The universality and individuality in English and Chinese proverbs 英汉谚语文化取向研究

1、the universality and individuality in english and chinese proverbs introduction chinese and english cultures are two big cultures which are complicated and different distinctively from each other. the languages of these two countries also belong to two different language families. proverb which deri

2、ve from life is one of the most typically representation of its language. as the major form of these two different languages, chinese and english proverbs contain very special and important cultural information, too. because of the huge diversity of these two languages, the different cultural orient

3、ations seem to be a key point. therefore, excellently and precisely learning about proverbs on their cultural orientation is very important in achieving successful cross-cultural communication. learning a foreign language well means more than merely mastering the words, grammar, idioms and all kinds

4、 of special phenomenon, or separately learning the language and culture. it also means learning the ways in which their language reflects their own culture, customs and behavior of their society, learning to understand culture by every detail. in a word, learning a language is inseparable from learn

5、ing its culture. proverbs are the diamond of a language. language is part of culture. so as a part of language, proverbs closely integrated with the society and culture. proverbs reflect many aspects of the nation such as human knowledge and experience. learning proverb is one important aspect and w

6、ays to learn a language and to understand one nations culture. this essay i aim to analyze and compare cultural orientation in chinese and english proverbs. language and culturelanguage and culture are closely related to each other and influence each other. language and culture often interact with e

7、ach other, influent and shape each other. the language is the part of culture, the isotopic carrier of culture, the most important representation of culture and the container of the culture. it plays a significant role in culture. language, to some degree, is the symbolic representation of one natio

8、ns culture. but language is also influenced and shaped by culture. culture determines peoples way of expressing by language in different situations. h. d. brown stated precisely: “culture is really an integral part of the interactions between language and thought，culture patterns, customs, and ways

9、of life are expressed in language; cultural-specific world views are reflected in language.”1p11no language will live without having the foundation of culture. “language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols, a system of signs, created by human beings and used for human communication.”2p55 proverb

10、and the major features2.1 definition of proverb oxford advanced learners english-chinese dictionary defines proverb as “proverb, a short popular saying of unknown authorship, expressing some general truth or superstition.” 3 p1305wu zhankun holds that proverbs are the crystal of national wisdom and

11、experience. they are frequently used orally and handed down from generation to generation and usually give people information and speak the truth.4from all these definitions, we can see some common typical characteristics of proverbs. proverbs are created by common people by daily life and handed do

12、wn from generation to generation. english and chinese proverbs are clear, colloquial and vivid. this is decided by its own producers society classes. proverbs are the production of the national intelligence and experience. proverbs are very colloquial, often composed with simple words, common style,

13、 concise structure, and vivid language. so they are very easy to be remembered and understand. proverbs can be easily found in most language and are often very ancient, and they usually give people advice and warning.2.2 major features of proverb proverb as the experiences of the work and life, is t

14、he summary of the daily practice, represent the universal truth of every aspect. 2.2.1 originsabout origin of proverbs, they usually are influenced by the religion. proverbs is used as tool for the religions to spread their own thoughts. in chinese, for the buddhist and the feudalism leaders, the pr

15、overb may handle down their doctrine and creed easier and extensive. under the effect of the jesus, english proverb reflects the ethics morality. second, many proverb come from literary works. a nations literary works are its languages ginger. they promote the development of language some famous sto

16、ry, plot, even the heros name becomes proverbs. there are many great writers in east and west. they had made distinctive contributions to the development of english literature. third, according to the development of the communication with other countries, more and more language contacts with each ot

17、her. other language impact english and chinese during the process of forming proverb. many english proverbs are from latin, greek, french and chinese. chinese proverbs are absorbed form russian, japan and other minority nationality.for example: 1.放下屠刀,立地成佛。 2.三个臭皮匠顶个诸葛亮。 三国演义( the three kingdoms)3.g

18、od helps those who help themselves.4. “the biter is sometimes bit.” is from shakespeares hamlet.5 example 1 is a religion related proverbs from buddhist which giving people advice to stop killing. example 2 comes from a chinese literary work, means three common people can think out more ideas than o

19、ne intelligence people. example 3 comes from the western religion that represents the creed. example 4 comes from the shakespeares literary work.2.2.2 contentsin this term of contents, proverbs mainly involve history customs, religious creed and geography about agricultural production and so on. alm

20、ost all the proverbs are passed by the ancient people. we does not create new proverb very often. each nation has its unique history. since proverbs are historical products, they may reflect some typical things of the national history and the country. china has a long history about 2000 years of feu

