Differences on Culture Between English and Chinese Languages.docx

differences on culture between english and chinese languages language is the most important tool for communication and culture. it makes sure that the human civilization can be reserved and conveyed smoothly. every nation has its own language, which is one of the most characters to distinguish races. there are six major languages around the world:chinese,english,french,russian,spanish and arabic;of all them,chinese is the worlds most populous language and english the most widely used.so today more and more people have joined the army of learning english or chinese and the trend turns out to be uprising.but learning english or chinese is not an easy thing due to the differences between them.however, it is actually the differences on culture that dominate the real one; that is to say, the culture results in the differences between english and chinese. (here english means british english, bre)four factors are considered to study the differences between english and chinese languages:historical cultural differences,geographical cultural differences,customs differences and religious differences.keyword: historygeographycustomreligion1. historical cultural differenceshistorical culture is formed in the process of specific history(especially some significant history events)and the remains of society.because every nation has different histories,their culture differs very much.when two languages collide with each other,troubles about communication and realization always get in the way. for example,it is easy for many chinese people to realize the idiom”ye gong hao long(叶公好龙)”but hard for those foreigners who learn about chinese historial culture very little.if the idiom is refered to”lord yes love of dragon”,then foreigners will be confused with the question”who is lord ye?why does he love dragon?”to make foreigners realize the real meaning of this idiom,a appropriate expression is the filling-up translation:”professed love of what one really fears(lord ye is a person who asserts that he really love dragon,but frightened away when the real dragon comes.)”thus,the reader will easily get it.analogy is another useful method to explain literary quotations and personage.it is said once premier zhou accompanied the foreign guests on the play”liang shanbo and zhu yingtai(also called the butterfly lovers)” and although the translator make his effort to translate the title,those foreigners still could not understand it.finally,premier zhou suggested that “liang shanbo and zhu yingtai”is equal to” romeo and julie in china” ,then foreign guests understanded the theme.chinese history,long and glorious,helps promote the development of chinese culture and generate plenties of literary quotations(典故).every quotations convey abundant information about chinese culture,so communications between different languages should pay attention to historical cultural differences.it is the same with western culture(here means british culture).british has gone through many conquests from other countries or tribes.first is the roman conquest,next anglo-saxon conquest,then danish invasion and finally norman conquest,which should be responsible for the development of english language.2. geographical cultural differencesgeographical environments can also influence the culture.different topography,climate and other national conditions make different people have different expressions in the face of the same phenomenon.for example,chinese directions usually take the form of east,north or west,south;but in english,they are called”northeast and southwest”.in addition,”east wind” means ”spring”,”warmth” and “vitality(生机)” and there is a saying “east wind blows,spring comes”,which shows the chinese peoples favor for it;however,the east wind in british refers to the cold wind blows from northern eurasia(亚欧大陆) ,so the british dislike the east wind.but they like the west wind formed by temperate marine climate(温带海洋性气候) and the north atlantic drift(北大西洋暖流) and the evidence is a poem named ode to the west wind(西风颂) by shelley.the last sentence in the poem is “oh,the west wind,if winter comes,can spring be far behind?”so the geographical cultural differences help chinese readers avoid misunderstanding.the weather of british is changeable,so when people meet,the weather forms the staple of their conversation such as “hows the weather?”or”do you take an umbrella?”while in china,people pay more attention to