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摘 要

饮食是人类生活、生存与发展的必需，可是由于中西方文化传统的差异，导致了中西方饮食文化在观念、对象、方式、归属与性质方面产生了差异，研究这些差异，找出可以融会贯通的地方，促进中西文化交流。中国是一种农耕文化的陆地文化，而传统的西方文化是一种畜牧文化的海洋文化，俩种不同的文化反映出人们生活方式的差异，其中饮食文化更是具有代表性的一个方面。在不同的文化背景下，无论是在饮食观念，饮食对象，厨具，餐具还是餐桌礼仪等各个方面，这些饮食文化的差异都是显而易见的。但是随着国际之间的交流和融合，中西饮食文化业将会在交流中共同发展，这对全世界范围内的文化交流将起到促进的作用。

关键词：饮食文化; 文化传统; 差异；中国; 西方

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. The Differences of Dietary Cultures between China and the West 3

3.1 Dietary Concepts 3

3.2 The Nature 5

3.3 Cooking Patterns 6

3.4 The Order of Serving Dishes 6

4. Cause for the differences 7

4.1 Table ware 7

4.2 Diet etiquette 9

4.3The influence of political 9

4.4 Economic factors 10

4.5The impact of the geographical environment 11

5. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

With the entrance of the 21st century cross-cultural communication has been a more and more popular activity even among common people. However, because of the differences of areas, environments and customs, different nations have formed their specific cultures.Food, as an essential prerequisite for existence, is any substance that provides the necessary nutrient to maintain life and growth when ingested. It plays an irreplaceable role in the development of society and in the progress of human beings. As human developed, people’s needs to food is not only limited to nutrition, the content of eating abounded gradually and eating food became a kind of culture, However ,people living in different countries are influenced by respective natural environment, historical background and national culture. Then in the field of food culture originated from certain historical factors, their inheritance and development was dominated by spiritual culture which has the subjective tendentiousness.

The diet is the first need for human’s survival and development; also it is the one of the basic form of social life.However under the different cultural background, having different diet idea and diet custom, then finally form the different diet culture, Food culture is an important part in the intercultural communication, Understand the differences between Chinese and western diet culture and its origin, for foreign language learners, not only increase the understanding of the target language culture, But also improve the success rate of intercultural communication, avoid the misunderstandings and communication barriers just because of the inappropriate way or behavior.

Due to the differences of regional, different nations and countries form different cultures. People with different cultural backgrounds behavior or habits is endless and same, they have their social statute or habits, reflected in the political economy, education religion, culture, art and so on.

As one of the world ancient nations, China’s diet has a history almost as long as that of Chinese civilization. But in western countries, ancient thinkers devoted less attention to the food problem than the Chinese philosophers did, and there is even not aware of it to the “heaven”degree. With the opposite, they recognized and interpreted the world in the perspective of the lust or love of men and women more.

Receiving the influence of respective cultural tradition, the Chinese and western dietary culture has had different characteristic. The differences in concepts ,targets,patterns,attibution and nature had reflected the different dietary culture in the different state characteristic; such Characteristic has enrich the research value of dietary culture. Studying these cultural differences, we can find out a joint enhancing the communication between China and the west through a comprehensive study of the subject. It may be a great help to the communication of the Chinese and western cultures.

2. Literature Review

Belonging to history and social factors, diet is one of important factors that influence the effects in our daily life. Wang xuetai finds that diet culture is a national of a country’s important component. Different countries have their own food dietetic cultural. In different cultural contexts, both in concept, objects, manner, tableware, etiquette and nature, these differences are obvious. But as the communication and integration of the international, Chinese and western food culture will be developed in common communicate. This will play a significant role to promote the communication of culture in the world.

Chinese scholars, like Lv erxin pointed out that there are four differences of dietary cultures between China and the West, 1. Dietary concepts the western diet is compatible with the whole western philosophy. Metaphysics is the main feature of western philosophy and western diet tastes stereotyped, Chinese believe that diet is a sense of beauty diet.2.Tableware, Chinese people including some Asian countries, use chopsticks, spoon, when they have a meal also use bowl to fill. But westerners are fill food use plate, to use a knife and fork to eat, there are specialized spoon to drink soup. Chopsticks and knife, fork as two kinds of representative tableware for the east and west, 3.Diet objects Westerners believe that cuisine is the longing, so only eat of meat, chicken this “hard food”; While Chinese cuisine is “taste”. So the Chinese cooking with makings also show great randomness, according to the obvious differences in characteristic of western diet object the Chinese character known as the plants, the Western character known as animals.4.Diet manner, In China, any of the feast, whatever the purpose, there will be only one form, that is, we were sitting around, sharing one seat. But the westerner is individual serving when they eating, the first is the point of all the food, they can eat what something, and it also showed respect for the West on the personality.

