A-Comparison-between-Chinese-and-English-taboos.doc

ContentsAbstract1Key words1摘 要1关键词11. Introduction12. Taboos on Animal23. Taboos on Colour34. Taboos on Festival and Holiday45. Taboos on Number and Date56. Taboos on Table Manners67. Conclusion7Bibliography8A Comparison between Chinese and English taboosAbstract: Taboos are wildly around us. Influenced by the different culture, taboos have different conception between Chinese and English. There is one old saying: ones meat may be anothers poison. So do taboos. Learn more about taboos in different nations lead us access to know deeply the culture of those countries and avoid us behaving improperly. There are many aspect of life about taboos, such as on animal, on color, on number etc. A comparison between Chinese and English taboos can help us form a good sense of art of communication with foreign friends. Key word: taboos; comparison; animals; color; word; number摘要: 禁忌通常就在我们身边。由于受文化差异的影响，中英文中的禁忌有不同的文化内涵。有句谚语是，一个人的美味可能是另一个人的毒药。禁忌更是如此。学习不同民族的禁忌使我们更深的了解这些民族的文化，同时使我们的行为更合宜。这里有关于生活的许多方面的禁忌，比如在动物，颜色，和数字上等。通过对中英禁忌的比较帮助我们建立和外国友人交流技巧的艺术。关键词：禁忌；比较；动物；颜色；词语；数字1. IntroductionWith the development of the cultural globalization, more and more Chinese get to know the culture of foreign countries. When different cultures go together, they may cause conflicts. Therefore we should careful when we talk with a foreign friend and know what are they taboos so that we can avoid the barriers of communication. Whats more, taboos are important part of culture. The study of taboos should be a part of our learning. Through studying taboos lead us to know more about foreign culture.In this paper, I just try to comparison Chinese and English taboos on daily life that are frequently around us. Therefore I choose five aspects to analyze the similar and different notion. There are on animal, on color, on festival and holiday, on number and date and on word. I try using as much example as I can in this paper to show the different notion on taboos. I also use comparison to make clear both Chinese and English taboos. Through writing this paper and putting my understanding in this, I hope these taboos that I collect and my suggestion will be helpful for English learner to know deeper about foreign culture.2. Taboos on AnimalAnimals are peoples close friends. They always have a close relationship with human beings. Therefore, animal is very important part in the history of culture of human being. It is not difficult for us to find various taboos on animal in Chinese and English.Dogs, as one kind of animals are close to peoples life, are considered as mans good friends or members of family because they are honest and keep safety for the owner. In both west and east dogs are respected by people. In old china, dogs help people hunt for wild food. Even in Man nationality there is no permitting that one kills dogs or wears some made of dogs skin. It is said that the leader named Nu Er Ha Chi once were saved by a dogs when he was close to lose his life in a war. Therefore, in order to show their appreciation for dogs, the Man people worship dogs as their totem. It is also a tale that long before, there was a great drought, and people were nearly to starve. The dogs were sad to cry day in and day out and finally the cry were heard by God. God were touched by the deep sorrow, then decided to save people pouring the mercy of rain. In addition, there is a bad foretell that man heard the cry of dogs. Maybe there is a bad fortune even about death. It seems that westerners also stick to a similar point of view towards dogs. Dogs are viewed as prophets, which can make a prediction by their barks. If ones dog gives off a constant sob for no reason at all, it must be an omen to indicate that one of his families will meet with misfortune. It is a sign of death or disaster to hear a dog roar at night. And a continuous barking of a dog outside of a patients house predicts an inevitable death of him. Besides, it is believed by westerners that a dog is capable of distinguishing good and evil. If a guest is welcomed warmly by his dog, the host will be very pleased for it means the guest must be a good friend and will bring a good luck to the host. On the contrary, if the dog just barks at the guest, the host may think a bad luck will be brought with the guest.Cats are another kind of animals have close link to peoples life. Western people like to raise cats as pets or companions while Chinese people raise them for another reason that cats can catch rats in the house. Cats, however, are not fully tamed animals with many natures rarely known by people and often never come back once leaving home, because of which they are generally considered not to be as loyal as dogs. Therefore, there are some taboos as to cats both in English culture and in Chinese culture. In the past people believed that it would bring a bad luck to one if a cat entered his house but it had not been raised by him. He would meet some misfortunes such as the declination of his familys fortunes or a death of his family member. Hence, there was a proverb