英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

Culture Differences of Chinese and Western Traditional

Festival

Abstract

Traditional

festivals

are

the

historical

products

of

a

nation’s

development.

Whether

in

China

which

has

a

long

history of more than five thousand years or in the newborn

America, the origination of traditional festivals in the two

countries is similar. Most traditional festivals originated

from people’s expectation for harvest in the agricultural

production,

the

worship

towards

the

gods

and

the

nature,

sacrifices to the historical characters and etc. After the

long-term

evolution,

traditional

festivals

have

become

an

indispensable

part

of

the

national

culture.

Through

traditional festivals, the distinct cultural characteristics

of

a

people

and

the

national

spirits

can

be

observed.

Since

the

ancient

time,

China

has

been

a

large

agricultural

country,

the

small-

scale economic mode known as “The men plough and the

women

weave”

initiated

the

agricultural

civilization

of

Chinese

characteristics.

Chinese

traditional

festivals

are

deeply rooted in the agricultural civilization and greatly

influenced

by

Confucianism.

To

some

extent,

Chinese

traditional

festivals

have

relieved from the

primitive

taboos

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

and tended to be happy festivals which reflect the concept of

harmony

and integration

in Confucianism.

In

America,

religion

plays a very important role in people’s life. With various

branches,

the

religious

system

of

America

is

quite

complicated,

among which Christianity is of the greatest importance. Some

American

traditional

festivals

are

the

direct

products

of

Christianity

and

most

festivals

have

evolved

into

the

religious

festivals

later.

This

paper

is

designed

to

discuss

the

differences

in

customs,

origins

and

other

aspects

of

traditional festivals with the similar cultural connotation,

then

analyze

the

reasons

lying

behind

the

differences

and

finally reflect the cultural differences of the two nations.

The

paper

also

analyzes

the

mutual

fusion

in

tradtional

holidays between China and the west.

Key

words:

Traditional

festivals;

Chinese

and

American

culture;

cultural differences; causes; mutual fusion.

中西方传统节日文化的差异

摘要

传统节日是一个民族发展的历史 产物。

无论是在有着五千多年悠长历

史的中国还是在新生的美国 ，

传统节日的起源都显示出相通之处，

大

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

多数传统节日都源自于人们在农业生产生活中对丰收的期盼、

对天地

神灵和自然的崇拜、

以及对历史人物的祭奠等等。

传统节日 在长期的

演变和发展中，

已经成为民族文化不可或缺的一部分，

透过传统节日

可以反映一个民族的文化特色和民族精神。

中国自古以来就是一个农

业大国，

“男耕女织 ”的小农经济模式开创了具有中国特色的农耕文

化。

中国传统节 日深深植根于农耕文化之中，

在演变过程中深受儒家

思想的影响 。

从某种程度而言，

中国传统节日已经渐渐摆脱原始禁忌

和崇拜，演化成为体现儒家和合思想的欢庆祥和的节日。在美国，宗

教 的影响和地位是不言而喻的，

美国的宗教体系错综复杂，

其中最 有

影响力的宗教派别是基督教。

美国的传统节日大都衍化成为基 督教的

产物，

大多数的美国节日在日后的发展中都成为宗教性的 节日。

本文

从两国传统节日中有着相似文化内涵的节日出发，< /p>

探讨这些传统节日

在起源、节日习俗等方面的差异，并分析产生这 些差异的原因，从而

折射出两国传统节日文化的差异。

另外本文 也探讨了中西方传统节日

的相互融合。原创英语毕业论文

请咨询

QQ253771735

关键词：传统节日；中美文化；差异；根源；相互融合

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

Contents

1. Introduction

2.

Differences

between

Chinese

and

Western

Traditional

Festivals

2.1 The Spring Festival vs. Thanksgiving Day

2.2 The Zhongyuan Festival vs. Halloween

2.3 The Chinese Valentine’s Day vs. Valentine’s Day

2.4 Summary

3.

Major

Factors

Causing

Differences

between

Chinese

and

Western Traditional

Festivals

3.1 Factors Influencing Chinese Traditional Festivals

3.1.1 Agricultural Civilization

3.1.2 Confucianism

3.2 Major FactorsInfluencing Western Traditional Festivals

3.2.1 Industrialization

3.2.2 Christianity

4.

