论文总字数：32783字

摘 要

婚姻是人类文明进步的标志之一。随着社会的发展，人类对于文明的要求越来越高，自然对于婚嫁中的各项细节也越来越重视，并逐渐发展成为一种礼仪。由于经济、政治、历史、宗教、地理特征等诸多因素的影响，中西方不同地区形成了具有各自地方特色的婚礼习俗,充分反映了中西方文化间的差异。

本文将从衣、食、行、礼仪这四个方面来探讨中西方婚礼习俗的差异。通过研究婚俗，可以使人们对中西方的历史发展和文化背景的差异有全面地了解，从而提高中西方文化的学习效率，达到提升英语水平和开阔视野的目的。再者，把握好文化差异，还能更进一步的推动文化交流，对有效地开展国际交流和合作产生的积极影响。因此，我们亟需采取措施减少文化差异给文化交流带来的负面影响，如改进教学方法、重点发展学生的非语言交流能力、加大中国和西方文化融合等等。

关键词：婚礼习俗；文化差异；主要原因；措施

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Differences in Chinese and Western Marriage Customs 2

3.1 Chinese Marriage Customs 2

3.2 Western Marriage Customs 5

4. Reasons for Differences between Western and Eastern Cultures 8

4.1 Western Theories 8

4.2 Chinese Theories 9

5. Cultural Integration 10

5.1 Tendency of the Cultural Integration 10

5.2 Importance of Understanding Cultural Differences 11

5.3 Measures of Promoting Cultural Integration 11

6. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 15

1. Introduction

Marriage culture is an important part of the national culture. Western way of daily life has changed dramatically in the exchange inherent in traditional culture because of accelerating globalization process and deepening the degree of a blend of western culture. However, there is still a marriage performance and in-depth study on the subject which has a strong ethnic characteristic. Different cultures can shape different wedding customs. On one hand, western wedding ceremony is terrific and romantic while Chinese is traditional and special. On the other hand, western wedding is simple while Chinese is complex. At the same time, wedding customs can also reflect the culture itself. Through the discrepancy of wedding customs, we can know more about the characteristics of the traditional western weddings. Meanwhile, they are shaped and polished by their own culture.

In my thesis, Chinese and Western weddings are specifically described in four aspects in the first part, which will be conducive to understand the culture behind the internal specific phenomenon. The second part is based on comparing and analyzing in the differences between Western and Chinese marriage customs, and then pointing out that the main reasons for them. The third part is about the combination of Chinese and Western wedding customs, which reflects the cultural integration. And then propose measures of promoting cultural integration. The last part is the conclusion, the foregoing summary and enhancement, mentioned in the form of this part of the total.

1. Literature Review

It is well known that the world trends towards globalization nowadays, and the development of relationships among different countries has become more interlinked. Nevertheless, marriage, one of cross-culture forms, has become more complex in the historical evolution of the marriage culture. Through researches on various weddings, we can get a clearer understanding of human history, and then enhance the complementarities between Chinese and Western culture, so as to reduce conflicts and contradiction of Chinese and Western cultural exchange.

As China"s reform and opening up policy was adopted, more and more international communication activities take place in our life. Moreover, the communication between countries is also increasing. But in such a world with rapid development in economy and culture, various scholars have divergent opinions about how the marital culture"s difference is formed.

Jia Yuxin in his book Intercultural Communication Research interpreted that culture is the combination of people"s thoughts, behaviors and words. He believed that the different national ecology or the natural environment may create its unique culture and mold its own cultural pattern.

Dodd, an expert in cross-cultural communication, gave a more systematic and persuasive exploration with respect to intermarriage as a breakthrough in cross-cultural communication. He recognized the relationship existing in cross-cultural marriage and culture-related phenomena.

These are various opinions about the differences between Chinese and Western marriage cultures. To get the traditional marriage customs as a breakthrough point and focus on cross-cultural communication, it is necessary to discuss the importance of understanding cultural differences to conclude the methods of bridging the gap between Chinese and Western, as well as to promote cultural integration in the communication.

3. Differences in Chinese and Western Marriage Customs

3.1 Chinese Marriage Customs

3.1.1 Food

The food, which the bride eats, has cultural significance. In traditional weddings, the bride usually has red dates, peanuts, longans and melon seeds. It is meaningful for Chinese to think the Chinese pronunciation of these four foods. When they are said together, it sounds like "Have a baby soon".

3.1.2 Clothing

Chinese pays no attention to personality but the unity. Chinese regards the color red as the symbol of happiness, success, luck, faith and joy, thus the entire wedding is decorated in red. This is also the representative of the traditional Chinese festivity colors. In the traditional wedding ceremony, besides double Xi characters in red, red scarves, red flowers, the bride and groom must wear the red dressing. Specifically, the bride dressed red Luoyi general, wearing Fengguan(凤冠）, still above a red scarf. The bride"s phoenix coronet and robes of rank were covered with beautiful jewelry and embroidery, which were rather beautiful and rich. The groom dressed red long gown mandarin jacket, wearing a red cap along. Meanwhile, it is essential that the dragon pattern on the clothes, which occupies the main position in Chinese traditional wedding dress. According to the China traditional tale, “dragon is a symbol of male, and phoenix is a symbol of female.” Consequently, people embroidered with phoenix patterns in the bride"s dress, and the groom wore a red flower at the chest. Majority of girls from honorable families got married, which could choose to wear a phoenix coronet and robes of rank to show their nobleness and glory. While daughters from the common family got married, she also prepared to wear a red dress and a pair of red shoes, with a bridal veil covering her head, not allowed others to see before meeting with her husband. Over years later, people hold their wedding according to the traditional customs.