21、dal society. people mind and thoughts are restrained by the government. english proverbs are related to the history of england. example: 1.周瑜打黄盖，一个愿打，一个愿挨。2. “it is as hard to please a knave as a knight.”6p49example 1 comes from a chinese traditional story about a tactic. example 2 a knights refers

22、to a man given the rank of knighthood by the british monarch. there are many legends about the english knights. no matter on east and west, religion is very important for the daily life. religion, as the spirit creed, has a huge influence of the society. different religions are formed by different c

23、ultural backgrounds and different cultural traditions. but the basic creeds have much in common: pursuing charity and giving admonish. proverbs are closely related to the culture, so proverbs can reflect the different religious faith. for example:1.救人一命胜造七级浮屠。2. the way to heaven is by weeping cross

24、.example 1 is an old chinese proverb, shows that saving peoples life is the best thing. example 2 shows that only way to heaven is repentance. language reflects peoples life environment. living customs greatly influence and restrict the system of language expressions. every language is characterized

25、 by its different and unique living customs. in china, some festival means special meaning for the people. modern china is still a country that cannot accept kissing as a normal social courtesy. even some parents do not do this to their children. this is a distinctive feature showing the differences

26、 between living custom, because in western country kissing is the normal courtesy for the stranger or the family members. example:1. “吃了重阳酒，夜作不离手。”2. unkissed, unkind.example 1 shows that when people meet chong yang festival, drinking is the way of celebration. example 2 reflects that kissing is a n

27、ormal courtesy in western country. in the ancient time, the agriculture is the most important issue of one country. a nations geographical environment is bases of the agriculture and it decides the developing of the life level and the process of the whole society. the geographical features are inevi

28、tably reflected in the proverbs of the language. england is an island country, and no good enough sunshine and suitable earth for cultivation. it has a big advantage of sailing and fishing. so many proverbs respect these characters. china is a traditional agriculture country. almost all the people a

29、re farmers. proverbs, as the crystal of the farmer, accumulate many wisdom and intelligence.example:1. 春雨贵如油。2.being on the sea, sail; being on the land, settle.example1 shows that in china, when spring comes, the rain is very rare and precious. example2 shows that english people make ling for saili

30、ng and fishing. agriculture is not fit ate the environment on england.2.2.3 figures of speech proverbs use rhetorical devices to attract the readers deeply. many chinese and english proverbs use the same rhetorical devices such as simile, metaphor, repetition, hyperbole exaggerate, antithesis, synec

31、doche, personification and so on. we can find its influence in every corner in literature. rhetoric is a better way for people to express their thinking, feelings, and their emotions and to let other people to understand. though chinese and english are two totally different languages around the worl

32、d, we can excited find that, comparison with the rhetoric of chinese, it is not so hard to find that there are lots of figure of speech which can both use in english and chinese.example:1. 割麦如救火。2. time is father of truth. cultural orientations in chinese and english proverbs3.1 different cultural o

33、rientations in chinese and english proverbs both in the english and chinese language proverbs are widely used. they are passed from generation to generation with few changes. the amount of the proverbs is very huge both in english and chinese. it reflects every aspect of life and long history. with

34、essentially national characteristics, proverbs contain mostly native elements. english and chinese proverbs show their own national culture. many people cannot properly understand the meaning of a phrase or proverbs even a joke without special search about it, because they know little about cultural

35、 difference between english and chinese proverbs. the english-speaking and chinese-speaking people comes from different cultures. they live in different living environment, have different customs and hold different religious believes. all those difficulty hinder the way of understanding proverbs rig

36、htly. so having acknowledges of the difference on culture and coral creed and thoughts of different country and culture is the most important step to learn a new language. 3.1.1 collectivism vs. individualism collectivism and individualism is a very important part for understanding the chinese and e

37、nglish culture orientation. and they are affected by the long history, customs and values. china is the best circumstance for collectivism. under the influence of confucianism, buddhism and taoism, chinese traditional culture and value system obvious tend to collectivism. a family home to the countr

38、y for the country to the world for the world.(家，国，天下) is one of the most important creed of confucianism. it reflects that chinese people believe country is a big family and everyone is connected to each other. the whole world is one community, and peacefulness is prized.taoism is the local religion

39、 which originates in china. human life being in a highly harmony with nature.（天人合一） represents the chinese people think the world as a whole. no one can exist by their own. chinese people emphasized that preferring the profit of the society and community beyond personal benefits. individual people s

