中西方传统节日文化的差异-英语教育131张明艳修改后

Festivals

Introduction

Culture is the soul carrier of human beings, and it’s the core value

of one country. Different countries have different cultures. Among all the elements that consist a nation’s culture, traditional festival culture is the most essential and richest one. As we all know, Chinese and western traditional festivals are two different cultural forms evolved from comparatively independent cultural systems, which possess peculiar characteristics and varied manifestation. So there must be lots of differences. Through comparing Chinese Spring Festival with Western Christmas Day, Tomb Sweeping Day with Halloween, Double-Seventh Day with Valentines’ Day, Mid-autumn Festival with Thanks Giving Day, this thesis tries to find out and make a rough analysis on the similarities and cultural differences between Chinese and Western countries.

The thesis consists of four parts. The first part would focus on the main important traditional festivals both in China and western countries. After brief introduction in the form of comparison to the main festivals, there would be an analysis on the similarities and differences of traditional Chinese and western festivals in the second and third parts. In the last part of the thesis, there would be a brief conclusion.

Key words: Traditional festivals; Chinese and western culture; different

cultural .

Contents

Introduction

1. Important Traditional Festivals in China and Western Countries Respectively

1.1 Spring Festival vs. Christmas Day 1.2 Tomb Sweeping Day vs. Halloween

1.3 Double-Seventh Day vs. Valentine’s Day 1.4 Mid-autumn Day vs. Thanksgiving Day

2. Common ground of traditional Chinese and western festivals 2.1 Similarities in perspective of the functions of the festivals

3. Differences of traditional Chinese and western festivals 3.1 The differences in perspective of forms 3.2 Difference in perspective of inner meaning

4. Conclusion References

1.Important Traditional Festivals in China and Western Countries Respectively

1.1 Spring Festival vs. Christmas Day

These two are the most important festivals in their own cultural systems. The Spring Festival is the chief holiday in China while Christmas is the most important red-letter day in the western world. People attach great attention to the celebration of these two festivals.

The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and it is an occasion for all family members to get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back to enjoy the family reunion. The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. But strictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days.

Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. For example: On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge. The 23rd day

of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. People usually offer sacrifice to the kitchen god on this day. Most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves nowadays. After the Preliminary Eve, people begin preparing for the coming New Year. This is called \"Seeing the New Year in\". Before the New Year comes, people completely clean their homes as well as their clothes, utensils, etcs. Then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance. Christmas Day is a holiday held on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity, even though the date is not known to be the actual birth date of Jesus. Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations, including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, etcs. In addition, Father Christmas (or Santa Claus) is a popular folklore figure in many countries, associated with the bringing of gifts for children.

Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in most countries of the world, even in many whose populations are not Christian majorities. In some non-Christian countries or areas such as Hong Kong, former colonial rules are introduced to the celebration, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. Around the world, Christmas celebrations can vary greatly in form, reflecting different cultural and national traditions. Countries such as Japan and Korea, where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small number of Christians, have adopted many of the secular aspects of Christmas, such as gift-giving, decorations and Christmas trees.

1.2 Tomb Sweeping Day vs. Halloween

Tomb Sweeping Day and Halloween are two different festivals which have the similar functions. They are celebrated in China and mainly America respectively. Both of them are festivals for commemorating the dead people.

Tomb Sweeping Day is one of the few traditional Chinese holidays that follows the solar calendar—typically falling on April 4, 5, or 6. Its Chinese name \"Qing Ming\" literally means \"Clear Brightness,\" hinting at its importance as a celebration of Spring. Similar to the festivals of spring in the other cultures, Tomb Sweeping Day celebrates the rebirth of nature, while marking the beginning of the planting season and other outdoor activities.

In ancient times, people celebrated Tomb Sweeping Day with dancing, singing, picnics, and kite flying. Colored boiled eggs would be broken to symbolize the opening of life. In the capital, the Emperor would plant trees on the palace grounds to celebrate the renewing nature of spring. In the villages, young men and women would court each other. With the passing of time, this celebration of life became a day to the honor past ancestors. Following folk religion, the Chinese believed that the spirits of deceased ancestors looked after the family. Sacrifices of food and spirit money could keep them happy, and the family would prosper through good harvests and more children. Today, Chinese also visit their family graves to commemorate the ancestors on this day. Weeds are pulled, and dirt swept away, and the family will set out offerings of food and spirit money. Unlike the sacrifices at a family's home altar, the offerings at the tomb usually consist of dry, bland food.

Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints, but is today largely a secular celebration.

Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, but among those that do have the traditions, the form of celebration vary significantly. Celebration in the United States has had a significant impact on how the holiday is observed in other nations. This larger American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has

extended to places such as South America, Europe, etcs.

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

1.3 Double-Seventh Day vs. Valentine’s Day

Double-Seventh Day, also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar, thus its name. It is based on the story of the cowherd and the weaver girl whose true love moved magpies.

