Differences between Chinese and Western cultures

I. Differences between Chinese and Western cultures

Oriental culture, represented by Chinese culture, is y influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, whose roots can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago, and whose cultural foundation is based on the Six Classics, compiled and revised by Confucius, which is manifested in the following ways: The culture emphasizes personal cultivation and moral strength, opposes force, focuses on living in harmony with others and nature, pursues spiritual transcendence, and takes "benevolence" and "filial piety" as the core of society. At the same time, it is more inward-looking, focusing on self-sufficiency, which was reflected in the closed-door policy of the Qing Dynasty.

Western culture, represented by American culture, has its ideological basis in the European Renaissance, with its roots in Greco-Roman culture, and is y influenced by Christianity, which emphasizes individual freedom and rights, as well as practicality and exploration. Unlike the Chinese, who like to philosophize about the origins of life, the Chinese are more concerned with exploring and proving the natural world, and with considering the origins of life from the material level. Love is the core of their society. At the same time, they have an open and outward-looking culture, represented by the invasion of the New World at the time of the opening of the New Sea Route.

The similarities and differences between Chinese and Western values and ways of thinking

①Science

In science, the Chinese people believe more in the experience and authority of their forefathers, believe in the ancients and even more than believe in the present day, superstitious about authority, lack of innovation and the spirit of exploration, so, although the four great inventions in human history are all from the hands of the Chinese people, Zheng He to go to the West Ocean, China's shipbuilding technology is the When Zheng He sailed to the West Ocean, China's shipbuilding technology was world-class, but the fleet of a few thousand people sailed to the West Ocean, but in order to declare that the Ming Dynasty was "rich and powerful", but when Magellan's fleet traveled around the world, when the Westerners invaded us by using the Chinese invention of the compass, gunpowder, we think of the Great Wall of China in the sea and then create a place, the conservative and old-fashioned thinking, lack of innovation and spirit of adventure can be seen here. The lack of innovation and adventure is evident.

Westerners, on the other hand, attach importance to practice and theory, are rich in the spirit of adventure, advocate rational thinking, and popularize and promote the achievements of science through formal college-style education, which has greatly promoted the development of science.　　　　

②The concept of legal system

"The decree is to guide the people, and the criminal law is to prohibit adultery. The civil and military are not prepared, the good people are afraid of the body repair, the official has not been chaotic. Duty and etiquette, can already be ruled, why the majesty of it?" It can be seen that in the Chinese mind, the law is only a supplement to morality, so the Chinese advocate self-improvement, do not advocate the use of laws and regulations to constrain people, the importance of the law is not very enough. In the constraint of desire, the Chinese advocate the use of rituals, morality to constrain, Zhu Xi in the Song Dynasty had put forward the idea of "the survival of the Divine Principle, extinguish human desires", that is, through the teachings of the sages and learning to improve their own cultivation, control and repression of all the "not in line with the morality of the" desires! The result is a defective personality, a loss of independence, and the root cause of the prevalence of feudal rule.

Westerners, on the other hand, believe that human desires should not be suppressed, and advocate the use of the "rule of law" to regulate social and personal norms through institutions, such as the organization of the separation of powers, political institutions to constrain the constraints, and morality is in a subordinate position.

③Democracy

The Chinese people pay attention to the freedom of spirit, although the entire feudal society for more than two thousand years of history, basically is the feudal centralized system of strengthening, is the complete loss of democratic politics, but from the beginning, Confucianism, Taoism thinkers put the democratic politics to a very high ideological height to understand and look at, the rulers are required to love the people, pro-people, and attach importance to people's livelihood and suffering, Confucius' "benevolence". Confucius' idea of "benevolence", Mencius' idea of "the people are the most important thing, the gods of earth and grain come second, and the ruler is the least important thing", and Laozi's idea of "caring for other people as we care for one another, and caring for other people as we care for our own", all contain the idea of "democracy" and so on. All of them contain the idea of "democracy", but they also advocate the divine right of kings, uphold the hierarchical system, and regard freedom and democracy as the reward of monarchs and dignitaries. That is why our people are always longing for the blue sky, hoping that there will be good officials who will work for the benefit of the people.

In contrast, Western democracy believes that government is by the people, and that all power is only a power granted by the people to be exercised by the government. Therefore, Westerners can veto or reelect a government that cannot serve the people by means of a ballot. Of course there may be many problems in between, but both in the level of understanding and in the design of the system are undoubtedly much more advanced than ours.

4 Interpersonal communication

Chinese people value the friendship of human beings, and do not think about the problem purely from one aspect, but like to think about the whole, long term, which often complicates an originally simple thing,

Westerners may be relatively simple, one is one, two is two, one size fits all, dealing with the problem is quick and efficient, and is also conducive to the formation of a decent social atmosphere. It is also conducive to the formation of an upright social atmosphere.

5 Individual and Collective Interests

Relative to individual rights and interests, the Chinese people attach more importance to collective interests, including family interests and national interests, and advocate controlling their own desires, opposing extreme individualism and heroism, and believing that there is no country where there is a family, and that there is no family where there is an individual, and tend to link their individual interests to collective interests and the interests of the nation, and are rich in patriotism and dedication, but are also prone to neglecting individual interests and failing to recognize the importance of individual rights and interests. But it is also easy to ignore individual interests, do not know how to protect their own rights and interests, often compromise, sacrifice themselves, and even pay a heavy price.

Westerners, on the other hand, attach more importance to individual interests, pursue human rights and advocate freedom, believing that if even individual interests cannot be safeguarded, how can we talk about the collective interests, and it is this kind of ideological understanding that ultimately pushed forward the development of democratic politics in the West.

Third, on the differences between Chinese and Western culture thoughts

Western culture is relatively late compared to the Eastern culture, due to historical origins, customs, living environment, religious beliefs and other differences, resulting in the existence of a great difference between Chinese and Western culture, but the differences between Eastern and Western cultures can not be said to be who is superior and who is inferior, this is the formation of the objective, and their existence will give rise to the continued development of human culture, the world, any people and countries, the world, the world, the world and the world, the world and the world. In today's world, it is impossible for any nation or country to get rid of its traditional culture. With the advance of global integration, cultural exchanges between countries are increasingly frequent, to explore the overall differences between Chinese and Western cultures, the purpose is to promote economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West, to strengthen the ties of the "global village", and to seek *** with the development.