Mutual

Fusion

Between

Chinese

and

Western

Traditional

Holidays

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

4.1 The development of the Mutual Fusion

4.2 The Performance of the Mutual Fusion

5. Conclusion

Culture Differences of Chinese and Western Traditional

Festivals

1.

Introduction

China is a multi-ethnic nation, with the Han nationality

accounting

for

the

majority

of

the

total

population

and

various

ethnic minorities in the minority (Zhao, 2002). According to

Zhao (2002) and Tan (2003), people in different nationalities

or regions celebrate some traditional festivals of their own,

while

among

all

the

festivals

the

most

typical

ones

celebrated

by Chinese people in common consist of these ones: the Spring

Festival,

the

Lantern

Festival,

Tomb-Sweeping

Day,

the

Dragon-

Boat

Festival,

the

Chinese

Valentine’s

Day,

the

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

Zhongyuan

Festival,

Mid-Autumn

Day,

the

Double-Ninth

Festival,

the Winter Solstice, the Laba Festival, and the Kitchen God

Festival, etc.

Different from China, America is a multi-cultural nation

with

the

immigrants

taking

a

large

proportion

of

its

population

and

people

from

different

countries

live

together

and

the

cultures brought with them melt into the distinct American

culture (Wu, 2003; Hu, 2004; William, 2007). In the system of

American

traditional

festivals,

there

are

festivals

originating in the homeland and festivals brought from the

foreign

lands.

The

festivals

in

America

can

be

divided

into

the

legal

holidays

and

traditional

ones;

besides,

some

states

also

celebrate a few festivals of their own (Ellinwood, 2005). In

general, according to Samovar et al. (2008), the most popular

traditional festivals celebrated by American people include

the followi

ng ones: New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St.

Patrick’s

Day,

All

Fools’

Day,

Mother’s

Day,

Father’s

Day,

Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas, etc.

According

to

the

folklorists’

research,

traditional

festivals

in

different

societies

derive

from

such

originations

as

people’s

expectation

for

a

bountiful

harvest

in

the

agricultural production, the primitive worship towards the

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

gods and the nature, sacrifices to ancestors and historical

characters

and

so

on,

and

it

is

unable

to

deny

that

traditional

festivals display

the cultural

differences on

several

aspects

(Davis, 2001; Ni and Qiao, 2003). In the modern world with

globalization taking such a fast pace, communication among

people

of

different

nationalities

is

more

common

in

the

fields

of

politics,

economy, cultural

and

technological exchange

and

others.

In

a

context

of different

cultures,

misunderstandings

and

conflicts

are

likely

to

arise

in

the

process

of

communication

when

there

is

little

awareness

of

diverse

cultural values and beliefs. Therefore, the recognition and

understanding

of

the

cultural

differences

is

of

great

importance to promote the cross-cultural communication. This

paper

is

designed

to

investigate

the

cultural

differences

embodied in traditional festivals in China and America based

on the analysis of traditional festivals in the two cultures

with similar cultural connotation.

2. Differences between Chinese and Western Traditional

Festivals

Traditional

festivals,

as

an

integral

part

of

the

national

culture, possess rich cultural connotations. To some extent,

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

traditional

festivals

are

the

manifestation

and

sublimation

of

human beings’ cognition and emotions toward the world and in

the light of the universal cognition and emotions of human

beings, it is no wonder that there are traditional festivals

in the two cultures with the similar cultural connotations

(Zhang,

2001).

However,

behind

the

similar

cultural

connotations of

traditional festivals, origins and

customs

of

these festivals are greatly differentiated, which illustrate

the cultural differences of the two nations.

2.1 The Spring Festival vs. Thanksgiving Day

The

Spring

Festival

in

China

and

Thanksgiving

Day

in

America

are

both

festivals

for

family

members

to

reunite

and

to

strengthen

the

family

bonds.

The

Spring

Festival

is

the

biggest

festival

observed

by

Chinese

people.

