What are the differences between Chinese and Western myths What makes them different

Cultural and linguistic differences between China and the WestIn the minds of Chinese people, summer is hot, "hot summer day", summer is always associated with heat and heat. But in a sonnet by Shakespeare, there is this line, Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?/Thou art more lovely and more temperate. /Thou art more lovely and more temperate.) The poet compares his lover to summer, lovely and temperate. Summer brings such different associations to the Chinese and the English. The reason for this is the different geographical locations. China is situated in the Asian continent, with a continental climate and four distinct seasons, and the most obvious characteristic of summer is the blazing sun, which is unbearably hot. The UK, on the other hand, is located in the northern temperate zone and has an oceanic climate, which makes summers bright, mild and pleasant. Of course, there are many other examples in this regard. For example, in Chinese, the east wind makes people think of warmth and geniality, while the west wind makes people think of coldness and bitterness. In the West, it is the opposite. The reason is the same: the two places are in different geographic locations, which brings different feelings. Second, production and labor in English and aquatic products, boat-related words are very much, such as fish in the air (缘木求鱼), an odd fish (怪人), miss the boat (错过机会), etc. In Chinese, these words are much less common. There are far fewer such words in Chinese. The reason is that Britain is surrounded by water, aquatic fishing and seafaring industry occupies an important position in its economic life, so there are more such words. In China, fishermen only use nets in coastal areas, so there are relatively few such words. To express "to carry something with physical strength" there are many verbs in Chinese, such as carry, load, pick, carry, lift, carry, carry, carry, carry, carry, carry, carry, and so on, and each word has a certain thing to carry with it (for example, picking soil, carrying water, lifting a box), which is really very detailed. In English, however, there is only one carry to refer to this action in general. The reason why Chinese distinguishes this verb is probably because China has been in an agricultural society for a long time, and there is a lot of manual labor. In Chinese, we come across words like work like an ox, as strong as a horse, flog a willing horse, etc. In English, to express the same meaning, we would say work like a horse, as strong as a horse, flog a willing horse. Why do we use the word "ox" in Chinese and "horse" in English? The answer is that while the Chinese have always used oxen to plow their fields, the early English used horses. Cattle and horses in the production process were divided into two countries of people's good helper, won the people's favor, the words have been used as above. Customs and habits 1, title and address: When learning English, we find that the name of the title in English is much less than that in Chinese. For example, the word cousin in English corresponds to cousin, cousin, cousin and cousin in Chinese. As we can see, Chinese distinguishes between cousins very strictly, both in terms of gender and size, not at all like English which generalizes one word. This linguistic phenomenon is attributed to China's 2,000 to 3,000 years of feudal rule. This feudal society placed a high value on blood relations, emphasized the differences between classes, and promoted the order of seniority and inferiority. As a result of the differences in kinship, seniority and gender, there was also a difference in power and obligation, so titles were strictly and carefully differentiated. There are not many titles in English, except for dad, mum, grandpa, aunt, uncle and so on, which are often used, and almost all others are not used. In Britain and the United States, people address each other in a way that seems to the Chinese to be unreasonable, impolite and uneducated. For example: children do not call their grandparents grandpa and grandma, but call them by their first names, this practice is decent, kind, and in line with the common landfill, the young people call the elderly, only in front of their last name plus Mr, Mrs or Miss. They are the practice of the Western pursuit of equality of all people's ideas, in their eyes, the title itself means unequal. 2, honorifics and modesty: like the title, the honorifics in the English language are not used. Like titles, there are far fewer honorifics in English than in Chinese. In English, no matter how old the other person is and how high his or her status is, you is you and I is I. There is no need to use a lot of honorifics such as "you", "director", "engineer", and so on, as in Chinese. One of the reasons for this phenomenon in Chinese is the hierarchical patriarchal system of Chinese feudal society. It requires people to use honorifics when they talk to their elders or superiors, or even their peers, or else they will be considered rude or even arrogant if they do not use the right words; and when they talk about themselves, they have to use humility, and if they don't use it, they will also be considered impolite. Another reason is the influence of thousands of years of traditional Chinese thinking, not wanting to emphasize themselves, always think that modesty is a virtue. There are two reasons why there are fewer of these words in English: one is that Westerners love to pursue equality, and the other is that they have long respected personal values, are happy to express themselves, and emphasize the development of personal self-confidence. As a result of the above concepts, there is a big difference between Chinese and Westerners when they receive praises and congratulations. Chinese people will say a kind of modest words after listening to such words, while Westerners will not hesitate to say: " Thank you" I once read such a joke in the newspaper, at a dance, an American praised a Chinese lady and said: "You look very beautiful today (你今天很漂亮)." The Chinese lady hurriedly and modestly said, "You look very beautiful today. The Chinese lady rushed to say modestly: Where (哪里 ), where (哪里 ). The American felt very strange, and then had to say: everywhere (到处). According to the Western custom, when they praise others, they always want others to reply with thanks or a quick acceptance, otherwise they will misunderstand that the other party doubts their own judgment. The East, on the other hand, is more modest and cautious, and even if their hearts are very happy, they will not frankly recognize or accept each other's praise. Another example is the title of a document or paper published in an academic journal. In addition to describing the content of the article, the titles of Chinese articles often have words that express modesty. For example, Shallow Talk ...... , Trial Discussion ...... , , "The First Exploration of ...... , etc., while the titles of English articles are often straightforward and unadorned, such as Science and Linguistics (《科学与语言》).3、Personal privacy: For most Westerners, the topics of how old are you, how much do you make, are you married, etc., which are raised to strangers or people who are not familiar with them, are personal privacy. The topic of the question belongs to the personal privacy of the