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1、A Comparison of Daily TaboosBetween Chinese and English Speaking CountriesI. IntroductionEvery country has its own taboo. Taboo is a cultural or religious custom that does not allow people to do, use or talk about a particular thing as people find it offensive or embarrassing (Hornby 1796). We alway
2、s meet problems when communicating with people from other countries if we dont understand their taboos. In order to make communication successful, we must learn them carefully. There are many kinds of taboos such as taboos in daily life, business and diplomacy. And this paper will mainly talk about
3、taboos in daily life in China and English speaking countries. Taboos in daily life conclude four parts: food, sociality, holidays and numbers and dates. For all the academic studies I have colleccted, I classify the studies of taboos in western countries into two categories. One is talking about stu
4、dies of taboos origin, and the other is related to the studies of taboo customs.As far as studies of taboos prigin is concerned, the book written by Wardhough claima that taboos are originally nothing than an objectified fear of a demonic power.Experts who study of taboos in terms of customs and bah
5、aviors in a society involve specific taboos of all sorts. Roger focuses on those which remain effective to urge that the existent taboo customs in diffeent cultures should keep sensitive and be cautious of his behavior in communication.In the book of The Comparison of Customs in Chinese and English
6、Speaking Countries，Du Xuezeng says that taboos have dissimilarities even in the same culture because of different places, so do taboos in different culture. So taboos have become the obstacles that impede peoples cross-culture communication.II. Taboos in Daily Life in Chinese and English Speaking Co
7、untriesA. About Food Food is a vital part of our daily life, so as the taboos on food. As the old Chinese saying goes, food is the first necessity of human being. The food custom is different between countries. There are two aspects about the taboos on food, one is the contents of food, and the othe
8、r is the manner when having food. 1. Contents of FoodAs it is known to all, a Moslem doesnt have pork, a Hindu doesnt have beef, and a Buddhist doesnt have meat. People in English speaking countries avoid eating fat, sticky bones and the skins of chickens or ducks except for roasted skins. They also
9、 avoid having food made up with animals head, feet and insides. Western people have strong sense to protect animals, so they dont eat some meat such as dogs and frogs. Americans dislike dishes which are spicy, and food which has big smells such as garlic and strong-smelling preserved bean curd. Engl
10、ish people prefer food which is not strongly flavored, and they seldom eat seafood. Chinese people have few taboos towards what to eat. But they care about eating one kind of food together with another kind of food. For example, Chinese like to eat dumplings with vinegar, and twisted dough-strips wi
11、th soy-bean milk. However, Chinese dont match a few kinds of food together, such as crabs with persimmons, spinaches and tofu, which are both bad for health. Chinese still pay attention to having food according to the season. One kind of food has their best time for people to eat. In Chinese view, e
12、ating leeks in spring or winter is good for knees, but it makes human beings dizzy in summer. Chinese still form other habits about eating food. They dislike smoking while having a meal. And they do not like drinking cold water or eating ice cream immediately after a meal. In New Year, fish is a nec
13、essity in China. It originates from an old Chinese saying “surplus year after year”.2. Table MannersTable manners vary from country to country, and they are no less important since they are repeated many times every day. It must be done properly by whether eating alone, with family or with friends.
14、One should train himself in proper eating manners. Western people have meals with knives and forks, not allowing making noise by them. For Chinese, they use chopsticks and it is rude to knock bowls. As for people in English speaking countries, they abstain from wolfing down when they have a meal. Th
15、ey taboo to use knives and forks to make a cup noisy. It will bring bad luck if someone makes the cup noisy continuously. They dont like to leave dishes in plates, so they ask less for something they dislike. “But you had better accept all the food that the hostess give it to you, it means that you
16、enjoy this invite” (Roger 11) . During having a meal, a person is not allowed to speak if his mouth is filled with food. Eat what is in front of you. If the dish you prefer is not close, you can ask your neighbor to help transfer it. Do not start eating ahead of the elders. For the elders, do not st
17、art eating before everyone is at the table. After finishing a meal, one must put his knife and fork in right place. And it is not polite to pick teeth before other people. Although Chinese have no taboos on eating any food, they have complicated table rules. Chinese have a strict standard on seats.
