中西方传统节日文化对比 论文

A Comparison of Chinese and Western Traditional Festivals

Abstract

Comparing

the

Chinese

and

Western

festivals

can

help

people

promote the communication and understand the different the

society and inter-cultures develop,Many aspects of life will be affected by

globalization in all countries. And western festivals are becoming

more

and more popular in China. We should select the essence and discard the

dross. China boasts a brilliant history and

glorious

traditions. In modern

times, Chinese tradition should be preserved and promoted. But it seems

that young people don

’

t have the realization to treasure the tradition.

To

the

opposite

,

they

turn

to

pursue

enthusiastically

a

seemingly

more

modern culture. If this trend is allowed to continue, the priceless heritage

of our ancestors will be replaced by western traditions. There is nobody

expecting

such a consequence. So let’

s unite together to

inherit and carry

forward

Chinese tradition.

Key

words:

traditional

festivals;

Chinese

and

Western

cultures;cultural

differences;common ground

中西方传统节日对比研究

摘要

对比中西方节日可以帮助人们增进交流，了解不同的文化。随 着

社会和跨文化的发展，所有国家生活的许多方面都受到全球化的影

响。

西方节日在中国正变得越来越流行，

我们应该取其精华 去其糟粕。

中国有着悠久的历史和光荣的传统。

在当今时代，< /p>

我们应该继承和发

扬中国传统。但是，年轻人们并没有对待传统的 意识，相反，他们转

向疯狂地追求更现代的文化。

如果这种趋势 一直继续下去，

我们祖先

无价的遗产将会被西方传统所代替，< /p>

没有人希望出现那种结果。

所以

我们要团 结起来继承和发扬中国传统文化。

关键词：

传统节日；中西方文化；文化差异；共同点

Contents

Introduction

1. Differences of Chinese and Western Traditional Festivals

1.1The Difference on the Festival Forms

1.2The Difference on the Festival Connotations

1.3 The Difference on the Festival Customs

1.3.1 Spring Festival vs. Christmas Day

1.3.2 Tomb Sweeping Day vs. Halloween

1.3.3 Double-Seventh Day vs. Valentines Day

1.3.4 Mid-autumn Day vs. Thanksgiving Day

Influencing

Factors

Causing

Differences

between

Chinese

and

Western Traditional Festivals

2.1 Factors Influencing Chinese Traditional Festivals

2.1.1 Confucianism

2.1.1.1 Benevolence

2.1.1.2 Filial Piety and Reunion

2.1.2 agriculture

civilization

2.2 Factors Influencing Western Traditional Festivals

3.

Common

Ground

and

Mutual

Fusion

of

Chinese

and

Western

Traditional Festivals

3.1Common Ground

3.2 Mutual Fusion

4. Conclusion

A Comparison of Chinese and Western Traditional Festivals

Introduction

Different countries have different e is the soul carrier

of human beings, and it

’

s the core value of one country.

Among all the

elements that are composed

a nation’s culture

, traditional festival culture

is

the

most

important

and

richest

one.

Festival

is

regard

as

a

special

occasion on which people may give thanks for a harvest, commemorate

an honored person or event, pay respect to the dead, or celebrate a culture.

Festival

introduces

during

the

course

of

human

development

and

historical

evolution

as

a

cultural

phenomenon.

This

remarkable

cultural

phenomenon

reflect

human

cognition

and

attention

to

the

natural

environments

and

peripheral

surroundings.

Festival

is

viewed

as

“

a

carrier

of

cult

ure”,

or

an

embodiment

of

the

patterns

of

behavior

and

thinking

that

people

learn,

create

and

share.

Through

this

unique

and

specific phenomenon, it is more direct and convenient for the researcher

to

explore

the

deeper

layer

of

human

culture.

Moreover,

the

festival

provides

us

a

shortcut

to

explore

the

difference

and

similarity

of

two

cultures. It is known that Chinese and western traditional festivals are two

different cultural forms evolved from comparatively independent cultural

systems, which possess peculiar characteristics and varied manifestation.

So they must have a lot of differences.

The thesis consists of forth parts. The first part would focus on the

differences of traditional Chinese and western festivals. In the second part

of the

thesis,

major

factors

causing

differences

would

be

analyzed.