category, taboo asked by others. The most frequent topic of pleasantries among Westerners is the weather conditions or forecasts. Such as "It's fine, isn't it?", "It's raining hard, isn't it? ", "Your dress is do nice!" and so on. They never ask questions about other people's privacy in front of people they meet for the first time or don't know very well in order to show their respect for each other. Greetings in Chinese sometimes also express concern for the other party. For example, you don't look well today, are you sick? It's been a long time, you've gained weight again. You have lost weight again, take care of your health. If a westerner hears you say: "You are fat" or "You are so thin" and so on. Even if they are familiar with each other, they will feel embarrassed and find it difficult to answer because it is impolite. On the other hand, Chinese people get to know each other very well, and within half an hour, they know each other's family and personal situation very well. This is again a function of the different cultural backgrounds in which the two sides live. Westerners pay special attention to personal privacy. They believe that personal matters do not need to let others know, and even more reluctant to let others interfere. The Chinese, on the other hand, have lived in a village for thousands of years, are close to each other and have a lot of contact with each other, so it is very difficult for them to keep their personal life or private affairs from being known or interfered with. In addition, the Chinese people are united, caring and helpful to each other, and they believe that their personal affairs are the affairs of the family and even the collective. Therefore, they are very willing to understand the sweet and sour of others, and others are also willing to tell frankly. Of course, now in some developed or coastal cities, people are beginning to accept the Western point of view, talking about each other's privacy. Religious beliefs in the Chinese and English languages involve a large number of religious words, spectacular. For example, Tian Gong, Yin and Yang, Bodhisattva, etc. Language is a direct reflection of thought. Language is a direct reflection of thought, two very different religious vocabulary is a true reflection of the very different religious concepts of the two peoples. Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, Confucianism and Taoism were dominant in China, and the words related to religion in the Chinese language were mostly related to this, such as Tai Chi, Tao, etc., and its spirit, such as respecting heaven's order, practicing filial piety, and listening to heaven's will, etc., could also be seen in the daily language. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, a large number of Buddhists were introduced to China, and a large number of Buddhist words followed, and the idea of reincarnation was accepted and digested by Confucianism and Taoism. The three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism became absolutely dominant in China. In Britain, Christianity was the main religion. It was introduced to Britain in 597. For a long time afterward, a large number of words related to this religion were introduced into the English language. There are words that were infiltrated into English from Latin in the Old English period, such as angel (angel), monk (monk), etc., and words borrowed from French in the Middle English period, such as religion, dean (prelate), etc., as well as a large number of words borrowed from other foreign languages in the modern English period, as a result of which the number of words related to religion is much larger in English than in other languages. V. Historical allusions The use of allusions is an important part of the daily conversation of every nation, and people often unconsciously use allusions from the cultural heritage of their respective nations, for example, the Chinese will say, "That all Greeks are really a hollow city plan". Westerners will say That all Greek to me. (I don't know anything about it.), He's a Shylock (He's a miser). When it comes to the use of allusions, most foreigners who don't know much about each other's cultures are quite puzzled, apparently because of the different cultural heritages of each nation. Chinese allusions are mostly derived from the four great ancient novels such as Dream of the Red Chamber, folklore and myths, as well as traditional Chinese sports and entertainment such as chess and theater. The first two examples are one from Chinese chess and one from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Western allusions, on the other hand, are mostly from Shakespeare's plays and many other characters or names in later Anglo-American literature, Greek and Roman myths, characters and events in the Bible, and traditional sports, such as baseball and rugby in the United States. The last two examples in English come from Shakespeare's plays. Sixth, the way of thinking English focuses on the use of a variety of specific means of connection in order to achieve a complete grammatical form. These sentences are well organized, the levels are well ordered, and their syntactic functions are obvious at a glance. For example, if winter comes, can spring be far behind? Once you see if, the logical relationship between the two sentences will be obvious at a glance. Chinese, on the other hand, seldom uses connecting means, the sentences look loose and confusing, the concepts, judgments and reasoning are not strict, and the logical relationship between the sentences is not easy to see from the outside. For example, if you can win, you can fight, if you can't win, you can leave. There is no connecting component between several sentences, as if a large number of verbs are piled on top of each other, and the relationship between the sentences cannot be seen from the outside, but the meaning of the sentences connects them. This is what people say that English emphasizes form and Chinese emphasizes meaning, and these differences reflect the different ways of thinking between the English and Chinese peoples. English people emphasize rationality and logical thinking. The Chinese people emphasize enlightenment, focusing on dialectical thinking. Individualistic values are y rooted and omnipresent in Western culture. There are many self-centered words in English, such as "self-absorption, self-admiration, self-cultivation, self-image and so on. Therefore, individualism is prevalent in Western societies, emphasizing personal freedom and freedom from external constraints. On the other hand, Chinese culture emphasizes that collective interests are higher than individual interests, and the words "first the state, then the collective, then the individual, first benefit the people, then benefit oneself" can be found everywhere. Through simple words, we can understand the two very different cultures. By understanding the differences between Chinese and Western cultures through language comparison, people will have a deeper understanding of both cultures, which in turn will help us master the two languages. When we learn English, we should understand its cultural background knowledge and social customs, and always compare it with our mother tongue, so that we can consciously realize the root causes of irregular language and ways to avoid it, and then enhance the awareness of the use of standardized language.