18、They are divided into superior and inferior ones. The superior one is left for important guests and elders. On a banquet, they should sit according to the rules. And if a man sits behind a woman, he had better not only help himself but also take care of the woman. Chinese avoid coughing toward the d
19、ishes, and he must cover his mouth with a napkin if he coughs. It is also a bad action if someone stops his chopsticks and looks for which dishes he is going to have. Besides, Chinese never provide seven dishes one time for guests to eat because it is a custom after a funeral. They especially avoid
20、inserting chopsticks upright in a bowl filled with rice, because it resembles someone is dead. It is not polite to make noises by knocking a bowl by ones chopsticks, and to some extent, it also means there are no meals any more. After a meal, one had better say “Im full” instead of “I have finished
21、my meal” which is unlucky. Cantonese hate others asking if he had finished his meal very much.Both English speaking countries and China have a drinking culture. Coffee, tea and alcohol are three important factors. In English speaking countries, coffee is a basic kind of drinks for them. Some like pu
22、re coffee without sugar and milk, others prefer putting sugar and milk into his coffee. The important point is one needs to stir them with a teaspoon and drink it directly, instead of using teaspoon to help drink it. Do not pour your drink down your throat in one gulp. Drink it in three sips. When i
23、t comes to alcohol, it is important to choose what kind of alcohol according to the environment. For instance, people drink appetizer wine before a meal, table wine during a meal, and cocktail or Whisky after a meal. In some significant banquet, they even change the wine according to the different d
24、ishes. When people need to celebrate something, Champagne is usually the first choice for them. Do not breathe out in your glass. This will irritate others and smudge the glass or the cup. Do not drink directly from the jug or the container, besides being unhealthy behavior, others who could be irra
25、ted may want to drink after you (Wardhough 130). Western people lay emphasis on the starts and the ends during drinking alcohol. Before the meal starts, the host proposes a toast to his guests, and they do not have to cheer noisily.Although coffee is gaining its effect on Chinese, tea still has a fi
26、rm position in Chinese daily life. When drinking tea, Chinese prefer a small cup one time rather than a big one，because that is a way to taste the sweet-smelling in the tea. If there are some tea stalks floating, people should use a cup cover to sweep them away or blow them away instead of taking th
27、em out by hands. Chewing tea stalks is a bad habit, too. Drinking tea is different from coffee, Chinese dont add anything to it, such as milk or sugar. And people avoid drinking tea which is made too long or having stayed overnight, because it is unhealthy. As for alcohol, Chinese often claim to dri
28、nk one kind of alcohol one time and do not like to mix some kinds of alcohol together as what western people like. If someone toasts firstly, other people must toast back to him.B. About SocialityEveryone needs to contact with others in daily life. If a person does not know the rules about sociality
29、, he can not be respected by other people. People in western countries and China both have a lot of taboos on sociality.1. VisitingsIn English-speaking countries，people feel uneasy about visitors who have not made an appointment before. If one makes a visit abruptly, people who he is visiting may ev
30、en refuse to talk with him. Because this sudden visiting may interrupt peoples plan and bring great inconvenience. As time goes by, an unexpected visit is becoming a rude behavior. But for Chinese, they usually dont make an appointment except some special occasions such as a wedding or a funeral. Du
31、e to the increasing pace of daily life, bookings are actually more important than before, especially for businessmen. This is a good habit for both the visitors and the visited. “People in America often arrive three or five minutes later than the promissory time. And it is also a common thing for Am
32、ericans to arrive ten minutes later” (朱光 7). If he comes earlier, he needs to wait for a while, because the hostess is busy cooking and can not change her clothes until five minutes earlier than the meal time. So it will make the hostess embarrassed if a visitor comes earlier. Chinese is completely
33、different from Americans on this aspect, and they usually arrive three or four minutes earlier for showing respect. This is especailly necessary when meeting elders. Both Americans and Chinese dont like put off or call off their meeting without a good reason. If one is not available, he must tell ab