American writer Craig Claiborne he felt there are two differences 1.The differences on etiqutte, Chinese tend to be stirring and would urge each other to drink and let vegetables at the table while westerners tend to be quiet around the table and cut their ownfood in their plate quietly although they are stirring in daily life 2.The differences on cooking way, Chinese pay more attention to duration and degree of heating with no control of time but westerner is some kind of normalized cooking.

I think the main differences of Chinese and Western in diet reflected in these aspects; 1.In dietary concepts 2.In the nature 3.In cooking patterns 4.In the order of serving dishes

3. The Differences of Dietary Cultures between China and the West

Food is an indispensable condition for the survival and development of human beings. As one of the world ancient nations, china’s diet has a history almost as long as that of Chinese civilization. But in western countries, ancient thinkers devoted less attention to the food problem than Chinese philosophers did. Due to different ways of thinking and the matter of philosophy, Chinese Focus on “heaven’degree, with the opposite, westerners emphasis on “People-oriented”.These lead to differences between china and western dietary cultures.

3.1 Dietary Concepts

First, the Chinese and western diet have the differences that cannot be ignored in concepts. Nobody will deny that the Western diet is a rational concept, regardless of the color of food, incense, flavor and shape, but nutrition must be assured. It cares about the intake of calories, vitamins, protein and so on during a day. Comparing with the Chinese diet, western diet tastes stereotyped, as simple as chewing the candle, but the sense tells them: We must eat them all because of the nutrition. And then they put it bluntly, just like refueling machine.

The concept of western diet is compatible with the whole western philosophy. Metaphysics is the main feature of western philosophy. Such kind of philosophy brings vitality to western culture, so the natural sciences, psychology and methodology achieve a rapid development. In some other aspects, such philosophy proposition is a significantly obstacle, such as the dietary culture, which is the inevitable thing to drop behind, and just the metaphysics of methodology marks everywhere. In celebration, it stresses tableware, stresses the staple, stresses the servings, and stresses the color and shape mix of raw materials. But no matter how luxurious the grade is; from Los Angeles to New York, only one taste of steak, it is no art to speak of. And as dishes, the chicken is chicken; steak is steak, even in groups, which are also conducted in a shallow dish. In a dish of "French Muttonchops", one side is potato mud, and muttonchops sits next to it, another side is allocation of cooking beans, and plus a few tablets of tomato. Color is on clear, but the tastes of the various materials are separated, not to reconcile, and the entire flavor is also simple and clear.

The Chinese and western diet have the differences that can’t be ignored in cocepts. Nobody will deny that the western diet is a rational concept, regardless of the color of food, incense, flavor and shape, but nutrition must be assured. It cares about the intake of calories, vitamins, protein and so on during a day. Comparing with the Chinese diet, western diet tastes stereotyped, as simple as chewing the candle, but the sense tells them: we must eat them all because of the nutrition. And then they put it bluntly, just like refueling machine.

The concept of western diet is compatible with the whole western philosophy . Metaphysics is the main feature of western philosophy. Such kind of philosophy brings vitality to western culture, so the natural sciences, psychology and methodology achieve a rapid development. In some other aspects, such philosophy proposition is a significantly obstacle, such as the dietary culture, which is the inevitable thing to drop behind, and just the metaphysics of methodology marks everywhere. In celebration, it stresses the staple, stresses the savings, and stresses the color and shape mix of raw materials.

Chinese diet is a sense of beauty diet .when people sample dishes, they often say this dish is “delicious”, and that dish is “not delicious”.but if you ask what is meant by “delicious”.why “tasty”and what are the aspects of “delicious”, i am afraid that it will be difficult to answer. This shows that which Chinese people hanker on a diet is just the “mood”that is difficult for one to say anything. Even using the “color,flavor,shape and implement” which people often said to make the “realm shape and implement”which people often said to make the”realm”reification,i am afraid it is still difficult to crown all.The beauty pursuit of Chinese cuisine is clearly overriding the rational pursuit. This concept of diet is also coinciding with the traditional Chinese philosophy. Chinese philosophy as a representative of oriental philosophy, its distinguishing features is the macro, visual, vague and evasive. Chinese cooking method is to reconcile, and the ultimate goal is to reconcile out of a beautiful taste, the main stress is measure and the overall co-ordination. It contains a wealth of dialectics of Chinese philosophy, and all these depend on the degree of the wonderful flavor and harmony of dish. The ever-changing within degrees decides the changeable of Chinese food, and it also decides the characteristics of Chinese food as well as the characteristics on each of the chese.

