaker
of the newly-weds. In ancient China, people always stood for the theory that man is an integral part of nature. Thus there are three major ceremonies in wedding ceremony. First, the newly-weds kowtow to the heaven and earth; second, they will kowtow to their parents; thirdly, they will kowtow to each other. It means that newly-weds get the permission of getting married from god and parents. And then the bridegroom and the bride give a cup of tea to their parents.After that their parents also give red packets to them. In the end, the bride gets into the bridal chamber and the bridegroom stays at the banquet to entertain guests with food and liquor and drinks a toast to all of guests. At the end of the ceremony, the best friends of the newly-weds stay and celebrate wedding in bridal chamber. The steps of Chinese wedding ceremony are extremely plex, however, the ceremony is also lively and jubilant.
2.2.2 Ceremony in American Wedding
In American wedding, the ceremony is always quiet and holy. There aren’t so many steps for the newly-weds when they are getting married. In America, wedding ceremonies are always held in churches. At the wedding day, all friends and families of the bridegroom and the bride are invited to the wedding. With the music starts, the bride and her father will walk into the church hand in hand. And then the ceremony starts. The pastor who is the toastmaster of wedding starts to officiate at a marriage. He will tell the significance of marriage to everybody in the church. According to the traditional habitude, the pastor will let the bride and the bridegroom to promise to each other,“no matter good or bad it is, rich or poor it is, weak or healthy we are, I swear
Iwill love you and cherish you until I die.” Then the bridegroom will kiss the bride and they exchange the wedding rings. After that, there will be a big feast and the type of food in the feast is depended on the favor of the bride and her families. There are so many prismatic wedding cakes in the corner. Traditionally, the bridegroom and the bride will hold the knife together and cut cakes. This is the first thing they do together. It indicates one thing that since then they will live happily and sweet. And they will eat cakes with guests. After eating, women who don’t get married get together to wait for the bride throw the bouquetof flowers to them and the woman who catches the bouquet will get married next. Because they think that the bouquet of flowers means happiness. After throwing the bouquet, the bride will throw the garter and the man who catches the garter will marry a beautiful girl soon. Next, all guests throw rice to the bridegroom and the bride because it expresses the best wishes to them(利，2011). At the end of the ceremony, the bridegroom and the bride will drive the wedding car to make a wedding trip. Going on a honeymoon is a romantic thing. This activity will help the newly-weds enhance their sweet and happy life.
2.3 The Differences of Preparation before Chinese and American Wedding
There are so many differences in preparation before Chinese and American weddings. I think the major reason of forming these differences is different concepts between Chinese and American people. In addition, the way of thought is another one of reasons.
2.3.1 Preparation before Chinese Wedding
Influenced by Confucianism, the process of preparations in Chinese wedding is very plex. There is a specific process called “three letters and six rites”. “Three letters”include the letters of appointment, present, escorting; and “six rites” mean proposing a marriage, asking name, divination of the auspicious day, sending bride-price to bride’s home, selecting the date of wedding and greeting bride(林琳，2010). In detail, first of all, the bridegroom asks the matchmaker to propose marriage to the bride. Then when matchmaker arrives at the bride’s home, she will ask the name and date of birth of bride and divine whether it is auspicious or not. Next, both of newly-weds’families get together to discuss the date of wedding and then the bridegroom will send the bride-price to bride’s home, and then they will select the date of wedding and at that day, the bridegroom goes to the bride’ s home to escort her back to the wedding. Greeting brideis the most important link of the preparation. After the process of greeting, the bride marries the bridegroom formally. From the first part of six rites, the bridegroom and the bride have littlemunication with each other, almost all arrangements and decisions are decided by their parents and the matchmaker plays an important rolein municating with two families. It reflects that Chinese people influenced by Confucianism deeply because Confucianism is a core of thought in each dynastyand it is a direction of Chinese behavior(贾剑秋，2003). And it advocates obeying the order of parents and following the advice of matchmaker.Nowadays, most of Chinese go with the tradition. At the present, except these steps people also have to decide a place to hold the wedding ceremony before the wedding. In addition, the bride and bridegroom will pack the wedding candies and wedding cigarettes for the families
and guests who take part in their wedding ceremony.
2.3.2 Preparation before American Wedding
The preparation of American wedding is much simpler than Chinese wedding. According to the traditional customs, there are some necessary procedures. First of all, when people want to get married, they always publish this information on newspapers. The name of the bridegroom, the bride and their parents and the date of wedding will be written on that announcement. And then the bridegroom and the bride will send wedding cards to their families and friends. Before the wedding ceremony, the bridegroom and the bride will first get engaged. At that time the bridegroom and the bride need to exchange theengagement rings. This custom makes us to date back to final stage of primitive society. When the people who lived in the primitive tribe wanted to get married, two of the newly-weds always exchanged the garland to ensure the bination of their souls. And this custom has passed down from generation to generation. Then the newly-weds will arrange the layout at the church and hold some bachelor party with their friends to celebrate finishing their single lives. In America, the bridegroom and the bride are free to municate with each other before they hold the wedding ceremony. They believe in the freedom of marriage. When they love each other and decide to get married, they tell their parents about that and discuss all things of wedding. And then the man can take the initiative in a proposal of marriage to the lady. The man holds roses and ring and then kneels to the lady and ask her”will you marry me?”The lady must say”yes”with a happy smile. That’s the most romantic
part.Obviously, the preparation before American wedding is very simple, dreamlike and romantic.
