A Comparison between English Gentleman and Chinese Junzi

1. Introduction

With the development of politics， economy and culture， global communication is becoming more and more important. As a center to Chinese and British culture， the culture of gentleman attracts the people of two countries. For an English learner， gaining a deep understanding of the culture by comparing their similarities and differences will improve their cultural consciousness when communicating with foreign people.

2. The Implication of Chinese Junzi and English gentleman

At first， it seems that the term Junzi is a symbol of class status， which becomes synonymous with a man of morality afterwards. With the development of productive force of society and the decline of privileges of clan aristocracy， Junzi refers specially to the aristocrat being in power. Confucius took advantage of Junzis position in peoples heart and marked it with quality， which set up ideal personalities with Tao as ideal goal， benevolence as inner spirit， righteousness as basic principle and courtesy as external criterion.

In the western countries， gentleman initially refers to a kind of external behavior less or no moral implication. In England being a gentleman is not just based on his nobility but in large due to his virtues. As time goes， people share the common ideas that the gentleman has main reference to his education and virtue. Obviously， gentleman initially refers to status but gradually emphasizes on the meaning of politeness， well-education and well-behavior. The spirit connotation of the gentleman is not only from his nobility but also his well-manner.

3. Differences

As for the attitude toward women， Chinese Junzi is distinguished from that of British gentleman. In ancient China， Chinese Junzi strictly abides by three cardinal guides between the monarch and subjects， husband and wife， father and son. From the distinction between sexes， to the supremacy of husband， those concepts dominate lives of women. Since then， successors to Confucianism almost share the same idea that women are inferior to men. While in England， gentlemen are polite to the lady which can be dating back to the medieval knight age of lover worship. At that time， every knight must find a lover as their projected object and even scarify their lives. Lady first is another important embodiment of gentlemans conduct code. In general， the British gentleman always put the woman in the first place even she is a little girl.

As for enterprise against conservative， Chinese Junzi has strong enterprising spirit while English gentleman tends to be conservative. Chinese Junzi has the enterprising spirit of self-improvement. Confucius regarded it as an important aspect of gentlemans personality. Totally differently from Chinese gentlemen， English gentlemen prefer the peaceful economic life at a leisure pace just like that of the owner of manor which might be a weakness of the British gentleman who are less sensitive to new things lack of the capability of competence and even tired of it. Nowadays， the spirit of competence of English middle-class gentleman has been replaced with a cozy attitude toward life.

As for rank and status， British gentleman initially has close link to them while the Chinese Junzi doesnt. The original meaning of Junzi is the monarchs son and employed to the noble man and ruler. Confucius is the key figure to achieve the meaning transformation. After Warring States period， the meaning is fixed in the moral level regardless of class， fortune and family background. British gentlemen have a close link to the status. The word gentleman in English originated from French word gentilome， which first appear in English， it refers to those with noble title. To the nineteenth century， especially during the times of queen victoria， the structure of the economy and society has taken a complete change so with the expending that of gentleman. The emerging industrial class and businessman have found their ways into the upper class to be a gentleman.

4. Conclusion

Culture is a kind of atmosphere which is established by the ordinary people. After it forms， it played a subtle role among the people and everything in it. The culture of Chinese gentleman and the demeanor of the British gentleman are the important contents of Chinese and British culture， also the value orientation of the two citizens and the directions to shape the personality respectively which influenced the way of life and work.

References：

[1]邊立紅.“君子”英譯現象的文化透視[J].外語學刊，2006（04）.

[2]肖群忠.紳士德性論[J].中國人民大學學報，2004（04）.

【作者簡介】羅裕雯，桂林理工大學。