3.2 The Nature

Differences in the nature of the Chinese and western diet are inosculated with the respective lifestyle and the pace of life. In the west, people do the duplication of pipeline operations, and implement piece-wage system, so the paces of their lives are so fast. People fall under the mechanical method either intentionally or unintentionally, and believe that “Work is work, and game is game.” Mechanical lives led to oneness of diet or a single blind about diet, and eat beefsteak and potatoes every day. Monotonous diet is the same as work, for which the purposes is to fulfill the “incident”, naturally with no interests, and all these have no word in terms of taste. But China is not, “The game is work, and the work is of a game”. Such life manner is also emerged in diet. A baker sells bread in the street, he likes using the rolling pole to beat the chopping board rhythmically when they knead flour. When the cooks fry a dish, even beating scoop, they also care the sense of rhythm during cooking. These would not work for any conveniences, but it increases the interests of workers. Only in such an atmosphere work will be meaningful, and it will have more creativity and artistry of Chinese cuisine.

3.3 Cooking Patterns

The difference in cooking patterns between China and the west is first shown in the use of knife.There are more than ten kinds of Cutting in China such as dicing, slicing, mashing, mincing, etc. The westerners usually choose large pieces of raw materials in their cooking.

Second, the cooking methods between China and the west are very different. China has very rich kind of cooking methods, such as braising, quick boiling, scaling, etc.up to moer than thirty kinds.Besides,the dishes cooked with these methods are numerous. That is why Chinese feel it is very interesting to cook, while the Westerners emphasize too much on scientific diet and the collocation of nutrition. They cook according to scientific disciplines all the time, which is mechanized and monotonous, therefore without any joy.

The third difference lies in the master of the cooking duration and the amount of ingredients. Chinese dishes are very particularabout cooking duration. A meal can neither be cooked too long to be over-cooked nor be cooked too short to still be raw. However, the Westerners have a strict control in their cooking. The preparation of the raw materials is accurate to one gram and the cooking duration is accurate to one second

3.4 The Order of Serving Dishes

Chinese and Western diet are also different in the order of serving dishes .Take a banquet for example. In a Chinese banquet cold dishes are the first served, next the hot dishes and the main course come with the following of soup, and then follow the main food or desserts. Fruits often come the last .In a western banquet them serving order is different .The first course of Western dinner is appetizer.It is divided into cold dish. Appetizers have specific flavors,mainly salty or sour.They are few in amount but high in qualities. Different from Chinese dinners, the second course of Western dinner is soup.Western soup can be divided into four kinds, clear soup, cream soup, vegetable soup and cool soup which can be divided into more kinds. The Third course of a Western dinner is non-stable dish.It contains all kinds of fresh water fish and salt water fish, a variety of shellfish and mollusks.Usually ,aquatic products,eggs,bread is called non-stable dish. The fourth course of Western dinner is the main course, which contains meat and bird species. They are served with different kind of sauces. The fifth course of Western dinner is dishes made of vegetables.

4. Cause for the differences

The impact brought about by economic globalization is stronger and deeper than the internationalization.Economic globalization is a double edged sword,on one hand,it brings the vitality of economic growth,and on the other hand,the dominant culture is put into oher countries through strong economic and infiltrated every corner of the globe. Therefore, the cultural cpmmunication focus on how to assimilate advantages of the other countries’culture, abandon its shortcoming, and learn how to transform and make it localized, all countries need to study the issue.so in the face of the dietary cultural exchange problems between Chinese and the west, we should find each other’s advantages and the mutual advantages, as China can learn form the point taat western diet stresses nutrition match, and make the Chinese cuisine more outstanding.

4.1 Table ware

As known to all ,it takes chopsticks as the principle table ware and it gives second place to spoons,cups,plates,bowls and dishes. Chinese pay attention to the diverse shape, size and color in table ware because different tableware should be used in different occasions. Besides,Chinese think a lot of the coordinating collocation between table ware and dishes in culinary art. In their opinion, exquisite food should be compatible with elegant tableware and the harmonious collocation should be noticed as well. We treat dietary as the art activity so it requires us that we we have to make sure the dishes is compatible harmoniously with the tableware in the decorated color,form and space.We try our best to achieve that people can enjoy from the beautiful art when they are eating the delicious food.