3.1.3 Etiquette

In China, it emphasizes the bride"s dowry. There are a lot of things to prepare, such as, scissors, meaning the butterfly flying and the harmony between husband and wife; sugar, indicating happiness in marriage; silver bag and belt, implying an abundant life.

What"s more, people consider that the traditional Chinese marriage ceremony consists of three letters and six etiquettes．Since the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, Chinese marriage should obey six procedures, which is called "six etiquettes". It is still essential and core in wedding culture.

Three letters refer to request letter, gift letter and wedding letter. First, request letter. This letter confirms the formal arrangement of a marriage. It is usually sent by the groom"s family to the bride"s family, which is the initial gift for the bride"s family. Second, gift letter. Traditionally, this letter accompanies the formal gift for the bride"s family. Actually the gift letter is a gift list that records the description and quantity of the gifts. Third, wedding letter. This letter is sent to the bride"s family on the day of the wedding, which confirms the act of bringing the bride into the groom"s family．

The Chinese word for etiquette can mean both customs and gifts．The following customs are known as the six etiquettes. Six etiquettes conclude six procedures. First, requesting for marrying the bride. The groom finds a pro-male matchmaker to communicate with the woman"s family. If the girl agreed to the proposed marriage, the groom prepared to go to the bride"s home to seek a marriage alliance. Both sides will negotiate certain terms. If the negotiation can reach an agreement，both families will proceed to the next step. Second, requesting for bride and groom"s birth dates. This is the second step in arranging a wedding. If they can complete the previous step, the groom"s family will ask for the bride"s “Eight characters of a horoscope” through the matchmaker. After obtaining the” Eight Letters” of the both sides, a fortune-telling person will be hired to determine whether they match each other well．If their” Eight Letters “can match very well or there is nothing wrong with the bride"s “Eight Letters”, the groom"s family will proceed to the next step. Third, giving initial gifts to the bride"s family. If the potential bride"s birth date is accepted by the groom"s family，they will request the matchmaker to send some initial gifts accompanied by the gift letter. Fourth, sending formal gifts to the bride"s family. The groom"s family will pick a good day and send the bride"s family the bridal cash, gifts, cakes and many food and sacrifices for worshiping the ancestors. This action shows the marriage agreement between the two families．The thing they can do now is to select a good day for wedding. Fifth, selecting the wedding date. While after sending gifts, the groom"s parents select a proper date and go to the bride"s home and get the bride"s consent. Sixth, holding a wedding ceremony. On the wedding day，both the bride and the groom"s houses will be decorated in red．The groom"s friends or relatives go to the bride"s family to bring the bride to new house．When the bride has been brought back to the family, there will be a procession of servants，musicians and a carriage which is carried by four servants hired by groom. And the two will perform the marriage ceremony witnessed by all the relatives and friends．

3.1.4 Wedding Shower

Wedding shower is also called the return of the bride to her mother"s home on the third day of the newly-married. According to traditional customs, to show their respect and affection, the married daughters along with their husbands will go back to brides" home for the reunion dinners on the third day of the wedding. In addition, it is essential for them to take several presents, such as waxed ducks, sausage meat, chickens, fruit, confectionary and the most important thing is the red packet.(Su Yu 2011: 80) After lunch or dinner the married daughters will return home with presents given by her parents. It is better to go back the bridal chamber before the sun went back.

In Shanghai, to express affection, son-in-law should carry roasted pork and gifts to visit their parents" home for ancestor worship. They would go home with his bride until the second day.

3.2 Western Marriage Customs

Relative to Chinese conservative view of marriage, Western traditional view of marriage is freer, more open and more romantic.

3.2.1 Food

After the wedding ceremony in western countries, they often held a grand banquet, called the reception, which is generally a buffet style. Moreover, the wedding cake is the characteristics of western marriage. This is originated in an ancient tradition that breaks bread with the guests. At the wedding reception, the bride and groom cut the wedding cake and feed each other a bite. The British particularly like fruit cakes, while Americans are eager in making multi-layer honey cake. In the west, even in an ordinary wedding, you will also enjoy some cakes of different tastes. In particular, it is popular for British to make a rich black cake baked with dried fruits and rum, which is also called a "pound" cake. It is made from flour, dark brown sugar, butter, glace cherries, raisins, prunes, currants, plus a dozen eggs and flavorings, and then decorated with the most characterful dried fruits, which are soaked in rum and keep in a crock anywhere from two weeks to five months. (Yang Dongping 2008：158）

3.2.2 Clothing

The westerners attach importance to be romantic and pure. The characteristic of western wedding is the holy white wedding dress. In the west, the dress hem of the bride mopped the floor, originated from a Catholic ceremony dress. Since ancient times, some European countries were theocratic state systems. When people got married, they must go to the church to accept the blessing of the priest or minister, so as to become the legal marriage. Up until the 1400"s, the bride usually wore her best dress regardless of the color. It was Queen Victoria (1840) who began the present day fashion of wearing white as the wedding dress. Therefore, the bride prefers to wear an elegant, long white wedding dress, and the groom dresses black suits.