2.4 The Differences of Music in Chinese and American Wedding
2.4.1 Music in Chinese and American Wedding
There are lots of differences between music in Chinese wedding and that in American wedding. In China, the traditional wedding music is very resonant and overwhelming. The main instruments are suona horns and trumpets. These instruments are very popular in Chinese wedding because of the loud and sonorous voice. However, the music in American wedding is different from Chinese wedding music. The traditional American wedding music is soft and soothing. This kind of music can keep the solemnand harmonious atmosphere in churches. At the same time, it is to pay people’s respects to gods.
Ⅲ The Reasons of Forming These Differences
3.1 The Difference of Thought Patterns Between Chinese and American Cultures
Different cultures influence different people. In China, the Chinese people are influenced by Confucianism and the system of feudal society, which both put great emphasis on filial piety. At ancient times, when it is time for people to get married, their parents always make decisions for them. Of course they act on the orders of their parents. When their parents select an appropriate mate, the parents will ask a matchmaker to serve as a link between two young people who are ready to get married. This is the traditional thought pattern of marriage in China. The young people don’t have the freedom to choose their own marriage partners. They must listen to their parents and the matchmaker. The purpose of getting married is to produce a male heir to carry on the family line and it is responsibility and duty for the male to get married. The newly-weds may don’t know each other and they even never meet each other before they get married. In addition, the wife must honor her husband and ply with her husband’s wishes. And all husbands at that time can take concubines. It reflects the society of the male sovereignty in China.
In America, it is different from China. American always advocates independence and freedom. The American people are independent and equal in their
families. Because of the influence of Christianity, American believes that marriage is a decree from God(文晋，2008). The marriage is based on being in love with each other and being honest. America people always have the freedom to choose their own marriage partners. So they can date whoever they like. They have right to make decisions of making friends, dating and getting married. And after getting married, the wife has rights to do anything because everyone is equal. Therefore, in America, the man can only marry on woman. If he wants to marry another lady, he should offer divorce agreement.
3.2 The Difference of Philosophy and Values Between Chinese and American Cultures
The ability of social intercourse connects with the philosophy and values. Every culture has it own philosophical system. This system can help people to differentiate between good and evil. In other words, it is moral outlook and code of conduct. Influenced by Li Ji, which is a book of rites, Chinese people are modest, prudent, polite and traditional. Therefore the Chinese wedding follows Confucianism and the steps of wedding are very plex and extravagant. However, American people uphold egotism extremely, so the American wedding is independent and simple.
3.3 The Difference of Religious Belief between Chinese and American
In China, most of Chinese people believe in Confucianism and Taoism. Chinese people always advocate a view that human beings are an integral part of nature and regard the
universe as a mother of everything of earth. Therefore, the first part of a wedding ceremony is that the newly-weds kowtow to the heaven and earth. They think that they get the permission to get married from the universe. However, in America, American people profess a belief in Christianity. Most of American people think that marriage is a decree from God and the priests are envoys of God. Thus they always hold a wedding ceremony in a Christian church and let a priest to take charge of the wedding ceremony.
Ⅳ Conclusion
Nowadays, there are more opportunities for Chinese to go abroad and Chinese people have more munication with American people. The numbers of getting married between Chinese and American are rapidly increased recently. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the different customs of Chinese and American wedding. Wedding is a phenomenon of culture. As an important part of culture, it is an important part in our life too. However, there are many kinds of wedding in every country. With the development of society and the influence of globalization, wedding in each country has changed a lot. The article talks about the differences of wedding costumes, wedding ceremony, preparation of wedding and wedding music. And then analyze the differences of thought pattern, philosophy and values and religion belief between Chinese and American cultures, which are the reasons of forming those differences mentioned above. The
differences of cultures between China and America are worthwhile for us to respect and study. Through the research and introduction, we can do better in the intercultural munication and the cross-cultural transmission. We must contain the similarities and differences, and absorb what is good and reject what is bad. It can help China to be a stronger country in the world.
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my profound appreciation to my tutor Ms Zheng Yi who encouraged me to pursue this topic in the first place, for her guidance and patience, for the time and effort she spent in helping the acplishment of this thesis. Greatest admiration is given to her, for offering me the selfless and generous support both in my thesis writing.
A deep sense of gratitude goes to my dear classmates and roommates who gave
me spiritual support and helped me get through the most difficult times.
Finally, I would like to thank my beloved family. Profound gratitude goes to my father and my mother, for their deep love, unconditioned support and understanding over the year.
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