among Chinese people,“猫来穷”，which means a wild cat will bring poverty to the host. If one wants to send the small cats to others, he can not charge wit11 it otherwise he will definitely be poor in the future. Furthermore, people avoid raising a cat with white claws or a white tail, for white is a traditional color at a funeral so a cat with white is considered unlucky. Western people like raising cats as their pets or companions rather than rat catchers. However, there are many taboos on black cats. In ancient time people in Britain used to regard witches to be unlucky and believe that they would do harm to people around, especially women and children. A witch is often companied by a black cat according to the folk tale. So it has been believed that a black cat is a sign of misfortune. If one sees a black cat crossing his path, it will be a forecast of his meeting with misfortune. This taboo also has a root of religion in it. Christians used to try to convince non-Christians that black cats were demons in disguise and should thus be destroyed. Being demons, a black cat crossing ones path would create a barrier of evil, then cutting him off from God and blocking the entrance to the heaven.3. Taboos on ColorA variety of colors are physical phenomena in the nature. Different people, however has given different meanings to colors due to their different understanding of them, some of which are positive whereas some of which are negative. Consequently, it is natural that taboos on color can be diverse in different cultures.Traditionally speaking, it may be a color that Chinese people favor most in their life because it usually stands for happiness and joyfulness and as implication of being prosperous in Chinese tradition. Things like“红双喜”(double happiness written in red) and“红对联”(red couplets) are usually applied by people to show their longing for happiness on occasions of a wedding and the celebration of the Spring Festival. On the contrary to the implication for red, white is considered to associate with misfortune as disasters or funerals in Chinese traditional culture because it is a symbol of being solemn and respectful. People usually wear white in a funeral. And a funeral is called“白事”. Hence, people tend to avoid being in white on some occasions of happiness such as holding a wedding and celebrating festivals for fear that misfortune would occur. In most cultures, however, especially for westerners, white has connotations of purity and innocence. It is the traditional color for brides to show her purity of the first marriage at western weddings. If one were in white at a funeral, he would be thought to be offensive, which is just opposite to the Chinese tradition.4. Taboos on Festival and Holiday Festivals are periods when people celebrate some special events. Taboos on festivals, which are common both in western countries and in China, are usually people self-discipline to their behavior or words, which tends to be considered as manifestation of fear for some things as gods or misfortune sometimes or that of good wishes for the future at times.In western countries, Christmas is the most important festival of a year. There is a taboo as to Christmas pudding on this day. It is believed by many westerners that all the people present, even a baby, should take part in stirring the Christmas pudding. Traditionally, one has to stir the mixture at least twelve times, seeing the bottom of the pot each time. One should take care that he stirs it clockwise rather than anticlockwise. In addition, it has some superstition as to mistletoe, a common plant decoration on Christmas in western families. Mistletoe is presumed a powerful charm against witches and lightening. It has also been said to be a cure for poison, epilepsy, barrenness and whooping cough. Consequently, it is left hanging in the home year-around until another festival season has come and fresh mistletoe is hung to replace it. Traditionally, ladies under the sprig of mistletoe can not refuse a kiss from anyone else otherwise it predicts bad luck. The New Year is presumed another important festival by western people since it is the first day of a new year. Some customs and superstitions are involved on this day, of which some are associated with the event bear the common theme that activities engaged on that day set the pattern for the year to come and some have to do with wording off evil spirits or attracting good luck. Some taboo customs on festival and holiday are even upheld under law in western countries. For instance, there are many limitations on sales in law on Sundays in Britain which may sound weird to foreigners. On Sundays, knives to cut grains can be purchased while razor blades are not available. People can buy spare parts or accessories of a car or even a plane whereas they cannot buy shoes. The Holly Bible cannot be got anywhere while magazines are easy to find, even those involved in sex. It permits selling aspirins but toothpaste and soaps are prohibited in a drugstore. And those sell fish and chips, the traditional national food of