What are the differences between Chinese and Western thought and culture?

The differences between Chinese and Western thought and culture are mainly reflected in the following two aspects:

One, the way of thinking:

Westerners pay attention to the dialectical rationality of analyzing the empirical evidence, analyzing the whole and then synthesizing; in the view of Western philosophers, only the dialectical things are the most real, the most perfect, the most beautiful.

The traditional Chinese way of thinking is not through inductive reasoning, deductive deduction, but based on facts.

Second, the value orientation:

Westerners focus on self-centered, personal and competitive; Chinese values, emphasizing group consciousness, social consciousness, personal interests should be subordinate to the interests of the community as a whole, and only when the whole community is developed, individuals can get the maximum benefit.

Reasons for the formation of cultural differences between China and the West

1, affected by the economic system

China's traditional economy is a typical self-sufficient natural economy. People are more peaceful and conservative. Because they depend on a piece of land can live for a lifetime, the culture is more introverted.

And China's ancient civilization, which originated in the Great River Valley, is an agricultural civilization, and the "agricultural civilization character" has created the Oriental people to pay attention to ethics and morality, to seek common ground and stability, and to take "harmony as the most precious thing, and forbearance as the most noble" as the principle of dealing with the world.

Western ancient Greek civilization, originated in the Aegean Sea coast, belongs to the marine civilization, and the European farming is far less important than Chinese farming in ancient times, so Europeans like to explore the outside world, the culture is more extroverted.

And after the industrial revolution, the western countries entered the industrial economy very early, "industrial civilization character" created the western people have a strong spirit of struggle and legal awareness to protect their own interests, to independence, freedom and equality as the principle of the world.

2. Influenced by the geographical environment.

The closed continental geography makes the Chinese people's thinking is limited to the local area, good at summarizing the lessons of the past, like "history as a mirror", and spatial awareness is weak.

This kind of inward-looking thinking has led to the stable and quiet character of the Chinese people, who lack curiosity about new things and interest in the unknown.

Western countries, on the other hand, are mostly in an open oceanic geography, with well-developed commerce, industry, and navigation, and have a tradition of focusing on the study of natural objects and exploring the mysteries of nature since the time of Ancient Greece.

At the same time, the mountain winds and tsunamis and turbulence of the marine environment have also constituted the personality of the Western nation that focuses on spatial expansion and forceful conquest.

3. Influenced by the cultural and historical background and aesthetic psychology of their respective nations.

Chinese cultural thought, the key in a sentence of Confucius, "humility, respect, trust, sensitivity, wisdom. The key to Chinese cultural thought lies in Confucius' phrase "humility, respect, trust, sensitivity and wisdom".