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1、On Differences Between Chinese and Western Dietary CulturesAbstract:Food, as an essential prerequisite for existence, is any substance that provides the nutrients necessary to maintain life and growth when ingested (Pamela& Kathryn, 1998:2). It plays an irreplaceable role in the development of socie
2、ty and in the progress of human beings, whether in ancient times when primitive man ate the raw flesh of birds and beasts or in modern times when human beings have entered the new era of information, and whether in East or in West.Keywords: dietary culture cultural tradition differencesIntroductionO
3、nce there is a saying that Food is eating well-deserved for human life”, so food is an indispensable condition for the survival and development of human beings. There are two desires in life: one is feasting them to survive; and another is the lust of men and women, which can help the mankind to car
4、ry on the family line. Facing the two desires, China pays more attention to the former, while the west tends to the latter. Such phenomenon affects the cultural trend. Diet is actually the contents of our daily lives, but why we call it culture? That is because the diet has special status in the Chi
5、nese culture, and it also has a great distinction between China and the west. As one of the world ancient nations, Chinas diet has a history almost as long as that of Chinese civilization. But in western countries, ancient thinkers devoted less attention to the food problem than the Chinese philosop
6、hers did, and there is even not aware of it to the heaven degree. With the opposite, they recognized and interpreted the world in the perspective of the lust or love of men and women more. Whether the awareness of original sin of Christianity, Adam and Eve legend, or ancient Greek philosophy (such a
7、s Platos dialogue) who considered the personal relationships “love” as the love of ontology of beauty, and regarded it as a reality thinking of philosophy, all these ideas become the basis of western philosophers cultural thoughts. All these had potential effects on the development of western cultur
8、e and westerners characters. Receiving the influence of respective cultural tradition, the Chinese and western dietary culture has had different characteristic. The differences in concepts, targets, patterns, attribution and nature had reflected the different dietary culture in the different state c
9、haracteristic; such characteristic has enriched the research value of dietary culture. Studying these cultural differences, we can find out a joint enhancing the communication between China and the west through a comprehensive study of the subject. It may be a great help to the communication of the
10、Chinese and western cultures.I. Differences in ConceptsFirst, the Chinese and western diet have the differences that cannot be ignored in concepts. Nobody will deny that the Western diet is a rational concept, regardless of the color of food, incense, flavor and shape, but nutrition must be assured.
11、 It cares about the intake of calories, vitamins, protein and so on during a day. Comparing with the Chinese diet, western diet tastes stereotyped, as simple as chewing the candle, but the sense tells them: We must eat them all because of the nutrition. And then they put it bluntly, just like refuel
12、ing machine. The concept of western diet is compatible with the whole western philosophy. Metaphysics is the main feature of western philosophy. Such kind of philosophy brings vitality to western culture, so the natural sciences, psychology and methodology achieve a rapid development. In some other
13、aspects, such philosophy proposition is a significantly obstacle, such as the dietary culture, which is the inevitable thing to drop behind, and just the metaphysics of methodology marks everywhere. In celebration, it stresses tableware, stresses the staple, stresses the servings, and stresses the c
14、olor and shape mix of raw materials. But no matter how luxurious the grade is; from Los Angeles to New York, only one taste of steak, it is no art to speak of. And as dishes, the chicken is chicken; steak is steak, even in groups, which are also conducted in a shallow dish. In a dish of French Mutto
15、nchops, one side is potato mud, and muttonchops sits next to it, another side is allocation of cooking beans, and plus a few tablets of tomato. Color is on clear, but the tastes of the various materials are separated, not to reconcile, and the entire flavor is also simple and clear. II. Differences
16、in targetsAll diet cannot be done without vegetables. The word dish is for the sound in China, and it always has something to do with the plants. According to a survey of western plants scholar, there are 600 varieties of vegetables, six times more than in the west. In fact, the Chinese dishes, vege
17、table dish is usual food. Meat dish entered the normal diet only on holidays or higher living standards, so since ancient times, and there was a saying of fresh vegetables. Chu ? Mandarin language: Common people eat fresh vegetables, fish only offered in the worship. It is said that fresh vegetables
18、 are mainly to the civilian in general, only being able to eat meat only in worship. Vegetarian diet takes the dominant position in the normal structure. Chinese people consider the vegetables as the main dish; it has inextricably linked with the advocacy of Buddhists. They deem animals as people an
19、d plants have no soul. So, they advocate vegetarianism. Westerners do not seem to have such a good habit. They uphold a cultural origin of nomadic, seafaring nation. Living mainly by fishing and hunting, collection and planting are just the complement. There are more meat dishes in their lives. Feed
20、ing, clothing, and using are taken from the animals, and even Western medicine is derived from animals. When the westerners introduce the diet characteristics of their countries, they always feel that their diet is more reasonable on the mix of nutrition than China. The food industry is more develop
21、ed, such as cans, fast food, although the taste is monotonous, but it saves time, and it also has good nutrition. Therefore, in their countries: people are generally healthier and taller than Chinese, and the people have strong shoulders and developed muscles; but Chinese people look short, their sh
22、oulders narrow and legs thin, their skin yellow and their body weak. The differences between Chinese and western food for Westerners to judge the merits of the two diet is not justified. Mr. Sun Yat-sen had profound study of the culture of food and incisive exposition. In his composing The Scheme fo
23、r National Reconstruction, detailing the differences between Chinese and Western diet phenomenon, he concludes: Chinese ordinary people drink green tea, and eat simple food such as vegetables and tofu for meal. Such kinds of food are the most healthy and beneficial according to the research of hygie
24、nist. Therefore, the remote people in china, whose diet are far from meat and wine, always live a long life. Also China has a big population, and Chinese people have enormous power to resist disease, but they never try the non-diet. “He added: The Chinese vegetarians all eat tofu. Tofu is expected a
25、s the real meat in plants, as it has the nutrition that meat has. It is the meat without toxic materials. So the Chinese are vegetarian used to be a custom without the promotion of scholars. It is also a custom that the European and American drink thick Wine, eat meat and fish. So there was science
26、promotion before and a severe law later, such as the United States Prohibition. And the transfer will not carry out in a short time. Mr. Suns words tell out the scientific benefits of Chinese diet and disadvantages of Western diet. III. Differences in Dietary PatternsThe Chinese and Western dietary
27、patterns can be very different, and these differences affect the national character. In China, a celebration, no matter what, there will be only one form, as sitting together, sharing one feast. Banquet uses round table, which has created a unity of form, which is courtesy, comity atmosphere. Cate a
28、re in the center of the table. It is the objects for people to appreciate and taste, and it is also an intermediate of communication. People toast each other and share the vegetables, which reflect the mutual respect between people in the face of the good things, also show the virtues of comity. Alt
29、hough from the health point of view, this approach has obvious deficiencies, but it is in our national happy mentality, it reflects the classical Chinese philosophy area of and impact for future generations. It is helpful to facilitate the collective emotional exchanges and consequently difficult to
30、 reform.The western-style banquets, although the food and wine are very important, but in fact they are just foil. The core of Banquet is friendship, by the conversation with the guests who sitting next to achieve the purpose of recreation. If making an analogous compare between the recreation of th
31、e banquets and dancing, it may be said that the Chinese banquet is like group dance, and the western banquet is like men and women dancing. This shows that communication purpose of Chinese banquet and western banquet are very obvious. Only the Chinese banquet is more popular in the communion, but western banquet shows guests reflected in the friendship between neighbors.