The

third

part

would

study

the

common

ground

and

mutual

fusion

of

traditional

Chinese

and

western

festivals.

In

the

last

part

of

the

thesis,

there would be a brief conclusion.

1. Differences of Chinese and Western Traditional Festivals

1.1 The Difference on the Festival Forms

On

the

one

hand,the

influential

areas

of

the

two

sets

of

festival

cultures

are

different.

Chinese

festivals

mainly

influence

the

Asian

countries

including

Japan,

Korean,

Thailand,

etc.

The

western

festivals

mainly

influence

the

Christian

world.

Although

in

the

modern

multicultural world the influences of western festivals such as Christmas

Day

are

much

wider

than

Chinese

Spring

Festival,

the

traditions

which

have been formed in many countries still exist.

On the other hand,they have different periodicity. Chinese traditional

festivals are mainly based on lunar calendar, while the western ones are

mainly based on the solar calendar.

1.2 The Difference on the Festival Connotations

The

first

difference

in

the

perspective

of

connotation

is

that

they

have different value orientation. Traditional Chinese festival cultures are

featured

by

collectivism.

Chinese

festivals

attach

more

importance

to

group activity and the passing down of ethics and virtues. But traditional

western

festival

cultures

are

featured

by

individualism.

They

lay

great

emphasis

on

the

expression

of

personal

emotions

and

the

individual

psychological feelings.

Second, Festivals between China and Western countries are different

in

the

form

of

emotional

expression.

Thus,

Chinese

veil

their

real

thoughts while Westerners always reveal their minds freely and directly.

The way of accepting gifts and the attitudes are different. During festivals,

the Chinese and the Western country have shown very different attitudes

about

a

gift

for

someone.

The

Chinese

people

often

defer

about

the

present, as if they have to accept it, but they will not open it in front of

the

present.

In

western

country,

people

ask

for

a

gift,

and

they

will

usually open it in front of people’s face and express their thanks.

Third,

the

national

culture

mentality

can

also

be

different.

The

Chinese

festival

culture

are

Comedy-oriented,

they

pursuit

the

happy

ending

and

harmony,

while

the

western

festival

culture

are

tragedy-oriented

because

the

ancient

Greek

culture

are

tragic-conscious

and the Christian culture are sin conscious.

1.3 The Difference on the Festival Customs

The

custom

is

a

great

difference

between

Chinese

and

western

traditional ent culture background breeds different national

festival tanding Chinese and western festival customs can

help us improve our faith and respect to different national , in

order to study the difference of Chinese and western festival customs,we

will take Spring Festival,Tomb Sweeping Day, Double-Seventh Day and

Mid-autumn

Day

for

example,

and

compare

with

Christmas

Day,

Halloween, Valentines Day and Thanksgiving Day.

1.3.1 Spring Festival vs. Christmas Day

In China, as spring is the most beautiful season and all creatures on

earth begin to grow, flowers are blooming in a riot of color; seeds sprout

everywhere,

i

t is vitally important to celebrate the coming of the spring.

As the beginning of a year, December 23

rd

in lunar year is the prelude to

Spring Festival. On that day, all families without exception will worship

the god of the kitchen and started to busily prepared for the New Year’s

coming.

In

addition,

according

to

the

traditional

habits,

Chinese

people

will also make a thorough cleanup, which is also called spring-cleaning,

to show their desire to sweep “the old and bad things” out of their house,

ring out the Old Year and ring in the New Year. After this work, every

house along the street has a bright and new look. With paper-cuts on the

windows,

couplets

on

the

wall

and

red

lanterns

in

front

of

the

door,

it

looks really brilliant and full of happiness. The New Year’s Eve is the last

day of December in lunar year. At that night, all members in a family will

get tog

ether to enjoy the “family reunion dinner”, implied meaning lucky

and

harmony.

When

having

dinner,

everyone

should

only

talking

about

things happy and good, avoid referring to death, disease or something bad.

What’s more, family members will not sleep unti

l the dawn of the New

Year’s Day. Instead, they will chat, watching TV and having snacks such

as melon seeds, orange, and peanuts. The most exciting moment is when

the

New

Year’s

Bell

rang.

