Let's look at the difference between tableware: knives, forks and chopsticks not only bring about the difference in eating habits, but also affect the life concept of eastern and western people. Knife and fork will inevitably lead to the sharing system, and chopsticks will definitely match the family members sitting around the table and eating together. From the very beginning, the west divided itself into two parts, which led to the idea and habit that westerners pay attention to independence and their children will enter the world independently when they grow up. The dining system brought by chopsticks highlights the family unit where the old and the young sit together, thus giving orientals a relatively solid family concept.
Different colors represent completely different meanings in different countries and nations, and the preference for different colors can reflect the aesthetic taste and likes and dislikes of a nation or country as a whole. In the cultural background of China, red represents luck, wealth, auspiciousness and celebration, while in the western concept, red is the color of blood, indicating impulsiveness, provocation and turmoil. We see that Spanish matadors holding red cloth are challenging cows, and red can irritate bullfighting. Therefore, China people like to wear red clothes in festive festivals, while westerners generally choose blue because they think blue represents calmness and composure.
The difference in the way of thinking is that China people think more abstractly, while westerners think more concretely.
The difference in attitude towards life is that China people pay more attention to spiritual feelings, while westerners pay attention to practicality.
In the art of painting and sculpture, Chinese painting is freehand brushwork, while western oil painting pays attention to the proportion of human body and optical principle. For example, in order to show that fairies can fly, people in China add a few white clouds at the feet of fairies to show the artistic conception of flying. Westerners can't understand our abstract artistic expression. In western classic religious paintings, in order to show that angels are flying, we have to add a pair of wings to those lovely elves. Because they only think that wings can fly. In carving works, China people pay more attention to imagination and artistic conception. For example, a monkey crouches on a horse's back, and their proportions are almost the same, but they just show an artistic conception: seal the marquis immediately. However, western sculpture works emphasize realism and delicacy, and will never produce such an out-of-proportion art work.
When introducing guests, China people like to use words of praise, with many subjective comments. However, westerners believe that there is no need to comment when introducing guests, and all subjective comments have a sense of imposition. The introduction mainly highlights the identity, education and position of the introduced person, and should not be accompanied by appearance and abstract comments.
Westerners pay more attention to individual independence. Being taken care of is often regarded as the weak. When giving advice or suggestions to the other party, you can't make the other party think that you underestimate his ability and don't have to teach others how to do it. People in China often show their concern by offering ideas and suggestions.
Visiting friends, relatives and colleagues in China is very casual. You don't need to set a time for others to visit, and you don't need to ask for permission seriously to visit others yourself. Americans have no habit of dropping in. If you have something to visit at ordinary times, you should make an exact appointment in advance. It is impolite to come to the door at any time and place without the consent of the other party. Chatting on the phone with nothing to do is also regarded by Americans as an act of disrupting other people's private time and activities.
People in China are short of hugs and close relatives. It is a great pity that we are not good at expressing the friendship and closeness between people with body movements. Psychological research shows that the psychological quality of children who are often touched and hugged is much healthier than those who are not touched and hugged. So do adults. People need to touch. Children in China are much less hugged and kissed than children in the United States. When you are about ten years old, few people hug and kiss you, including your parents and relatives. Besides shaking hands, we won't have physical contact with the other until we are in love. In other words, we usually have no close physical contact for ten years or more. In western culture, parents and children, brothers and sisters, and friends have never stopped hugging and kissing since childhood. All normal people will have experience, and any verbal expression can't replace the expression of the body. Both sociology and psychology textbooks have the term "body language". China culture lacks rich body language to express feelings and share between people.
Orientals like to complicate problems, while westerners like simplicity and don't want to make themselves too tired. Many people in China think that westerners are simple and a little silly, or like children, with heavy childlike innocence.
In essence, the West is a society with moral supremacy and a contractual society, which is the "harmonious society" that we pursue. The contractual society stresses "speaking first and not messing up later", which can be oral or written contractual relationship between people. Sometimes, the responsibilities and rights of both parties should be clarified in the form of legal texts. It is the protection of one's rights and respect for his interests.
China culture stresses benevolence and loyalty. In the west, when children grow up, parents have no obligation to raise them again, and they have to count every cent when they go home for dinner.
There are also great differences between Chinese and Western educational concepts. An American sighed after marrying China's wife: "Before, I thought that China people were smarter than Americans. Now I know that China parents are always forcing their children to study. Their duty is to educate the best children, even their children's summer vacation. The duty of American parents is to let their children really enjoy their childhood, to exercise, to make friends, to go hiking and to do what they like. "
American parents never help their children with their homework. They think: If parents are teachers, what do teachers do in their children's schools? If children make mistakes in their homework, they will not give them correct answers, which will make them think again. They think that how can people improve without making mistakes? They attach great importance to their children's self-confidence, never attack them, don't say how stupid they are, and always praise them. They also won't let them sacrifice their weekend play time to study. Parents in China are always proud of their children's academic achievements. American parents don't talk much about their children's studies, and their children's grades are their own business, which others can't control.
Education in China always expects too much from children. Children are dominated and accused too much, and they will become fragile. They are most afraid of making mistakes and failure, so in order to avoid mistakes, they give up the opportunity to ask questions and the process of learning in failure. When children grow up, they not only lose the ability to create and imagine, but also become swayed by considerations of gain and loss. Because the knowledge, thinking, logic and reasoning learned after being forced are passive. In today's ruthless and fierce competition world, only the strong can make achievements. China's education system is not to mold a real child, but always to turn the child into what he wants. Children are not given a space to be themselves, but a product of blind obedience to what others do. Interest is very important for both adults and children. It will only get twice the result with half the effort to let a person do something he doesn't want to do. Respect your child, regard him as an equal person, and enjoy the equal right to speak, criticize and resist with you. Obedient children are not necessarily good children, let alone promising. China has repeatedly stressed how solid his basic education is and how poor American children are in mathematics and physics. But what we see is that the United States will always be at the forefront of world science and technology. How many of the computers we use in China every day, including computer chips and large and small software running in them, are not made by Americans?