However,

in

the

beginning,

the “spring festival” was not held to farewell to the past

year and welcome the Chinese Lunar New Year, but to celebrate

the

coming

of

“Spring

Commence”(the

1st

solar

term)

(Chen

and

Lu, 1989). For when “Spring Commence” arrived, which was

seemed

as

the

coming

of

spring,

farmers

had

to

sow

seeds

in

the

farmland.

Just

as

the

old

saying

goes

that

“The

whole

year’s

work

depends

on

a

good

start

in

spring”

(Xiao,

2002).

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

Concerning

the

origin

of

Thanksgiving

Day,

it

should

be

related

to

the

pilgrims.

In

history,

the

first

thanksgiving

had

to

date

back

to

1621.

In

1620,

a

group

of

pilgrims

who

wanted

to

escape

religious

persecution

reached

Plymouth

by

the

May

Flower

(Julian, 2004). As soon as they settled down, they found they

had to face a terrible winter

—

tough weather and lack of food

and

shelter.

It

was

those

native

Indians

that

helped

the

pilgrims

to

survive.

Later,

the

Indians

taught

the

new

settlers

how

to

grow

corn

and

other

crops

and

also

how

to

fish

and

hunt.

In

the

autumn

of

1621,

the

pilgrims

enjoyed

a

bountiful

harvest.

In order to celebrate the harvest and show gratitude to the

Indians’ help, they held a feast together with the native

Indians,

which

was

recorded

as

the

origin

of

thanksgiving

(Geng,

2006).

Based

on

different

origins,

the

two

festivals

developed

with their own national culture and formed the unique customs

of their own.

Among all the customs, food at the festival is the most

remarkable,

just

as

the

Chinese

saying

g

oes,

“Food

is

the

first

necessity

of

the

people.”

No

matter

at

the

Spring

Festival

or

on

Thanksgiving

Day,

a

reunion

dinner

will

be

set

for

celebration. In China, the reunion dinner is held on the New

Year’s

Eve,

that

is,

the

day

before

the

first

day

of

th

e

first

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

lunar month. The menu for the reunion dinner traditionally

includes fish, chicken and other delicious food. In Chinese

characters the pronunciation of “fish” (“鱼”; in Chinese

pinying

“yú”)

makes

it

a

homophone

for

“surpluses”(

“余”;

in Chinese pinyi

ng “yú”), in this sense, the fish at the

reunion dinner is to express people’s good wishes for the

coming

year

which

are

implied

in

the

Chinese

phrase

“may

there

be

surpluses

every year”(“年年有余”;

pinying “niá

n

ni

á

n

y

ǒ

u

y

ú”).

There

are

also

other

typical

foo

d

for

this

festival,

such as dumplings and nian gao known as the Chinese New Year

pudding. The shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from

ancient

China,

so

people

eat

them

and

wish

for

money

and

treasure

(Tan,

2003).

“nian

gao”,

as

a

homophone,

means

“higher and higher, one year after another.” At the reunion

dinner,

the

family

members

sit

together

according

to

a

particular order in respect to the elder in the family. While

the

traditional

American

Thanksgiving

dinner

consists

of

roast

turkey served with mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce,

sweet potatoes, vegetables, fresh corn bread and ends with

pumpkin pie. Family members sit together at the dinner table

to

enjoy

the

joyful

time

of

reunion.

(Hu,

2004)

In

celebrations

at home, it is a holiday tradition in many families to begin

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

the Thanksgiving dinner by saying grace. Grace is a prayer

before or after a meal to express appreciation to God, to ask

for God’s blessing.

Despite

the

difference

in

the

food

culture,

the

celebrations of the two festivals also differ a lot. China is

known for its morals and rituals, which are also embodied in

the

celebrations

of

the

Spring

Festival.

Affection

for

the

dead

and the alive is exhibited in lots of ways. It is customary to

make

sacrifices

to

the

ancestors

with

delicious

food

and

burning

paper

money

to

the

dead

during

the

festival.

In

a

family,

the

elder

usually

give

“red

envelops”

to

the

children.

People

pay New Year calls to their relatives and friends with gifts.