It seems

as if

all

the

firecrackers around the

world are set off with only one second. The sound of firecrackers will not

stop until the dawn, and the new upsurge will begin at that time,

when

every family open the door and begin to visit their relatives. The carnival

will continue to January 15

th

in lunar year.

In

western

countries,

a

similar

festival

is

the

Christmas

Day

which

actually begins in December 12

th

and ends in January 6

th

in the next year.

Like Chinese New Year, it is also a period rather than only one day, which

is familiar to us all

–

December 25

th

. As the birthday of Jesus Christ, the

Christmas

Day

is

with

no

doubt

the

most

vitally

day

all

over

the

year.

And as we all know, most western people are Christian. Red, green and

white are regarded as the luckiest colors in Christmas Day, as they stand

for the Christmas candle, Christmas tree and pure snow. People decorate

a kind of evergreen tree with all kinds and colors of lights, balloons, gifts,

paper flowers and so on, all filled with a festival atmosphere. Santa Claus

is

the

most

famous

figure

in

western

festival.

All

children

believe

that

they will receive a brilliant gift from Santa Claus, and as they growing up,

they

will

gradually

know

that

their

Santa

Claus

is

a

figure

in

human’s

imagination. But who care? The most important thing is they get pleasure

and

own

a

happy

childhood

full

of

imagine.

Just

like

Chinese

spring-dinner, western people value the reunion of the whole family. They

having dinner together beside the Christmas tree and enjoy themselves in

playing until late at night. It is worth mentioning that the

most popular

songs during this period are “Silent Night”, “Jingle Bells”.

1.3.2 Tomb Sweeping Day vs. Halloween

T

he Tomb-sweeping Day is one of the 24 seasonal division points in

China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival, the temperature w

ill rise up and rainfall increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and

sowing. But the Tomb-sweeping Day is not only a seasonal point to guid

e farm work; it is more a festival of commemoration. The Tomb- sweeping

Day sees a combination of sadness and happiness. This is the most impo

rtant day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this tim

e offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the diseased.

Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served. In ancie

nt times, people celebrated the Tomb-sweeping Day with dancing, singing

, picnics, and kite flying. Colored boiled eggs would be broken to symbol

ize the opening of life. In the capital, the Emperor would plant trees on th

e palace grounds to celebrate the renewing nature of spring. In the village

s, young men and women would court each other.

Similar to the spring festivals of other cultures, Tomb Sweeping Da

y celebrates the rebirth of nature, while marking the beginning of the plan

ting season and other outdoor activities. On each Tomb-sweeping Day, al

l cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer

sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jamm

ed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweepi

ng the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then b

urn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet. With t

he passing of time, this celebration of life became a day to the honor past

ancestors. Following folk religion, the Chinese believed that the spirits of

deceased ancestors looked after the family. Sacrifices of food and spirit m

oney could keep them happy, and the family would prosper through good

harvests and more children.

Today, Chinese visit their family graves to tend to any underbrush th

at has grown. Weeds are pulled, and dirt swept away, and the family will s

et out offerings of food and spirit money. Unlike the sacrifices at a family'

s home altar, the offerings at the tomb usually consist of dry, bland food.

One theory is that since any number of ghosts roam around a grave area, t

he less appealing food will be consumed by the ancestors, and not be plun

dered by strangers. Honoring ancestors begins with proper positioning of

a gravesite and coffin. Experts in Fang Shri, or geomancy, determine the

quality of land by the surrounding aspects of streams, rivers, trees, hills, a

nd so forth. An area that faces south, with groves of pine trees creates the

best flow of cosmic energy required to keep ancestors happy. Unfortunate

ly, nowadays, with China's burgeoning population, public cemeteries hav

e quickly supplanted private gravesites. Family elders will visit the graves

ite at least once a year to tend to the tombs. While bland food is placed b

y the tombs on the Tomb- sweeping Day, the Chinese regularly provide sc

rumptious offerings to their ancestors at altar tables in their homes. The fo

od usually consists of chicken, eggs, or other dishes a deceased ancestor

was fond of. Accompanied by rice, the dishes and eating utensils are caref

ully arranged so as to bring good luck. In some parts of China, the food i

s then eaten by the entire family.