England, are not permitted to do business on Sundays. For stores or shops, sales of fresh or chilled fruits are allowed but those of canned or bottled fruits are strictly banned.5. Taboos on Number and DateUsually speaking, numbers are words or symbols that represent a certain quantity of things or figures to show the position of something in a series. Many numbers, however, may serve as a variety of mysterious meanings full of good or ill luck in different cultural backgrounds, which have been influenced greatly by various cultural aspects such as the psychology, religion, language worship and aesthetic standards. Hence, certain numbers are favored by people and believed to bring good luck to them. For example, 6 and 8 are two of them in Chinese culture for which Chinese people have a preference, for 6 means a smooth going of everything and 8 is the homophone of“发”in the Guangdong dialect, which means to make a fortune. And 7 is regarded a lucky number in English culture and filled with a strong aura of religion. Many happenings are relevant to 7. For example, according to Christianity, the Lord God created die world in seven days. Jesus persuades people to forgive others for seventy-seven times. The Holy Spirit has seven gifts. There are seven rites in Christian religion. And the main prayers of the Gospel also consist of seven parts. Seven is a very important number in English culture and an English idiom concerned with seven, “the seventh son of a seventh son”, can be a good proof, which means an extremely eminent descendent. Some numbers, however, are resented or feared and avoided by people for fear that they will bring a bad luck to them and became taboos in the daily life. In Chinese culture, many numbers are viewed as unlucky ones and people try to avoid them as well as things concerning with them. Generally speaking, Chinese people prefer to even numbers rather than odd ones because they think that good things should be in pairs(好事成双). For westerners, especially for British people and American people, thirteen is a sinister number to bring bad luck to people and commonly considered to be an unlucky 13. There are no the 13th floor in many buildings. Many hotels dont have a room with number 13th. It is sometimes called as 12A. There wont be 13 guests invited in a dinner party and none of important activities is to happen on the 13th. As far as its origins are concerned, the most common one comes from the Bible. In the Christian faith, according to the Bible, 13 is the number of people at the Last Supper, with the 13th guest at the table being the traitor, Judas, one of the Twelve Disciples.6. Taboos on Table MannersTaking a meal is considered as a very serious or even divine matter by Chinese people. There is an old saying,“民以食为天”, which means that food is god for the masses, fully indicating the importance of taking a meal in common peoples life. Therefore, it is understandable that people regard it important to behave oneself properly at the dinner table. As a matter of fact, taboos on table manners obviously inevitably make an important part of a specific dietary culture. They are reflection of different culture and different folk beliefs. It is viewed to be too casual and impolite to be seated as one likes both in English countries and in China when dining with others, especially on a formal banquet, though seating arrangements are quite different in the two cultures. Westerners are accustomed to giving a dinner on long square table. The host and the hostess will be seated respectively at the two ends of the table and guests at the two sides. Usually, the seats of the guests of honor will be arranged first to show the respect for them. The woman guest of honor takes a seat at the right of the host, who could be the eldest lady, a young lady just engaged or the wife of the man guest of honor. The man guest of honor is seated at the right of the hostess. Compared with the rule of seating order in traditional Chinese culture, it is obvious that that in English culture is much simpler and less serious. There is a strict rule for people in China to follow with regard to where to be seated when eating, especially at a dinner party. Traditionally, Chinese people prefer to serving a dinner around a square table, which is called“八仙桌”and is an old-fashioned table for eight people. Generally speaking, the two seats faring to the door of the dining room are regarded as seats of honor, on which the senior, the important or the high rank will be seated. The other two on the opposite are seats for the host and hostess or guests who are invited to help entertain the guests of honor. And the rest four are usually seated by other guests of junior or lees important. People must take seats based on the rule above when attending a dinner party and it is viewed rude and impolite for guests to take a seat at will.7. ConclusionIn this chapter, comparison of a variety of taboos in customs between English culture, mainly as to those aspects including that of taboo customs in daily life. It comes to two conclusions through the c