Young girls traditionally demonstrate their domestic arts, especially melon carving, on this day and make wishes for a good husband. It is also known by the following names:

The Festival to Plead for Skills (乞巧节) The Seventh Sister's Birthday (七姊诞) The Night of Skills (巧夕)

Saint Valentine's Day (commonly shortened to Valentine's Day) is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as \"valentines\"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

1.4 Mid-autumn Day vs. Thanksgiving Day

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Zhongqiu Festival, or in Chinese, Zhongqiujie, is a popular harvest festival celebrated by people in the Chinese influenced world, dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty. It is also celebrated by the Vietnamese, Koreans, and Japanese in different forms. The

Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the few most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes under the moon together.

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, Thanksgiving is associated with giving thanks to God for the harvest and expressing gratitude. While historically religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is usually celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November and has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863.

In Canada Thanksgiving occurs on the second Monday in October and is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season.

2. Common ground of traditional Chinese and western festivals

Through the introduction to the main important festivals of the two cultural systems in pairs, the points that can be compared are quite obvious. In the following parts of the thesis, there would be the analysis.

2.1 Similarities in perspective of the functions of the festivals

No matter the traditional Chinese festivals or the Western ones, the meaning and functions people attach on them are more or less the same. They express their good wishes for the happy life on festivals, and some very important festivals are celebrated for family reunion. The similar

functions between the festivals of the two cultural systems can be listed as below.

The yearning and pursuit for a happy and bliss life.

The continuity of the traditional virtue and the respect to the dead people.

The Desire for eternal love, The admiration of historical heroes. The occasions for family reunion.

2.2 Similarities in perspective of the origins of the festivals

The traditional Chinese and western festivals also have common points in the perspective of origins. They both celebrate for customs, although the customs may differ with each other. For example the Spring Festival and Christmas Day have their own customs, but people celebrate them every year. Some of them celebrate for the harvest such as the Chinese Mid-autumn Day and the Western Thanksgiving Day. Religion as a kind of ancient cultural phenomenon has a close relationship with all kinds of festivals both in China and western countries. So this can also be one part of the similarities of the origins of Chinese and western festivals.

3.Differences of traditional Chinese and western festivals

Although there are many similarities between traditional Chinese and western festivals, there are still lots of differences because the natural environment, historical background and the cultural atmosphere out of which the festivals were formed are different. The main differences can be listed as follows:

3.1 The differences in perspective of forms

They have different periodicity. Chinese traditional festivals are mainly based on lunar calendar, while the western ones are mainly based on the solar calendar.

The influential areas of the two sets of festival cultures are different. Chinese festivals mainly influence the Asian countries including Japan,

Korean, Thailand, etc. The western festivals mainly influence the Christian world. Although in the modern multi-cultural world the influences of western festivals such as Christmas Day are much wider than Chinese Spring Festival, the traditions which have been formed in many countries still exist.

3.2 Difference in perspective of inner meaning

Chinese and western countries have different background of traditional festival culture. The traditional Chinese festival cultures are under the background of farming culture, while the traditional western festival cultures are under the background of Christianity.

They also have different contents of festival culture. Traditional Chinese festival cultures are featured by food and wine. While traditional western festival cultures are featured by entertainment.

The next difference in the perspective of inner meaning is that they have different value orientation. Traditional Chinese festival cultures are featured by collectivism. Chinese festivals attach more importance to group activity and the passing down of ethics and virtues. But traditional western festival cultures are featured by individualism. They lay great emphasis on the expression of personal emotions and the individual psychological feelings.

The national culture mentality can also be different. The Chinese festival culture are Comedy-oriented, they pursuit the happy ending and harmony, while the western festival culture are tragedy-oriented because the ancient Greek culture are tragic-conscious and the Christian culture are sin conscious.

4.Conclusion

Based on the previous analysis and comparison, we can learn that China and western countries have two different sets of cultural systems which originate from different natural and social environments, and also from different historical development process. They have different features although there are lots of common grounds.

Under the current multi-cultural world where Chinese and western

festivals encounter and integrate with each other, we, as English majors who learn cultures need to adhere to the spirit of our own culture, meanwhile, we need to reveal the intrinsic value of the Chinese and Western traditional festivals from the perspective of modern concepts.

References

[1]Li Ziyin. from the traditional festival of Chinese and western cultural differences [J], science and education wenhui. 2007 (4) [2] Fang jersey. The comparison of Chinese and western traditional culture festival [M], Shan Dong university, master's degree thesis. [3] Li Mi . Chinese and western festival contrast research [J], Yue Yang vocational and technical college school. 2006 (3)

[4] Wang Ju’e. Under the cross-cultural perspective of China's Chinese valentine's day and western valentine's day [J], xi 'an college of liberal arts school. 2009 (6)