Greetings

can

be

heard

everywhere

among

people,

suc

h

as

“Happy

New

Year”

(in

Chinese

“

过

年

好

”)

and

“May

you

be

prosperous” (in Chinese “恭喜发财”). Other customs, like

pasting the door panels with the Spring Festival couplets,

highlighting Chinese calligraphy

with

black characters

on

red

paper, burning fireworks and so on, all create the festive

atmosphere.

For

the

Thanksgiving

Day,

beside

the

big

Thanksgiving

dinner,

people

celebrate

the

festival

by

traveling

with

the

family,

parading,

shopping

and

also

American

football

is

often

a

major

part

of

Thanksgiving

celebrations

in

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

the

United

States.

Professional

games

are

traditionally

played

on

Thanksgiving

Day;

until

recently,

these

were

the

only

games

played during the week apart from Sunday or Monday night.

2.2 The Zhongyuan Festival vs. Halloween

The

Zhongyuan

Festival

and

Halloween

are

two

festivals

related to ghosts (Trevor, 2005; Robert, 2007). The Zhongyuan

Festival, falling on July 15th in the lunar calendar, is a

festival

for

people

to

offer

sacrifices

to

the

departed

relatives

(Chen

and

Lu,

1989).

Since

ancient

China,

the

seventh

lunar month has been believed to be the “ghost month”, and

in this month the ghosts are allowed to get out of the gate of

the

hell

and

go

home

to

receive

the

sacrifice

of

their

descendants. In history, people used to worship ancestors at

every

change

of

season

throughout

a

year,

but

restrained

by

the

natural

rhythm,

farmers

had

to

grow

crops

in

spring

and

harvest

in

autumn

(Xiao,

2002).

Then

in

spring

they

prayed

their

ancestors for a good harvest and in autumn they offered their

ancestors

the

crops

to

show

their

worship.

Therefore,

sacrifice

in

the

autumn

became

the

most

important.

With

Buddhism

introduced

into

China

in

the

Eastern

Han

Dynasty

(25-220

A.D.),

the original Zhongyuan Festival combined with the festival of

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

Buddhism

–

the Yu Lan Pen Festival, which was held in memory

of

the

forefathers

of

the

Buddhists

and

encourage

the

Buddhists’

piety

(Ibid.).

Afterwards

the

customs

of

the

Yu

Lan

Pen Festival went with the Chinese custom of commemorating

their

ancestors

on

the

Zhongyuan

Festival

and

the

present

Zhongyuan Festival, or the Hungry Ghost Festival, took the

shape.

At

this

festival,

Family

members

would

offer

prayers

to

their deceased relatives and would burn joss paper. Families

would

also

pay

tribute

to

other

unknown

wandering

ghosts

so

that

these

homeless

souls

would

not

intrude

on

their

lives

and

bring

misfortune and bad luck. A large feast is held for the ghosts

on

the

15th

day

of

the

7th

month,

where

everyone

brings

samplings of food and places them on the offering table to

please the ghosts and ward off bad luck.

Halloween

has

origins

in

the

ancient

Celtic

festival

known

as Samhain celebrated on the night of October 31. The ancient

Celts believed that on the night of October 31, ghosts of the

dead would return to earth causing trouble and damaging the

community’s

food

supply

(

Eugene,

2006).

The

Celts

observed

the

event by burning crops and sacrificing animals to the Celtic

Gods

in

bonfires

built

by

the

Druids

(The

Celtic

Priests).

They

also

wore

costumes,

typically

of

animal

skins

and

heads,

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

because they believed that they could avoid being recognized

by

the

ghosts,

which

is

now

considered

as

the

root of

dressing

in the Halloween costumes on this festival. They would also

place

bowls

of

food

outside

their

houses

to

satisfy

the

ghosts

and prevent them from entering the home, which could be where

trick-or-treating originated. By the 800s, the influence of

Christianity

had

spread

into

Celtic

lands.

In

the

seventh

century,

Pope

Boniface

IV

designated

November

1

All

Saints'

Day,

a

time

to

honor

saints

and

martyrs.

