A Comparative Analysis of the Concept of Privacy Between China and the US

【Abstract】There is no doubt that there are a lot of differences in the concept of privacy between China and the United States. And the two countries concepts of privacy have their own characteristics. Through comparative study， this thesis mainly analyzes one differences： spacial difference. In addition， this thesis argues that the cause of this difference is mainly affected by values.

【Key words】concept of privacy; spacial difference; values

1. Differences in Space

Chinese people are accustomed to using walls to protect their territories. In Chinese culture， no walls mean no countries. No fence means no campuses， no homes， or no parks. Chinese culture is famous for the wall which is a traditional craft through which the Chinese people appreciate their own culture. There are kinds of walls in China from the Great Wall to the Forbidden City， from the earthen wall of villages to small courtyard wall and from the brick wall of the quadrangle courtyard to the bamboo fence of the field. There are layers of walls which we can not see the end of in any urban or rural areas， factories or schools， military or park. And these walls are tall or short， wide or narrow， earthen or iron， wooden or bamboo. Whats more， the characteristics of the Chinese people advocating the wall to protect themselves can be seen on some idioms which are often based on wall， such as unity is strength， strongly fortified city and so on.

2. Cause of This Difference

Chinese culture emphasizes the collectivism， considers the individual as a member of the society and emphasizes individual responsibility to society and to others. On account of the main orientation of collectivism， the Chinese people don't have so much personal privacy. But the Chinese people are very willing to maintain the privacy of groups and the privacy of groups on the basis of the family must be protected. Therefore， in China the wall is a boundary. Things inside the wall should not be published. That is so-called “Do not wash your dirty linen in public.” There are differences outside the wall and inside the wall.

American culture emphasizes individualism. Individualism is a kind of moral， political， and social philosophy which thinks that personal interests should be the most important factor to decide ones behaviors and emphasizes the importance of personal freedom， individual rights， virtue of self-independence and personal independence. American people emphasize self-independence， personality and freedom and think that if there is no privacy， it will be difficult to think independently and it is difficult to escape from the government and social pressure. Privacy are closely related to personal freedom， freedom of speech and independence of individual creativity. If there is no privacy， it can not be a free society. As a result， they have a very clear consciousness of boundaries between human beings.

3. Conclusion

As for spacial difference， Chinese people are accustomed to using walls to protect their privacy of groups while American people use different sizes of space to protect the privacy of a group， a house， or an organization. The above difference have profound causes in collectivism and individualism. From the perspective of collectivism and individualism， the differences of values on group privacy and individual privacy result in the differences in the concept of privacy between China and the United States. This difference reminds us that we should be aware of differences between cultures in intercultural communication.

References：

[1]賈玉新.跨文化交際學[M].上海外語教育出版社，1997.

[2]Larry A.Samovar，Richard E.Porter and Lisa A.Stefani， Communication Between Cultures，Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，Third Edition.

作者：王萌（1990.12.22-），女，河南開封人，寧夏大學2015級碩士，跨文化交際。