Study on the Differences Between Chinese and Western Diet Culture

Lu+Dongmei+Qiu+Lingfeng

【Abstract】The differences of diet culture between countries are the unavoidable problems in cross-cultural communication. With the continuous deepening of cultural exchanges between China and the West， it is apparent that there are great necessities for people to understand the existence of these diversities no matter in business activities or in social intercourse. Serving as a link， diet culture can play an important role to bridge the gap of China and the West and contribute a lot for the interactions. Taking four aspects of differences between Chinese and Western Diet Culture into consideration， the thesis aims at picking a perspective of the differences of world views and values between nationalities and helping people behave properly， politely and with ease.

【Key words】diet Culture dietary concept； dietary tableware； dietary mode； dinner etiquette

1. Introduction

China， known as“a state of ceremonies”， has a long history of 5000 years. In the context of global economic integration， the differences between Chinese and Western cultural etiquette become more obvious as the increasing frequency of transnational exchanges. Diet culture， which has different characteristics in different countries and different cultural backgrounds， is one of the most important parts of culture. Differences of world views and values of countries lead to differences in Chinese and Western diet culture and once brought a great deal of trouble for those who paid no attention to it in social interactions. From the aspects of the diversities of dietary concepts， dietary tableware， dietary mode， dinner etiquette， it probes into the differences between Chinese and western diet culture. Understanding the differentia between Chinese and western diet culture， not only can promote the exchange and integration of Chinese and Western cultures， but also help to enhance our cross-cultural communication and communication skills， so that we can exchange with Westerners more easily， avoiding misunderstandings and conflicts arising from different cultures.

2. Four Types of Differences in Diet Culture

Mentioning about the diet cultures of different countries， the four types of diversities of dietary concepts， dietary tableware， dietary mode， dinner etiquette are the most representative. And they can bring people and let them know the inner values of different countries.

2.1 The Differences of Dietary Concept

Chinese diet has a unique artistic tendency and focuses greatly on the combination of shape， color， aroma and taste， emphasizing the senses of vision， taste and so on， and enjoying the beauty of diet. In China， cooking is considered as a kind of art， and eating is an important part of the party. The origin of Chinese dietary culture is the theory of Yin and Yang balance， which is a philosophy with a strong romantic color and has influenced our life so far. In Chinese dietary culture， people pursue delicacy better than nutrition. This is a kind of romanticism and the pursuit of spiritual enjoyment.endprint

On the contrary， Western dietary culture pays more attention to the science of nutrition collocation. The western modern scientific civilization has a great influence on western dietary customs. The starting point of their food is nutrition and the westerners study the nutritional differences of food in different situations and pay special attention to the nutritional value of the food itself. They will also consider that whether the dietary fat， vitamins， proteins and other content is appropriate and good for their health. The Westerners regard diet as a science and lays stress on the function of diet with realistic attitude.

2.2 The Differences of Dietary Tableware

As for the dietary tableware， the differences between China and the West are even more apparent. As is known to us all， Chinese people use chopsticks， spoons， and bowls to eat. And the traditional tables for Chinese diet are usually round. While the Westerners use dish to serve food， knife and fork to cut the food and have soup with a special spoon， and the typical dining-table is usually rectangle. Chopsticks and knives and forks are the two most representative dishes of the East and the West and they affect the different ways of life between the East and the West. Meanwhile， they represent two different wisdoms. The Westerners consider that the plate is the expanding and extending of the palm and the fork is a representative of the whole hand fingers. Throughout the history， the progress of civilization has made many shapes like tableware gradually simplified. Finally， the Chinese merely use chopsticks and a spoon， a small dish to eat. However， in the west， up to now， the people still put a table full of dishes during the meal. The simplicity of Chinese tableware and the complexity of Western tableware also show that the western culture not only started late but also made slow progress in food culture.

2.3 The Differences of Dietary Mode

There is a sharp difference between Chinese and Western dining patterns and it can come down to the diversities between the world outlooks and values of China and the West.

Chinese people prefer to eat together.

The Chinese respect community and collective values and emphasize the unity and identity of social groups. Chinese people are used to sitting together when they are eating， which helps to have a close encounter and communicate with each other. At the dinner table people will toast each other， urging to drink， to pick up food for others， which is a kind of traditional etiquette and embodies the mutual respect. It also shows the collectivism values that the Chinese emphasized on as well as the unity and identity of social groups.endprint

By contrast， the Westerners tend to the mode of buffet.

The Westerners emphasize the individualism， pay special attention to personal space. They will arrange food and drinks neatly on the table. During the dinner party， he/she who attends， takes what he/she needs and do not interfere with each other. They usually dont have fixed seats， thus， they can move around with plates， choose their own food， talk to the people they wish to talk to， and promote each others feeling. Friendship is the core of the western party， which also reflects the Westerners are on the pursuit of personality and self-value and they regard individualism as the supreme value.

2.4 The Differences of Dinner Etiquette

Finally， dining etiquette is the most important of all. The differences of dining etiquette are mainly reflected in three aspects：seat， gender and time.

Chinese regard the south position as the most honored. Therefore， the people sitting in the south are more prestigious among the people present. Influenced by traditional culture， Chinese people have very strict rules with their dinning seats， respect for seniority and follow the positions in the family hierarchy. Whereas for the Westerners， usually the host and hostess must sit on the ends of the long table and the guests sit on the sides of the table. As often as not， the more respected and honorable seats is the one on the hosts right.

In ancient China， women were rarely seen at banquets. In modern society， because womens social status has been improved to reach the equality between men and women， in the dining seat， there has been no discrimination according to the gender. In the West， there is a traditional idea of“l(fā)adies first”， which is also an important etiquette standard in western social activities and well reflects the equality between men and women.

Traditionally， the Chinese people respected the past time and they thought everything was going round and round. It was a kind of“ring time” view. In a party or a dinner， the Chinese gests usually choose to come later than the scheduled time and the people with higher social status are often late for a longer time. From another aspect， they worry that the host needs more time to prepare and if they come early， it will be abrupt and impolite.

While the Westerners reckon that everything will not go back， they tend to focus on the future and have a“l(fā)ine time” concept. Once the time of the party is fixed， they will be on time for the appointment， which they believe is a sort of respect for themselves and the host. It is precisely because of the different concepts of time that it has led to a great difference in the concept of dining time between China and Western countries.endprint

3. Conclusion

Generally speaking， the more people know about the differences of diet culture， the better they can improve their own quality of diet and simultaneously enhance the cross-cultural interaction between China and the West. The Western diet can adopt the special aspects of the Chinese diet to pay more attention of the senses of vision， taste and so on. Also， The Chinese diet should actively absorb the healthy parts of the Western diet， so as to achieve a reasonable diet structure and balanced nutrition. People can carry forward the fine cultural tradition of their own nations and keep them updated and developed. In the process of social interactions and business activities， people who understand these diversities well can respect others cultures and analyze clearly how to behave appropriately in order to achieve the best intercommunicative effect and avoid the emergence of impoliteness.

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作者簡介：

盧冬梅（1983-），女，滿族，遼寧大連人，講師，碩士學(xué)位，主要研究方向?yàn)橛⒄Z語言文學(xué)。

邱凌鋒（1996-），男，漢族，浙江臺州人，大連財(cái)經(jīng)學(xué)院 商務(wù)英語專業(yè)本科生。endprint