In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy ho

pe of spring on this day. The Tomb- sweeping Day is a time when the sun

shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again livel

y. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of spring outings

. At this time tourists are everywhere. People love to fly kites during the T

omb-sweeping Day. Kite flying is actually not limited to the Tomb- sweep

ing Day. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but

also at night. A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread loo

k like shining stars, and therefore, are called

weeping Day is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings

is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Tomb-sweeping Day was

called

In western countries, a similar festival is October 31st,

dozens of children dressed in costumes knock on their neighbors' doors

and

yell

or

Treat

when

the

door

opens.

Pirates

and

princesses,

ghosts

and

popular

heroes

of

the

day

all

hold

bags

open

to

catch

the

candy or other goodies that the neighbors drop in. As they give each child

a treat the neighbors exclaim over the costumes and try to guess who is

under the masks.

Since

the

800's

November

1st

is

a

religious

holiday

known

as

All

Saints' Day. The Mass that was said on this day was called Allhallowmas.

The evening before became known as All Hakka e'en, or Halloween. Like

some other American celebrations, its origins lie in both pre- Christian and

Christian r 31 st was the eve of the Celtic new year. The

Celts

were

the

ancestors

of

the

present-day

Irish,

Welsh

and

Scottish

people. On this day ghosts walked and mingled with the living, or so the

Celts thought. The townspeople baked food all that day and when night

fell they dressed up and tried to resemble the souls of the dead. Hoping

that

the

ghosts

would

leave

peacefully

before

midnight

of

the

new

later, when Christianity spread throughout Ireland and October

31

was

no

longer

the

last

day

of

the

year,

Halloween

became

a

celebration mostly for children.

for

treats,

or

else

a

trick

would

be

played

on

the

owners

of

the

house.

When

millions

of

Irish

people

immigrated

to

the

United

States

in

the

1840s the tradition came with them.

Today'

school

dances

and

neighborhood

parties

called

parties

are popular among

young

and old

alike.

More

and

more

adults

celebrate Halloween. They dress up like historical or political figures and

go

to

masquerade

parties.

In

larger

cities,

costumed

children

and

their

parents

gather

at

shopping

malls

early

in

the

evening.

Stores

and

businesses give parties with games and treats for the ers

enjoy

costume

dances

at

their

schools

and

the

more

outrageous

the

costume

the

better!Certain

pranks

such

as

soaping

car

windows

and

tipping over garbage cans are expected. But partying and pranks are not

the only things that

Halloween-ers enjoy doing. Some collect

money to

buy food and medicine for needy children around the world.

Halloween

originated

as

a

celebration

connected

with

evil

spirits.

Witches

flying

on

broomsticks

with

black

cats,

ghosts,

goblins

and

skeletons

have

all

evolved

as

symbols

of

Halloween.

They

are

popular

trick-or-treat costumes and decorations for greeting cards and windows.

Black

is

one

of

the

traditional

Halloween

colors,

probably

because

Halloween festivals and traditions took place at night. In the weeks before

October

31,

Americans

decorate

windows

of

houses

and

schools

with

silhouettes

of

witches

and

black

ns

are

also

a

symbol

of

Halloween.

The

pumpkin

is

an

orange-colored

squash,

and

orange

has

become the other traditional Halloween color.

1.3.3 Double-Seventh Day vs. Valentines Day

The

seventh

day

of

the

seventh

lunar

month

is

the

most

romantic

traditional

Chinese

festival,

commonly

known

as

the

double-Seventh

Festival

，

the Begging Festival or the Daughter

’

s Festival

.

Skills-begging

is

he

main

folk

custom

for

the

Double-Seventh

Festival, on which night women would get together to pray to Vega and

Altair. Zhi Nu is said to be clever and deft, good at handicraft, so women

always

pray

to

her

for

the

special

gift,

which

is

called

skills-begging.

There are also those who pray for wealth, long life or sons, each having

her own preferable choice, but only one wish can be prayed for according

to

the

folk

belief.

As

the

folktale

goes,

Zhi

Nu

is

a

wretched

maid

,

nothing but clever and deft; there fore more women tend to pray for her

special

sacrifice

offered

to

Niu

Lang

and

Zhi

Nu

are

distinctive-melons,

flowers,

water

chestnuts,

peaches,

plums,

lotus

seedpods,

etc.-----fresh

and

dainty,

in

remarkable

contrast

to

the

usual

fish and meat offered at those common memorial ceremonies hosted by

male

-begging

takes

varied

forms;

the

common

one

is

threading

the

needle.

