literature and art
I believe most people will agree that Chinese and western literature and art have their own strengths. There is a saying that China literature is implicit and good at realism, while foreign countries are good at writing about the psychological activities of characters. There is another saying that western literature pays attention to the growth of individual mind, while China literature pays attention to groups. If literature has a long history, only ancient Greek literature and ancient Indian literature can be compared with China literature; If the literary tradition continues, the literature of any other country or nation will be inferior to that of China.
In terms of poetry, China's poems of Tang and Song Dynasties are unique in the world, with beautiful rhythm and unique antithesis, which also reflects the unique reserved character of China people. In addition, generally speaking, China's poems are mainly based on comfort, while the West is mainly based on narration.
In painting, the characteristics of western oil painting are that coloring can be modified repeatedly and colors can cover each other. Therefore, the order of using colors in painting is more random; Chinese painting uses different colors, paying attention to going from shallow to deep and leaving blank in advance, meticulous brushwork is rigorous and delicate, paying attention to delicate techniques, and splashing ink and freehand brushwork is relatively flexible.
Wen Zi
Chinese characters are hieroglyphics, and English is said to have originated from hieroglyphics. Twenty-six letters originated from Egyptian hieroglyphics, and later the Phoenicians improved and invented the Phoenician letters. The Greeks reformed the Phoenician alphabet and created the Greek alphabet. The ancient Romans reformed the Greek alphabet and invented the Latin alphabet, and the English alphabet belongs to the Latin alphabet.
In writing, English does have the advantage of convenient and fluent writing, while Chinese is much more complicated and profound. In terms of expression, there are many Chinese meanings that cannot be expressed in English. Of course, some English humor is also difficult to translate into Chinese, probably because cultural differences are a comprehensive way of thinking.
To some extent, China people are used to using hieroglyphics, and they have better memory and thinking ability of images.
education
The western pragmatic education system is superior to China's exam-oriented education system. Western culture emphasizes analysis and independent thinking, while eastern culture emphasizes induction and memory.
In thinking, the characteristic of the west is to complicate simple things, for example, a question will make students put forward their own views from a completely different angle; In terms of management, western culture will simplify some complicated things, such as obeying traffic rules, such as implementing a rule and system. As long as there are rules to follow, it doesn't matter who handles it. Everything is routine, business is business.
In management, China people's thinking complicates simple things, such as a procedure, rules and laws, but often adds the subjective attitude of those in power and executors; In terms of thinking, China culture will also simplify some complicated things, for example, a question is that there is only one standard answer to a question.
In terms of basic intelligence, children in China are often far superior to those in the West, but they are bound by the stereotype of exam-oriented education. After graduating from university or graduate school, their creativity has not been fully exerted, so there is often a problem that what they have learned, memorized and tested in school is useless in practical work. Many people think that the relative backwardness of science in China is related to the educational system determined by the political system.
food culture
Europeans agree that there are three major cuisines in the world, and each version includes China and France, but there are different opinions about the third one, some say it is Italian, others say it is Turkish, Tunisia or Moroccan. Despite the stalemate, everyone has a consensus that diet can often reflect the differences in living habits and cultural thinking of different ethnic groups.
Chinese catering is famous for its diversity and emphasis on the production process and methods, while western catering is characterized by simplicity and convenience.
Food culture shows that people in China sometimes pay more attention to form. Therefore, the ostentation and extravagance and time-consuming of China's dinner party make westerners tongue-tied. In China's cooking, the styles of dishes are ever-changing, and every dish pays great attention to the collocation of color, fragrance and taste. For example, Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine and Northeast cuisine can all be listed as signature food series, such as Quandeju, Taoyuanju, Yipin Xuan and Imperial Restaurant. Cooking methods include frying, frying, swelling, frying, stewing and steaming, and all kinds of colors, fragrances and sauces are exquisite. Therefore, China's food is world-famous, and no foreigner doesn't like it. Western food, in fact, is similar, simple. Most of them are baked and baked. Besides steak and lamb chops, it's hamburger slices. Although hamburgers are criticized as unhealthy food, they still account for a considerable proportion abroad. Therefore, the collocation of meat, vegetables and bread is really convenient and easy to use, saving time, but the taste is unaccustomed to many people in China, but the simplicity of surface shape is actually of great significance.
In addition, the dining system in western-style catering is also very different from the dining habits of Chinese food. Personally, I think the dining system has more important health significance.
Architectural culture
If the father of architecture is technology and the mother of architecture is aesthetics, then the soul of architecture is ideology and culture.
China's large palace buildings are characterized by the central axis, with ancillary buildings symmetrically placed on both sides. It embodies the order of monarch and ministers and the concept of respecting the elderly in China's political and cultural system, and has the inherent characteristics of stability, moderation, introversion, conservatism and harmony. China's thought of power regime can be found in palace buildings, and China's thought of harmony between man and nature and artistic aesthetic taste can be found in garden buildings.
Western architecture has experienced different historical periods and different styles, which is in sharp contrast with China's architectural style which has been unified by Confucianism for more than two thousand years. The characteristics of western architecture in each development stage are very different (so there are specific nouns to name buildings), and people with a little common sense can distinguish Gothic architecture from Baroque architecture at a glance; However, there are few traces of delayed changes in China's architecture in different historical periods, unless professionals can correctly date an ancient building in China from the details such as the number of arches (aside from other technical means, only from the architectural style).
Generally speaking, another feature of western architecture is its openness, magnificence and unobstructed view. This is in sharp contrast with China's closed, restrained and hidden wall culture.
Spiritual culture
China is a country with a long history, and its spiritual and cultural richness is universally recognized. I ching, a hundred schools of thought contend, etc. They are profound and profound, and have a far-reaching impact on the world. For example, Leibniz, a western scientist, saw the clue of binary from the gossip deduction of Yijing, which inspired him to apply binary to electronic computers and laid a solid foundation for today's computer science and information science. Many western military strategists are devoted to the study of Sun Tzu's art of war.
China culture is characterized by the trinity of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Confucianism advocates "joining the WTO" and Taoism and Buddhism advocate "being born", which complement each other and jointly shape the unique cultural connotation of China.
The main contributions of Confucianism are the spirit of actively joining the WTO and the spirit of "staying away from ghosts and gods". However, its "hierarchical concept" and its "ethical code" that maintained the unity and stability of the whole feudal society should be eliminated. The idea of "the mean" (impartiality) is not conducive to the competition in modern society, nor to the cultivation of innovative spirit, so we should also take advantage of it and avoid its disadvantages.
The thoughts of Taoism and Buddhism are mainly embodied in "being born". The thoughts of "doing nothing" and "Tao is natural" look at the world from a surreal perspective, not limited to "clothing, food, shelter and transportation" in the world, but pursue a super spiritual realm.