34、out it before the appointment time and make an apology. 2. Topics In a get-together, a banquet or some other public occasions, people in western countries dislike to talk about their talkshops or work, because other people are not familiar with these topics and then it is hard to make a long talk. O
35、ne will also be taken as having a narrow vision. But Chinese dont take it seriously, they prefer to talk about personal life and hear these topics. It is same that western people and Chinese dont like those who are eloquent and spreading himself. There are other things that people dont want to talk
36、about. In English speaking countries, Christian is one of the main religions. Christians take committing suicide as a sin, so they avoid talking about suicide. Besides this, personal privacy is also a topic that people are unwilling to talk about. Personal privacy includes age, possession, wage, mar
37、riage and so on. Even if a westerner is asked how old he is, he will not speak the truth. And if a person asks an English man about how much his house is or what is the price of his car, the person will be taken as ill mannered. When talking with others, one had better not involve in these topics, o
38、r it will make others unhappy. “The American old saying go fly your kite can vividly prove that Americans care about others privacy very much” (李荣健 宋和平217). But when talking with westerners, one can speak of childrens educating fees and travelling fees. For Chinese, these are common topics in daily
39、life. And people often talk about them freely, they do not feel the same as western people do. Chinese certainly have their own taboos on topics. Those are generally something relating to others dignity, such as others weakness and defects. 3. Public Manners Western people also care about following
40、orders very much in public, and they do not want to be disturbed. For example, if people are doing business in a bank or a post office, or visiting somewhere, they will make a queue according to their coming order, and keep some space between each other. Americans general aversion to touching others
41、 and being touched is clearly evident in public places. “The keep to the right” rule is one means of reducing the likelihood that strangers will have physical contact with each other (焦英 钱清37). No one is allowed to cut in the line. In a restaurant full of people, the one who is arriving later can no
42、t disturb those who are at the table, and he must wait at the gate without walking around the restaurant to search for a seat. “The first-come, first-served rule” is popular in Americans conception. The general notion is that the person who arrives first gets attention first. Alternative notions, su
43、ch as giving priorite to older people or richer ones or males, do not normally occur to equality-minded Americans. Chinese also dont like others jumping in a queue, but many people dont care about it. To some extent, Chinese like to grab a seat on the bus and be onlookers, these are actually not app
44、ropriate actions. Americans will rarely crowd onto a bus, train or other conveyance（Oateg 26).Chinese like to give snacks to a child in order to show their love, but this is unaccepted by American people. In American, even poor family provides enough snacks for their children and they are afraid tha
45、t their children may be hurt by the poor quality food. So parents always tell their children not to accept strangers snacks. In Americans eyes, it is not an impolite behavior, and it is just a way to protect their children from being hurt by poisonous food. Chinese, especially elders, like to touch
46、childrens head. However, in western countries, if a person touches a childs head, not only the child does not like it but also his parents feel unhappy. “If you think a child is very lovely, a kiss ,not touching his head, can make him happy” (金正昆 58).The dog is taken as a family member for people in
47、 English speaking countries, so do not feed a dog casually as Chinese like to do. And many dogs are trained to deal with strangers, it is dangerous to get close to them. There are many postmen being killed by dogs every month. Americans also think that adults can not spit out his tongue in front of
48、others, because it seems rude and impolite. But Chinese do not mind about it.For western people, they often talk with each other in a low voice in public, and it is banned to speak loudly. This is the same as Chinese, but their volume is a little lower than Chinese. It symbolizes that they dont want
49、 to interfere others. For some exceptional cases, such as sneezing, people cant sneeze to others. After sneezing, one should say “excuse me”. Besides, Americans have a superstition that one cant make big noise by your feet when walking on the street, or it means cursing his mother.In China, it is a common phenomenon that one oversteps another. However, people in English speaking countries will say “excuse me” when he walks beyond another person. And they advocate gentlemen manners,