The wedding veil is a custom of Greece in order to let the devil to leave away from the bride. For Catholic brides, wearing a veil is as a symbol of youth and virginity.

When the bride makes plan for her wedding, her aunts and sisters will read the traditional poem: "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" for good luck,(Yang Dongping 2008：98） and help her examine the goods on the basis of custom for her wedding preparation. "Good luck" can be traced back to the Queen Victoria era in nineteenth century, many brides are careful to follow the traditional marriage customs. “Something old" means that brides keep in touch with her families, not to forget the graciousness of parents. It is symbol of continuity. The old item was often a piece of lace or a grandmother"s scarf or an old piece of jewelry. Therefore, many brides will wear a piece of family jewelry or the bride"s old white yarn must be used by mother; "new" refers to the bride"s white dress and new shoes must be new, it is a symbol of purity and virginity; "Something new" symbolizes the living of bride can good luck; "Something borrowed" reminds that friends or family will help her when the bride in need. The borrowed things can be a beautiful handkerchief or a good friend"s wedding, which is a symbol of future happiness and often provided by a happily married friend of the bride in memory of her friendship. "Blue" refers to the bride"s blue ribbons or the bride"s leg garters or a piece of jewelry. In ancient times, blue was the color of purity, so "something blue" is the symbol of being loyal to love.

3.2.3 Etiquette

For westerners, they pay more attention to holiness and solemn. In Christian"s values, wedding ceremony is regarded as an important way to get blessings from God. Marriage is null, unless the ceremony is presided over by a priest. Meanwhile, ceremony procedures are much simpler.　　　

Pre-wedding that prepares for the wedding is a church wedding in the west. Take the UK as an example, the pre-wedding is divided into five steps: first, the courtship. After getting parents" approval, people can go together formally; second, the engagement. The woman family published the engagement notice in the newspaper, and then it held the banquet in the woman"s home, while the man prepared to buy a diamond ring, wearing on the middle finger of her left hand under the witness of the relatives and friends; third, certificate. British law stipulates that both men and women must register in marriage registry before the 16 days, and then publish the notice of marriage; fouth, invitation. To be holy and noble, the invitations are usually white, with gold letters and patterns; fifth, the bachelor parties, which were the original creation of the Spartan Soldiers. It became customary for the groom to feast with his friends all night long before the wedding, to celebrate his last night of freedom by getting severely drunk. In modern society, women deem that they also should have their night of fun, so now it is common for women to have Bachelorette parties as well.(Du Xuezhen, 2004: 66)

In general, the wedding ceremony is held in the church, hosted by the priest. On the wedding day, the new couple"s families and friends gather at the church to witness their marriage and celebrate the wedding. As the ceremony begins with the wedding march， the bride will be led into the church by her father. Then the priest will ask the new couple to make a lifetime commitment. Then they exchange the rings and kiss each other. In addition to the groom not being allowed to see the bride before the ceremony, the veil was also used to protect the bride from being seen by evil spirits and jealous suitors. To this day, it is considered bad luck for the groom to see the bride on her wedding day before the ceremony. At last, the priest will declare their marriage, which means the end of the wedding. Later the bride throws her bouquet of flowers to a group of single girls. It says that the one who catches the bouquet will be the next to marry.　　

3.2.4 Honeymoon Trip

Many couples prepare to their own honeymoon trip, a one-to-two-week vacation trip, to celebrate their new marriage. This custom comes from England. During the traditional wedding, the couple ought to drink a special beverage made by honey during 30 days, to symbolize the life of auspiciousness and prosperity. It was soon adopted by others in English society and became known as the honeymoon trip.

1. Reasons for Differences between Western and Eastern Cultures

4.1 Western Theories

4.1.1 Viewpoints of Marriage

Western people are more open-minded, and would rather choose to simple weddings. So the western wedding is more economic and the lovers just lay stress on the sense of happiness.

4.1.2 Religious Beliefs

In western countries, people believe in Christian, thus their wedding is hosted according to religious doctrine, by the witness of God and priest. Christianity is by far the most influential religion in the west. In Bible, the Christians have two viewpoints: firstly, marriage is sacred, as marriage is created by God; secondly, marriage is obliged to insist on the principle of monogamy, which explains why God created Eve for Adam.

4.1.3 Social Systems

The source of western political civilization lies in ancient Greece and Rome. In the sixteenth century, the Renaissance is to promote "humanism", affirming the value of human, and it puts emphasis on respecting for human rights. The western values are better for cultivating freedom and equality the family values. Regardless of family prestige, people have the right to choose their own partners without interference.

4.2 Chinese Theories

4.2.1 Viewpoints of Marriage

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