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1、The Differences between Chinese Value and Western ValueValue is a criterion which can help people to distinguish good and bad, beauty and ugliness, right and wrong and true and false. Value varies from different counties, which is the main cause of the conflict and misunderstanding in communication
2、between China and western countries. It is of great significance to know and learn the cultural differences in cross-cultural communication. Therefore, I want to introduce the reasons why these differences are formed and then explain them in several aspects.Reasons With the emergence and development
3、 of different countries and cultures, two main reasons affect the formation of value: 1. Development of history 2. Thinking pattern China has a long history and the rule of the feudal class has dominated China for about two thousand years, which has direct influence on our value system in the modern
4、 society. Modern Chinese people are still compliant to authorities, respect the senior and emphasize the state of “keeping your place”. On the contrary, in the 1800s, the British bourgeoisie overthrew the feudal rule and established a capitalist society. Whats more, the industrial revolution greatly
5、 enhanced peoples material standard of living and liberated peoples minds completely. The democracy of capitalism gradually prevailed in western societies. Westerners advocate individualism, longs for liberty and equality. These differences in historical environment make Chinese and western percepti
6、ons of individual differ greatly from each other.Thinking patterns are dominated by national philosophy. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism have great influence on the thinking patterns of Chinese people. Since these three kinds of philosophy all attach great significance to perception, Chinese peopl
7、e are implicit and euphemistic. On this point, westerners are just the other way around. The backgrounds of philosophy in western countries are Aristotelian formal logic and rationalism which has been prevalent in Europe from the 1700s to the 1900s. Rationalism pays special attention to formal discu
8、ssion, so westerners are outgoing and logical. Value In the process of development, China and western countries form different values, which are reflected in many aspects. Thinking Patterns Western value stresses individualism. As John Locke said, each individual is unique, special, and completely d
9、ifferent from all other individuals. This kind of thinking pattern premises on gaining personal interests and guarding personal dignity. Most Americans believe that each person has his or her own separate identity, which should be recognized and reinforced. From Americans strong belief in democracy
10、to the ease with which they go to war to preserve freedom, we can see that individualism dominates western culture.However, we Chinese gradually develop another kind of value through thousands of yearscollectivism. Collectivism insists the unity of nation, which is largely a criterion to judge wheth
11、er a persons behavior is good. Collectivism also tells us that we must subordinate our personal interests to those of the collective.Family Values According to western thinking patterns, westerners pay great attention to personal interests, so their family value is very weak. Family is a highly priv
12、ate place and is protected by law. On this point, we Chinese are completely different from westerners. Chinese people think kinship is precious and warm and we Chinese tend to tell everything to our family members. We are compliant to our parents and like to be together with each other now and then,
13、 especially during festival.Interpersonal Relationship Interpersonal relationship differs in different cultures. Chinese people place great value to relationship, while westerners tend to be more realistic. Affected by Confucianism, we Chinese emphasize social standards and emotion. We think about s
14、eniority and friendship in communication, and depend on our family members and friends to satisfy our need from material to emotion. So in problem-solving, we Chinese make no difference between public and private, and mix personal relations and public relations together. But in western interpersonal
15、 relationships, everyone is equal and everybody has the same opportunities. According to their historical background, westerners are outgoing, independent, disengaged and equivalent. So westerners seldom put personal emotions into work and they hold on to individualism, equality and fair trading in
16、business. Money As a result of different cultural backgrounds, Chinese and westerners have distinct perceptions of money. In China, the majority of people are saving money to buy house, buy car, pay their childrens tuition and some of them even save money to buy house for their children. So we Chine
17、se tend to provide for the future. On the contrary, westerners are always pursuing the state of “carpe diem”. If they earn more, they spend more, and if they earn less, they spend less. For instance, most Americans buy their houses and cars on credit, without thinking whether they can pay the money
18、back. Value is progressed in history, so every country and nation has their own distinctive values and these values cannot be changed easily in a short time. In general, Chinese value emphasizes more on collectivism, while western values pay more attention to individualism. With the progress of globalization and the rapid development of China, it is of great significance for us to learn the different values between China and western countries, which can help us to avoid conflict and help to promote understanding between cultures.