The chopsticks are the most representative tableware in Chinese meal.Since there was a distinction between man and ape, people has found that the food tasted more delicious after cooking .People had meal without using chopsticks in the begining of Qin Dynasty. Based on the record from The Book of Rites, it is surmised that people use their hands to have a meal. Later, when people were braising the food ,thy could not operate with hands directly so they need something like the branch of bamboo to place and turn over the food ,In addition,they also use the branch to take the meat and vegetables from the boiling ware. As time passing ,the clever ancients gradually learn to take food with the twig made of bamboo which is exactly the earliest rudiment of chopsticks.The main reason for chopsticks to be the indispensable tableware originated from ancient time to today is that the Chinese diet has own deep origin in culture. Because the farming culture has established the vegetarian diet to be the main position in Chinese dietary strucure, most Chinese are with the main characteristics, such as connotation and introversion. Chinese are good at thinking and both their language and behavior are in the euphemistic way ,what’s more, they attach importance to helping with each other . The sharing food system brought from the chopsticks highlight the family element that all the old and the young are sitting around a table to have meal ,therefore,the Chinese have the strong family concept.

In the west ,there no denying that it takes knife and fork as the principal tableware and it gives second place to various cups.plates,dishes,and soup spoons.There are five categories in their tableware,including chinaware,silver,metal ware,glass and serving plate.Furthermore,depending on the different usages in distinct occasions,there are tremendous kinds of the metal ware,chinaware and glass.For example, the tea cup and coffee cup are always the chinaware while knife and fork are almost the metal ware and that cup and goblet are nearly the glass. A couple of knife and fork is the most representative tableware in western-style food. The appearance of knife and fork is later then chopsticks.The initial origin of knife and fork has a close relationship with the lliving custom of ancient of noimad nation food .The appearance of knife and fork is later then chopsticks. The initial origin of knife and fork has a clkose relationship with the living custom of ancient nomad nation in Europe .They carried knife with one in their daily life to cut the meat to eat after the meat was fried.Then when they started to settle down, the Europe took livestock husbandry as the principle thing. As a result,the main dishes are beef and mutton which are incised by knife to put into mouth while the subsidiary food is something as bread that people eat with hand directly.They still need carry knife with one until they settled down in the city so that the knife and fork are placed in the kitchen.From the above,it is not difficult to get that knife,as the main tableware, is quite different to chopsticks because it has diverse functions.For example ,it not only can be used to kill the animal and to incise the meat ,but also can be used as the tableware to have meal.What’s more, it not only gives expression sufficiently to human respect and personal respect from westerners, but also emphasizes the personal independence.

4.2 Diet etiquette

In etiquette, both in the west and Chinese are even more different. In ancient China, during people have the dinner, they have a set of unnecessary and over elaborate formalities. When people eat together, not just eat their own interests. If you eat with others, you must check the hands clean. Do not put extra food into the pot, and do not post occupied food. After dinner, guests should pack up and move the dishes on the table, take them to the master, then the master get off, you should request them do not work, then the guests sit down again. Some of this ritual is essential in modern manners. In the west banquet, the master generally folder the dish only once for the guests, and the remaining self-consumption by the guests, if guests do not eat, you should not let them to eat, according to the habit of Chinese, people are not frequently provide guests to drink and take the food. When people eating, do not make the noise, but the guests should pay attention to appreciate the food by the master. If talking to people, only overstated with your neighbors, do not talk to people with the distance.

4.3The influence of political

Generally political environment on food culture is obvious, the likes and dislikes and administractive policies will have great impact on folk eat custom, economic influence on diet culture, the restriction of the productivity development level. In other words, what kind of material production base, it will produce the corresponding diet structure. With the development of the productive forces level unceasing enhancement, the dietary requirements of people is more and more high.

Marx once said: “Ideas of consciousness is initially directly with people produce the material activity, and people’s physical contact and the reality of language intertwined production.” (Marx, 1972: 89) This point of view clear expressed the symbiotic isomorphism relations between the cultural and economic activity. Peter, Koslowski also said that, “the most important economic behavior is decided by the cultural, their cultural engraved with cultural cachet.”(Peter, Koslowski, 1999: 229) The real economic growth depends on the culture. The traditional economy of China is a typical self-sufficient economy. People are more law-abiding and conservative, because they can live for the whole life rely on a piece of land. And their culture is more introverted. Moreover, China’s ancient civilization originated in the river basin, it belongs the agricultural civilization, “agricultural civilization character” inspired the Asian emphasis on ethics, and the principle of life is “harmony, and love for the high”. In the ancient China, people are still more poor rather than the western countries, at that time, the lower people just required eat their fill and wear the warm clothes, the Chinese people in the old ancient, because without something to eat and drink, a lot of people and children are being starved to death. You can not image the horror in that time. Followed the progress and development of the social, people have been get the basic meet in terms of food, they do not worried just because they have not enough food to eat, on the other hand, people are paying attention to the nutrition of diet food, and trying to convince themselves to eat more healthy, more nutrition, so now there have been many so-called food therapy.

