Minghong

Abstract: Value is the standard to help people distinguish between good and bad, beauty and ugliness, right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Different countries have different values, which is the main reason for conflicts and misunderstandings in the communication between China and the West. This paper first introduces how these differences are formed, and then explains them from several aspects. Understanding and learning cultural differences is of great significance in cross-cultural communication.

Keywords: culture; Value; discrepancy

The Formation and Comparison of Chinese and Western Values

Minghong

(School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430070)

Abstract: Values are the criteria to help people distinguish between good and bad, beauty and ugliness, right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Different countries have different cultural norms and values, and this difference is the main factor leading to difficulties in the exchange of ideas between China and the West, resulting in misunderstandings and conflicts. Understanding and mastering cross-cultural differences is of great significance to world cultural exchanges. This paper first introduces the causes of the differences in values between China and the West, and then expounds the manifestations of this difference in many aspects, which will help readers to understand the cultural differences between China and the West more deeply.

Keywords: culture; Values; conflict

1. Introduction

Values exist in people's minds, which is a psychological activity to control behavior choices, and an activity (Lusting, 1988) for people to think about the world around them and adapt themselves to it. As a spiritual dominant force, values are an ideological form that has a wide and profound impact on people's behavior. Some values are an important part of national culture. Due to the differences in environmental adaptability, historical background and philosophical basis, Chinese and western values have formed their own different styles. The differences between different cultures show that different nationalities have different perspectives and ways of thinking in observing the world. Generally speaking, cultural exchange in language and customs is not difficult. The real difficulty lies in the difference in values. Different cultures have their own standardized values, and this difference is the main factor leading to difficulties in the exchange of ideas between China and the West, leading to misunderstandings and conflicts.

2. The formation and differences of Chinese and Western values

With the emergence and development of different countries or nations, there are two main reasons for the formation of values: historical development and thinking mode. Influenced by these two factors, once a nation's basic values are formed, they will be firmly rooted in people's hearts and dominate people's behavior.

2. 1 historical development

China has a long history, including more than two thousand years of feudal rule, which directly affects the formation of modern values. Modern China people are still more obedient to authority, respect their elders, attach importance to personal identity and emphasize self-discipline. In contrast, as early as17th century, the British bourgeoisie overthrew feudal rule and established a capitalist society. The industrial revolution has greatly improved people's material living standards and completely liberated people's minds. The democratic thought of capitalism gradually spread throughout the western society. Westerners admire individuals and yearn for freedom and equality. This difference in historical environment makes the individual consciousness between China and the West very different.

2.2 mode of thinking

The way of thinking is dominated by the foundation of national philosophy, and China's Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have a great influence on the formation of China people's way of thinking. These three philosophies attach great importance to understanding, so what China people do is implicit and euphemistic, and people need to think before they can understand the true meaning. In this respect, Westerners and China people are very different. The philosophical background of European and American countries is Aristotle's strict formal logic and rationalism that later penetrated into Europe from16th century to18th century. Rationalism pays attention to formal argumentation and promotes the development of natural science in Europe. Therefore, westerners' behaviors are exposed, logical and attach importance to the accuracy of expression, so it is difficult to understand the implication of China people.

3. The embodiment of different values between China and the West

With the formation of their respective cultures, Chinese and western countries have different values in their development, and these differences have been fully reflected in many aspects.

3. 1 thinking mode

Western values emphasize that the individual is the subject and the center, that is, there is a prominent "egoism" thought. This way of thinking takes the realization of personal interests and the maintenance of personal dignity as the starting point, which leads to the adjustment of various social interpersonal relationships, the evaluation of values, and produces corresponding behaviors and attitudes. Many upper-class people in the west donate property to society. The initial reason is that they feel that extra money is useless to them. In other words, from the perspective of self-interest, their altruistic behavior is only the realization of their own value.

Thousands of years of history in China have gradually formed unique national values, especially Confucian culture, which advocates the spirit of "altruism" and emphasizes the unity within the nation, and judges people's behavior to a great extent. With the continuous development of history, this value concept has been strengthened and solidified. After the establishment of China's socialist system, economic and political liberation and rapid development have been realized, and cultural values have also undergone tremendous changes accordingly. It emphasizes that the collective and society are subject of value, and the interests of the collective and society are higher than those of the individual, and the individual must obey the collective and society, and take this as a standard to evaluate and adjust the relationship between people and between the government and members of society.

3.2 Behavior patterns

Different thinking patterns make the behavior patterns of Chinese and western people have their own corresponding characteristics. First of all, western countries that emphasize the supremacy of the individual show directness, decisiveness and ambition. Americans have been taught to be confident, independent and clean since childhood. People who lack self-confidence or initiative are hard to be accepted by society.

China people have always advocated "think twice before you act", and must be considerate, polite and gentle, especially regarding ambition as bad behavior. When communicating, you should think of each other and choose appropriate euphemistic words to express your views.

