An Analysis of The Gua Sha Treatment from the Perspective of Deep-structure Cultural Transfer

溫婧

Released in 2001， the Chinese movie The Gua Sha Treatment had achieved great success. It is a story about cultural conflicts experienced by a Chinese couple in America. In fact， during the intercultural communication， people from different cultural background usually apply their language codes in quite different ways， which necessarily leads to negative cultural transfer. Negative cultural transfer refers that “people often unconsciously use their own cultural norms as a criterion to judge other people’s behaviors and thoughts” （He Hongli， 2004： 12）. In The Gua Sha Treatment， the negative cultural transfer can be reflected in three aspects： misunderstandings of the Gua Sha treatment， the family values， and the concept of friendship.

Misunderstandings of the Gua Sha Treatment

In the movie， misunderstandings of Gua Sha treat exist between Chinese and Americans. Traditionally， there are great differences in understandings of human body between Chinese medicine and western medicine. Western medicine emphasizes the theory of anatomy， while Chinese medicine believes the theory of “Jing-luo” and “the harmony of the human body” （Zhou， Guidian， 2002： 174）. In the movie， Xu Datong， as a Chinse， thinks that Gua Sha treatment can adjust the disordered physical function and balance “yin” and “yang”. However， different from China， “western medicine pays attention to experiment and data which should be explained by accurate language” （Liu Nan， 2012： 24）. As a result， the American judge finally determines that if the Gua Sha is a legal treat， Du Datong should give more concrete evidences proved by medical authority.

The Americans in the movie fail to see the differences between Chinese and western medicines and insist using their own norms as a criterion to judge Mr. Xu’s behaviors. It leads to deep misunderstandings between them and even almost breaks up a family that full of love.

Misunderstandings of the Family Values

There are some misunderstandings about the family values between Chinese and Americans in The Gua Sha Treatment， which to a certain extent result in some communication barriers between them.

In the movie， on the first hearing， Xu Datong admits that it is him rather than his father does Gua Sha to his son Dennis. When the truth emerges， Xu Datong’s boss John cannot understand it at all. He gets very puzzled and asks Jian Ning for answer. Just like Jian Ning says， the filial piety is the root of all the virtues， so Xu Datong knows that it is his responsibility to admit the guilty of his father. However， in America， family members’ relation is based on the respect for the freedom of others. Their ways to educate children is quite different as well. When Dennis is beat by his Xu Datong， his grandpa says： “打是親罵是愛，不打不罵不成材”， which shows that father’s authority and right to discipline his son cannot be challenged， which reflects father’s love. However， this behavior cannot be understood by his American boss John. Besides， on the second hearing， an American nurse Mrs. Rico accuses that when Jian Ning gives birth to Dennis and meets some troubles that can even threaten her life， Xu Datong chooses to give up the baby because he thinks that “留得青山在， 不怕沒柴燒”. However， Mrs. Rico thinks that Xu Datong is barbaric and does not give the child the chance to live.

The different family values between Chinese and Americans leads to some confusions during the intercultural communication. If people do not have the knowledge of each other’s cultural values and still use their own standards to judge others， misunderstandings are unavoidable.

Misunderstandings of the Concept of Friendship

People’s attitudes about friendship are quite different in different countries. In The Gua Sha Treatment， even though Xu Datong knows that John is a property right lawyer and is not familiar with family law， he asks John to be his defense lawyer because he thinks John is his best friend， which means that he takes John as his friend， so John should help him without any hesitation. He says to John： “You are the best lawyer I know. I mean， who is better to help？ ” However， at first hearing， John expresses outrage on the spot and believes the fact that Xu Datong abuses his son. Later， at second hearing， John even stands for the opposite side to prove that Xu Datong beats Dennis. As for American， the concept of friendship is not as emphasized as Chinese do. Therefore， the rational attitude of John at two hearings cannot be accepted by Xu Datong. Their friendship finally breaks up， and when Xu Datong quits his job， he leaves a Chinese old saying to John： “道不同不與為謀”.

In conclusion， people in different countries are nourished by different culture values， but in most cases， they often ignore the differences. In The Gua Sha Treatment， the negative cultural transfer gives rise to an illusion that both Xu Datong and the Americans think that their attitudes about the Gua Sha treat， the family values and the concept of friendship are the criterion that conform to the requirements of their own cultural values. However， in the intercultural communication， if one is ignorant of the cultural values or customs of the other and regards his or her own cultural system as a norm， the communication cannot be carried on further.

References

Zhou， Guidian. Medicine， Western and Chinese [A]. In Yue Daiyun & Alain Le Pichon（eds.）. Cross-cultural Dialogue Vol. 10. Shanghai： Shanghai Cultural Publishing House， 2002： 174-176.

賀鴻莉. 《翻譯中的文化負遷移》[D]. 湖南師范大學， 2004.

劉楠. 電影《刮痧》中交際失誤現象的跨文化分析[D]. 東北林業大學， 2012.