4.4 Economic factors

The traditional economy of China is a typical self-sufficient economy. People are more law-abiding and conservative, because they can live for the whole life rely on a piece of land. And their culture is more introverted. Moreover, China’s ancient civilization originated in the river basin, it belongs the agricultural civilization, "agricultural civilization character" inspired the Asian emphasis on ethics, and the principle of life is “harmony, and love for the high”. In the ancient China, people are still more poor rather than the western countries, at that time, the lower people just required eat their fill and wear the warm clothes, the Chinese people in the old ancient, because without something to eat and drink, a lot of people and children are being starved to death. You can not image the horror in that time. Followed the progress and development of the social, people have been get the basic meet in terms of food, they do not worried just because they have not enough food to eat, on the other hand, people are paying attention to the nutrition of diet food, and trying to convince themselves to eat more healthy, more nutrition, so now there have been many so-called food therapy.

The ancient Greek civilization of the west is originated in the Aegean coast, belongs to the Marine civilization, besides Europe"s farming is not far as China"s agriculture as important in ancient society, so the Europeans like to explore the world, and their cultural is more comparative extroversion.

4.5The impact of the geographical environment

China is the closed continental geographical, this environment limited the thinking of the Chinese people within the local community, they good at summing up the experiences and lessons from their predecessors, they like “history as a mirror”, and their spatial awareness is weak. (Bian Haoyu, 2004) These mentalities of inward-looking led to the Chinese people have the personality of stability and quiet, they lack of curiosity about the new things, and also they lack of interest in the unknown things. So the Chinese diet food is more have the regional characteristics, different places have the different favorite food to eat, the north have the lower temperature than south, especially in the winter, the weather is very cold, In the diet of the north, a large proportion of fat and protein in the food, especially in pastoral areas, the food of pastoralists is majority of milk and meat, also they like eating noodles. And the food diet of southerners is based on the plant, the residents have the habit of drinking soup and eat porridge, no matter if the food has been put on, they must be the first to eat soup, drink soup before eating a bit, after fond, they also have another bowl of soup to drink, this to be considered as eating a meal. And they mainly eat rice.

The majority of western countries are in the open ocean environment of geography, they developed industry and seafaring, since the ancient Greece, they have valued the study of natural objects, and they exploring the mysteries of the natural heritage. At the same time, the marine environment, mountain tsunami, unrest, this all constitutes the personality of the western nation pay attention to the space expansion and military conquest. So westerners have a scientific attitude of the food diet, this also very standard and arbitrary, and they like to eat the meat food.

5. Conclusion

By the text from this thesis, we can easily find that there still exist various differences between Chinese and western dietary cultures. But with the development of cultural communication between China and the west, along with the strengthening of communication between China and the west, China has imported various kinds of western food, known as the "KFC" "DICOS", "McDonald". These mark a new western food culture exchanges and infiltration.

The impact brought about by economic globalization is stronger and deeper than the internationalization. Economic globalization is a double-edged sword, on one hand, it brings the vitality of economic growth, and on the other hand, the dominant culture is put into other countries through strong economic and infiltrated every corner of the globe. Therefore, the cultural communication focus on how to assimilate advantages of the other countries’ culture, abandon its shortcoming, and learn how to transform and make it localized, all countries need to study the issue. So in the face of the dietary cultural exchange problems between China and the West, we should find each other"s advantages and draw the mutual advantages, as China can learn from the point that western diet stresses nutrition match, and make the Chinese cuisine more outstanding.

China is the country of a long history with an ancient culture, and enriching in cultural traditions. She feeds the 1.3 billion Chinese people, and Chinese culture is very inclusive; in the course of development it absorbs a lot of different cultures. Moreover, now China does more efforts to draw all the outstanding achievements in the World. China"s reform and opening up policy create the conditions on international relations and cultural exchanges. We need to use such an opportunity to absorb the excellent cultures from other countries, to develop and create China"s new culture.

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