3.3 Family values

In western countries, the concept of family is very weak because of the supremacy of personal interests. In British and American families, "home" is a highly private territory and enjoys legal protection. Everyone's bedroom has to knock on the door before other family members can go in. In addition, when visiting others, you must make an appointment in advance. When you are a guest, don't walk around the host's room without authorization, look around or flip the furnishings in the room at will, otherwise it will infringe on personal rights.

At this point, the conflict between China and the West is particularly obvious. China people especially cherish their family ties and like to be obedient to their parents regardless of you and me. Between brothers, Qi Xin should work together and be like brothers. There is no privacy between family members, and the "family" atmosphere is particularly strong. People in China always like to have a full house. They treat their guests like their own family, and they are more casual when they are guests.

This difference reflects the "egoism" of westerners and "altruism" of China.

3.4 interpersonal relationships

Interpersonal relationships formed in communication will also vary from culture to culture. China people pay more attention to feelings in interpersonal relationships, while westerners pay more attention to reality. Influenced by historical background and economic environment, West Renye Fang has formed a national character of exposure, frankness, independence, freedom, adventurous spirit and advocating equality. In interpersonal relationships, everyone is equal and everyone can get opportunities, that is, parents and children can call each other by their first names and compete with each other. Westerners seldom consider emotional factors, and they tend to focus on business without mercy. In material distribution, they also adhere to the principles of self-interest, equality and fair trade, and will not take sides for "falling in love" or "establishing relationships". They act in accordance with the law, even their relatives and friends should keep the distinction between "people" and "things" and between public and private. But this doesn't mean that westerners don't care about human feelings at all. They also make many friends and are warm and considerate to people, but they are not as emotional as China people, and often regard human feelings as a means of trading.

Influenced by Confucius' thoughts, China people pay attention to the unity of benevolence and courtesy in interpersonal communication. "Benevolence" is the standard of being a man, and it talks about the relationship between people and me, which is intended to tell people how to deal with interpersonal relationships; "Rite" is the norm of people's social behavior, which stipulates the rights and obligations of social members and corresponding behaviors, so as to achieve social harmony. The interpersonal relationship advocated by "benevolence" includes both the intimacy between family members and the respect between different levels. It is a kind of interpersonal relationship based on blood relationship and with patriarchal nature. At the same time, under the influence of feudal thought, China society pays attention to social status and emotional factors in interpersonal relationships, and should consider "the order of the young and the old" and "the faithfulness of friends" when interacting with each other; In the formation and comparison of western values in dealing with problems, there is no distinction between public and private, personal emotional relationship and public relationship. This interpersonal relationship developed on the basis of family members, relatives and friends makes people interdependent and meet each other's needs, including emotions.

3.5 Language expression

In oral communication, Westerners are simple and direct, while China people are reserved and exclusive. The developed economy in the west has contributed to people's fast-paced lifestyle. Coupled with their straightforward and decisive cultural characteristics, westerners adopt a "straight to the point" approach in language expression. China has long been ruled and bound by feudal thoughts and influenced by Confucianism in history, which is reflected in his "modesty and prudence" in language expression. For example, someone praises you "You did a good job!" The reaction of westerners must be: "Thank you very much." Thank you very much ) And the reaction of China people is: "Where! Where! " Westerners want their personality to be recognized by the society, while China people are flattered by others' praise, but dare not show it verbally for fear of being labeled as complacent.

In written communication, western languages attach importance to structure and form, and often use various connecting means, so that the sentence pattern is more rigorous, which makes the form unify the meaning; Chinese sentences are not so rigorous in form, but they are rigorous in words and rich in meanings. Westerners are used to grasping objects from individuals and understanding things through logical analysis. The most important syntactic structure in English is subject-predicate structure. Only with this form can it be called a real sentence. An English sentence is usually called a "simple sentence", which takes the subject-predicate structure as the main body, and then expands layer by layer, connecting words, languages, clauses or clauses by various connecting means. Its so-called clause is also a subject-predicate structure, but multiple subject-predicate structures form a "complex sentence". China's traditional thinking habit is the whole object. Reflected in language is bound to have great fuzziness and diversity. Chinese sentence-making rarely or even uses formal connection means, and pays attention to implicit coherence, logical order, functional meaning and unity of form and spirit.

4. Conclusion

Values are contained in a long history and culture, so different countries and nations have their own unique values, and once this orientation is formed, it cannot be changed in a short time. Generally speaking, China's values pay more attention to group consciousness and emphasize the spirit of "altruism"; Westerners pay more attention to individual consciousness and tend to the concept of "self-interest". With the process of globalization and the rise of China in the world, it is of great significance to understand and master the differences of cross-cultural values between China and the West for avoiding and solving conflicts in communication and promoting national integration.

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