It

is

widely

believed

today

that

the

pope

was

attempting

to

replace

the

Celtic

festival

of

the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The

celebration

was

also

called

All- hallows

or

All-hallowmas

(from

Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the

night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called

All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. The day is often

associated with the colors orange and black, and is strongly

associated

with

symbols

such

as

the

jack-o'-lantern.

Halloween

activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires,

costume

parties,

visiting

haunted

attractions,

carving

jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching horror

movies(Chen Kefeng

，

2006).

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

2.3 The Ch

inese Valentine’s Day vs. Valentine’s Day

The Chinese Valentine’s Day and Valentine’s Day in the

west

are

romantic

festivals

for

lovers.

The

Chinese

Valentine’s

Day,

also

known

as

Qixi,

falls

on

the

seventh

day

of

the

seventh

lunar

month.

The

origination

of

the

festival

is

closely related to the love story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

The

skill

is

essential

for

their

future

family.

On

that

night,

the unmarried girls may pray for the Weaving Maid star to let

them become smarter. When the star Vega is high up in the sky,

girls

do

a

test,

which

is

to

put

a

needle

on

the

water

surface.

If the needle doesn't sink, then girl is already smart enough

and ready to find a husband (Zhang, Qizhi 2007).

Valentine’s Day is rooted in the story of the martyred

Valentine. Valentine was a priest who served during the third

century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single

men made better soldiers than those with wives and families,

he outlawed marriage for young men

–

his crop of potential

soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree,

defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young

lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered,

Claudius ordered that he be put to death and Saint Valentine

was buried on the day of February 14th. Later lovers who got

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

married

with

the

help

of

Valentine

began

to

memorialize

him

on

this

day.

In

the

west,

Valentine’s

Day

is

the

traditional

day

on which lovers express their love for each other by sending

Valentine’s

cards,

presenting

flowers,

or

offeri

ng

confectionery (Ellinwood, 2005).

2.4 Summary

Through

comparison

of

the

three

pairs

of

traditional

festivals

above,

the

differences

in

Chinese

and

American

festivals can be summed up as follows.

In view of

origins,

the

Spring

Festival

has close

relation

to agriculture. Actually, most Chinese traditional festivals

are

derived

from

people’s

conducting

the

agricultural

production. In ancient China, agricultural production could

not be separated from the special “solar terms” (in Chinese

pinyin, “jiéqì”). Mos

t Chinese traditional festivals are

connected

to

the

“solar

terms”,

for

example,

the

Pure

Brightness

Festival,

The

Winter

Solstice

and

others.

Comparatively

speaking,

origins

of

American

traditional

festivals

reflect

the

influence

of

religion,

mainly

Christianity. Thanksgiving Day is related to religion to some

extent,

although

it

is

originated

in

the

celebration

of

harvest,

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英语论文中西方传统节日文化的差异

the influence of agriculture on this festival has faded away,

and it tends to be a festival for family reunion and showing

thanks

to

the

God.

In

fact,

among

all

the

American

traditional

festivals many are originated from Christianity. The biggest

festival

Christmas

is

held

to

observe

the

birth

of

Jesus;

Easter

is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus; Halloween is also

branded

by

Christianity

as

a

day

to

memorialize

all

the

saints.

Christianity

is

closely

related

to

American

traditional

festivals. In contrast to the unique place of Christianity in

American

traditional festivals, pantheism has

great

impact

on

Chinese

traditional

festivals

.

There

are

many

gods

in

China’s

legends. The Qixi Festival is rooted in the story of Cowherd

and

Weaver

Girl

who

was

the

seventh

daughter

of

the

Jade

Emperor

and

the

Heavenly

Queen

Mother.

And

the

Kitchen

God

Festival

is

obviously related to the Kitchen God, etc.

In view of customs, etiquette has been greatly emphasized

in

celebration

of

Chinese

traditional

festivals.

Take

the

Spring

Festival

for

example,

etiquette

can

be

seen

everywhere:

the

seating

arrangement

at

the

reunion

dinner,

the

elder

giving

“red envelops” to the younger, the younger giving gifts to

their parents, the descendants offering sacrifices to their

ancestors, people saying greetings to each other, paying New

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