A

group

of

unmarried

girls,

with

threads

in

hand,

perform a small contest of threading the needle in the moonlight and the

one who first threads the needle will win the special gift from Zhi Nu. It

is

a

very

popular

game

among

maids.

There

is

a

story

about

a

maid

named

Zheng

Cainiang

who

prayed

to

Vega

on

the

night

of

the

Double- seventh

Festival.

Zhi

Nu

asked

her

what

she

desired

and

she

answered

“

weaving crafts

”

. Zhi Nu then gave her a one-inch gold needle

and

stuck

it

in

a

piece

of

paper,

saying

that

within

three

days

without

letting anybody know Zhen Cainiang would receive the special gift and

could also change into a lad. Two days later, Zheng Cainiang could not

help but reveal the secret to her mother who went to see the gold needle

out of curiosity, only to find nothing but the paper with the needle hole in

it. After her death, Zheng Caining was said to be reincarnated to a baby

boy. Afterwards, maids followed suit and thus threading the needle to beg

for the special gift has become a popular practice.

One

of

the

anecdotes

kept

in

the

book

Kaiyuan

Tianbao

Yishi

[Bequeathed

Matters

from

the

Kaiyuan

(713AD---741AD)

and

Tianbao

(742 AD---756AD) Periods]

，

about the time of Emperor Tang Xuanzong

of the Tang Dynasty (618AD---907AD), mentions that there was another

form of

“

skills- begging

”

in the palace at that time: On the night of the

Double-Seventh Festival, the palace maids would each get a spider, put it

into a small box, and open the box the next early morning to see whose

spider had

woven a thicker

web; the

thicker

web showed the owner

’

s

being bestowed on more weaving skills, the thinner fewer. Accordingly,

the

folk

populace

contended

to

take

the

practice,

which

was

of

great

appeal.

In

the

south

area

by

the

Chang

Jiang

River,

according

to

the

memories of the elderly women, the begging activity in their childhood

had

a

different

aspect

of

interest.

Early

on

the

day

before

the

double-seventh

’

s festival, people would fetch rainwater and well- water in

equal quantity and put the mixed water and well-water in equal quantity

and put the mixed water in a bowl in the open air for a whole night. The

next morning on the Double-Seventh Festival, the bowl of water which

contained night dew too would be put under the sun for half a day till the

noon

when

a

thin

film

emerged

on

the

surface

of

the

water.

Then

an

embroidery needle, or an extremely thin bamboo strand, or a pine needle

would be

put on

the

surface

slightly

enough

that

it

would

float

but not

sink. Judgment would be made according to the needle shadows reflected

from

the

bottom

of

the

water.

Due

to

accidental

factors,

coupled

with

people

’

s imagination, the needle shadows would change constantly and

magically. It was taken for granted that the form of a dragon, a phoenix,

or clouds or flowers was a sign of receiving the special gift, a prediction

that the girl would be clever and deft and get whatever she aspired after.

Such

an

activity

was

always

performed

when

lots

of

girls

gathered

together,

known

as

“

the

Begging

Gathering

”

,

which

was

full

of

delightful laughter and cheerful exchanges of conversations.

Among

the

folk

populace

in

Guangzhou,

while

worshiping

on

the

night

of

the

Double-Seventh

Festival,

girls

will

display

their

own

needlework on the

offering

table, such

as

their hand-made

embroidered

shoes, tiger-head hats, scented purses, paper-cuts and many other articles

of handicraft art, which is a feast for the eyes, too much to enjoy. Friends,

relatives and passers-by cannot help stopping to appreciate and comment.

In

some

areas,

there

is

a

custom

of

gazing

up

at

clouds

on

the

Double-Seventh Festival. People presume that day

’

s clouds tend to take

special magic changing forms and they like to conjecture about their fates

in

accordance

with

the

changeable

clouds.

This

seems

somewhat

mysterious as the above-mentioned needle shadows, under the influence

exerted by people

’

s psychology. The elderly in the countryside are said to

observe the Heavenly River whose early appearance is said to predict a