40、hould put the community beyond individual and cooperate to achieve the success of community or a group. chinese proverbs reflecting this collective thought are like:一人拾柴火不旺, 众人抬柴火焰高。人心齐，泰山移。一个巧皮匠, 没有好鞋样; 二个笨皮匠, 做事好商量; 三个臭皮匠, 合个诸葛亮。 individualism is the kernel value system in english culture. individ

41、ualism means the ties between people are loose. everyone prefer to look after themselves by their own.3this character just conforms the west people advocating unique, emphasizing personal independence, and valuing personal aspiration. in terms of individualism, american culture is regarded as the re

42、presentative one. the “american dream” and the “western movement” to some degree encourage the young people to pursuit their own dream and enforce the development of individualism. the american culture of pursuing unique and strange style encourages the individualism development. therefore, many eng

43、lish proverbs reflect their thoughts. for example:self-preservation is the first law of nature. when everyone takes care of himself, care is taken of all. god helps those who help themselves.everyman is the architect of his own fortune。if you want a thing well done, do it yourself.3.1.2 hierarchy vs

44、. equality china has a 2000years history of feudalism. politics, economy, culture are control by the central government and load reaching a summit. china has a big territory and a big population which is equal to the whole europe. only depending on the harsh classes degree can the dominator govern h

45、is country. the lowest people are controlled by the official; the officials are controlled by the emperor. in some dynasty like yuan and qing, china was controlled by the minority nationality. for the purpose of solidifying their regime, preventing the power turning to others, imperial class sever a

46、ny possibilities of regime handled by others and pushed discrimination to han people by regarding them as second- class citizens. though the feudal time has finished, many proverbs are passed by contain this concept such as: 官大一品压死人。小鬼斗不过阎王，胳膊扭不过大腿。 western people value equality. they aspire to equa

47、lity. because of the ancient history, english people and people from other western country love freedom through the long experiences of sailing and travelling. through the black middle century, renaissance activity brought the new thought to those people. the poor populace realizes and begins to pur

48、suit that everyone should be equal. everyone was born with the same rights and social position by god, everyone is equal and freedom. many historians believe that american culture is regarded as the representative one. in the declaration of independence, “all men are created equal”. “american dream”

49、, emphasize everyone is equal; everyone has the same opportunity and possibility to achieve success if the young people struggle hard to pursuit their dream. it to large degree encourages the young enforce the development of concept of equality. english proverbs mostly created in that time, they ine

50、vitable are influenced by circumstance in that time. for example:six feet of earth make all men equal. a cat may look at a king. 3.1.3 harmony vs. competition the concept of harmony has a very special and important status in chinese traditional culture. harmony is one of the oldest philosophy framew

51、orks. it is the most representative orientation of the chinese culture. harmony is born in agriculture. agricultural production need to fit the natural principles. it is the embryo of harmony. from the time pass by, the thought of harmony spread other aspects as the coral thought of chinese people.

52、confucianism shows that chinese people believe country is a big family and everyone is connected to each other. the whole world is one community, and peacefulness is prized.only all those people can live together peacefully without any struggle and fight, the family, country and the society can be e

53、xisted for long time. from that on, the chinese people highly emphasize the solidarity and harmony between people and people or between group and group. taoism blazes “human life being in a highly harmony with nature.” it emphasizes harmony exists everywhere. do not focus on the personal emotion and

54、 benefits, and holding the charitable thoughts to everyone. buddhism spread broadly in china. the main creed of buddhism is treasuring harmony and influent other to do good things. such as:事怕合计，人怕客气。一个朋友一条路，一个冤家一堵墙。骂人不揭短, 打人不打脸。 the gene of competition locates in every westerners blood. living by fi

55、shing on the sea, the ancient english people loved conquest and adventure through their competition with the sea, and afterwards, due to the industrial revolutionary in england; the productive force gained a rapid development. it did not have the enough money to enlarge the scale. it then conquers t

56、he poor country as their colony and competes with other colonists. in domestic politics, england was influenced by the enlightenment, exercise democracy. 4usually there are two or more political parties to compete to the regime. on culture, through renaissance and enlightenment, english people focus

57、 on the personal status. they believe the individualist should depend on their own ability to lead a group through competition and gain personal success. the belief of competition also spread to english-speaking countries under the colonial rule of england. proverbs record this period of history. su

58、ch as:it is the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. every man is the architect of his own fortune. better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion. men leap over where the hedge is lowest. 3.1.4 tradition orientation vs. future orientation china is a country of traditional orientation. the chinese people have a strong historical consciousness, which is represented by admiring greatly the traditional notions, principles and constant pattern of behavior. because china has such a long history about 3000 years, during this period, chinese ancestor left us many works to record