subsistence problem,so they usually greet with”have you eaten?”some things may have abundant connotation in one culture but nothing in another culture.different region has different language culture.3. custom cultural differences different people has different habits in greeting,appellation,farewell,apology,calling and so forth.when chinese people meet,they greet with “have you eaten?”,”what are you doing?”or”where are you going?” these greetings mean nothing but holiday words but the british are really sensitive.in their opinion,”what are you doing”relates to their private matter and “have you eaten?”mistakes them as “i want to invite you to dinner.”4.religional cultural differencesreligion plays an important role in human culture and peoples religious belief and consciousness bring the religious culture into being.confucianism,taoism and buddhism are the three major religions in china,and have a significant influence on chinese people.there are”yudi”from taoism,”yanwang”from buddhism,the king of dragon,pangu and the heaven in chinese traditional culture,which do not exist in western culture.most westerners believe in christianity.they believe that god created the world and all things are under the control of god.differences between china and western religious culture should be taken seriously in communication.for example,english translator david hawkes translated the sentence谋事在人，成事在天”into “man propses,god disposes”.the latter sentence seems good at first sight but actually two sentences show different religion background.strictly speaking,the word天”can not opposite to the word”god”,because “god”comes from western religion while “天”means the “heaven”.language and culture can never be separated because they help each other to improve themselves-languages rerich the content of culture and in turn,culture results in the diversity of languages.of course,the differences on culture between english and chinese languages are not just the content of the above,there are so many other factors to be discussed.however,as the saying goes,” practice is the sole criterion for testing truth”, a exercise is needed to test”truth”.here is an original test and its version.人间天堂杭州 杭州是一座有悠久历史的文化名城。“良渚文化”遗址即可证明，在4000多年前，这里已有人类繁衍生息。五代时的吴越国和南宋均在此建都，历时237年。现今的杭州，辖市内8个区，3个市和2个县。杭州素以风景秀丽著称。700年前，意大利旅行家马可波罗曾称誉它是“世界上最美丽华贵之城”。境内西湖如明镜，千峰凝翠，洞壑幽深，风光绮丽。湖上有彩带似的苏堤、白堤飘落其上。三谭印月、湖心亭、阮公墩三个小岛鼎立湖中。岳庙、西冷印社、曲院风荷、平湖秋月、花港观鱼、柳浪闻莺等风景点，均在湖之周围。环湖耸立的山峰，千姿百态。山上多岩石，如玉乳洞、紫来洞、黄龙洞、紫云洞、石屋洞、水乐洞、烟霞洞等，洞内景色优美，且多古代石刻；山间多泉，以虎跑、龙井、玉泉为佳；九溪十八涧则以“叮叮咚咚水，弯弯曲曲路”著称。 此外，还有灵隐寺、六和塔、宝菽塔、净慈寺、韬光、云栖等名胜古迹。市属3市2县境内，北有超山，西有天目山。溯钱塘江而上，有富阳鹳山，桐庐瑶琳仙境、桐君山、严子陵钓台，建德灵栖山洞，新安江“千岛湖”等名胜，形成一个以西湖为中心的广阔旅游区。version:hangzhou- paradise on earth hangzhou has long been known as a famous cultural city .the ancient liangzhu culture ruins were found in what is now hangzhou. these archeological ruins date back to 2000 b.c. when our ancestors already lived and multiplied here. hangzhou also served as an imperial capital for 237 years -first as the capital of the state of wuyue (907-978)during the five dynasties period , and again as the capital of the southern song dynasty (1127-1279). now hangzhou is the capital of zhejiang province with eight urban districts , three country-level cities and two counties under its jurisdiction . hangzhou has a reputation for its scenic beauty. about 700 years ago , marco polo , perhapsthe most celebrated italian traveler, called it the finest and most magnificent city in the world . hangzhous west lake is like a mirror , embellished all round with green hills and deep caves of enchanting beauty. the su causeway which runs from north to south and the bai causeway which runs from east to west look like two colored ribbons floating on the water. the three islets named “three pools mirroring the moon ,mid-lake pavilion and ruangong mound stand in the lake, adding much charm to the scene. famous beauty spots around west lake include yue fei temple, xiling seal-engraving society , breeze-ruffled lotus at quyuan garden, autumn moon over the calm lake, and several parks like viewing fish at the flower pond and orioles singing in the willows . hills peaks tower around the lake and amaze the visitor with the ever-changing aspects of their beauty. scattered in the adjacent hills are scenic caves and caverns ,such as jade-milk cave , purple cloud cave , stone house cave, water music cave and rosy cloud cave , most of which have many stone sculptures carved on their walls. also among the hills one finds spring