中英礼仪文化禁忌比较与跨文化交际.doc

摘 要本文通过引述国内外的对禁忌的研究进而对礼仪文化禁忌进行定义与分类，从而发现中国的禁忌与英国禁忌的区别并进行比较，再追本溯源，分析两国产生这些差异的原因，分别从话题禁忌、交往禁忌、饮食禁忌等三方面寻找原因。从这三个角度分别选出了具有代表性的例子进行论证。然后，通过与跨文化交际的结合，指出在中英两国交往中需注意的一些问题，并给出有利的解决方案。关键词：文化禁忌；比较；跨文化交际 ABSTRACTThis paper first quotes researches of taboos from both home and abroad, trying to make definition for the cultural taboos and classify them. Then the paper studies the taboo difference between China and Britain and does some contrast, and then searches for the original reasons for the question from three aspects: taboo topics, social taboo and diet taboo, etc. From the three angles this paper selects typical examples to illustrate the question. Finally, the paper combines taboos with intercultural communication, pointing out some problems in intercultural communication between Chinese and English people, and offers some suggestions in order to solve these problems. Key words：taboo; contrast; intercultural communication 中国最大的论文知识平台Contents1Introduction12. Cultural taboos22.1 Definition22.2 Classification32.3 Origin33. A contrast of cultural taboos between China and Britain63.1 Introduction of Chinese cultural taboos63.1.1 Topic taboos63.1.2 Sociable taboos63.1.3 Diet taboos73.2 Introduction of British cultural taboos83.2.1 Topic taboos83.2.2 Sociable taboos83.2.3 Diet taboos93.3 Reasons and functions of the taboo difference93.3.1 Reasons93.3.2 Functions104. The relation between taboos and intercultural communication124.1 Cultural taboos influence on intercultural communication124.2 Some problems134.2.1 Cultural shock.134.2.2 Stereotypes.134.2.3 Prejudice.135. Solutions146. Conclusion15Acknowledgement16References171IntroductionTaboo refers to the things that are sacred, unclean, and dangerous and the forbidden attitude which people hold towards its characteristics. That is to say, it includes two sides: on one side are the special things; on the other side is a control model. The essence of taboo is a negative norm of psychology and behavior. Though the violation of taboo is psychological, one can not avoid its punishment.China is a country renowned for its long history and sound etiquette, different peoples, as well as cultural exchanges with other countries. With the development of the times, the old taboos are either compact or changed. The development and changes in cultural etiquette taboos, has been an impact on our peoples behavior and way of thinking. As to Britain, which is a country with hundreds of thousands of miles away from China, its unique customs and rituals, and cultural taboos have also profoundly affected the lifestyle of the people for some reasons such as geography and so on. Sino-British etiquette cultures have many differences in terms of taboos, which reflect obviously the daily life of different ethnic groups. If the taboos between the two countries cause some unnecessary misunderstandings or some other cultural impact, it is likely that both parties would suffer from unnecessary losses, which might by completely avoidable. In light of the above reasons, this paper aims to discuss the issue with a clear understanding of the Sino-British cultural taboos. By contrast of taboos between the two countries, and with reference to the actual cross-cultural communication, cross-cultural communication will become easier, as misunderstandings are eliminated, which are caused by etiquette cultural taboos. 2. Cultural taboosThe taboo research has been done continuously from the 19th century. Though taboo includes marked folk culture and embodies peoples life and regulates peoples forming of consciousness, social order and artistic aesthetic system, it is still a mysterious and scary custom to ordinary people. Etiquette cultural taboos appeared under a complex atmosphere and people used them to control their behaviour.Being dangerous and having a punitive role are the two main characteristics of taboo. For their own utilitarian purposes, psychologically, taboo words and actions by self-defence measure are generated from the ghost worship. Taboo can be divided into primary stage, secondary stage and disappearance stage. Funerals and ancestors worship is where taboo originated, with the most direct connection to the faith of ghost. It inherits the secondary phase of the original period of ghost worship taboos. Their institutionalization, ritual-oriented manners make onerous provisions of taboos. In peoples lives, ritual, festivals, industry, etc., which is considered unlucky, are sources of taboos. From the ages of emancipating the mind and starting doing away with superstition in modern times, science gradually takes root, and taboos die a natural death, or are subject to transformation.Taboo was first used by ancient people because of superstitious awe of supernatural power or as passive preventive measures taken in ancient society to protect themselves. In ancient social life, the taboos had played the same role as that of norms and constraints. Even today, many taboos of the proscribed materials are of mystery and superstition nature, the elimination of the concept has been gradual, and there are still many taboos left, exerting impact on peoples lives.2.1 DefinitionTaboo is a word that has been long researched both at home and abroad. Taboo in Chinese is “禁忌”, which first appeared in Han Dynasty and old Chinese royal kingdoms defined it as something forbidden by the god so that they could control people more easily134. As time goes by, studies on taboos have little achievement, and most of Chinas research on taboos is based on western works.Oxford Advanced English-Chinese Dictionary defined taboo as follows: something that religion or custom regards as forbidden, not to be touched, spoken of, etc; general agreement not to discuss something, do something21235.Taboos are some kind of prohibition in peoples attitudes toward scary and dirty things. Being dangerous and punitive are two characteristics of taboos 146. They contribute to peoples utilitarian purposes psychologically to take self-defence measures.2.2 ClassificationDifferent countries and different peoples throughout the world have been affected by taboos because of their own culture, customs and even religious beliefs. Thus their etiquette cultural taboos have been developed into various types which could be divided into several kinds as: colour taboos, number taboos, taboo topics, taboos on animals and logos, diet taboos, sociable taboos, etc.Taboo topics relate to language users of different countries. Taboo topic is very rich in local and social dialects, customs and characteristics of language.The principles of taboo largely come from good or bad fortune, decency and propriety, utility, honor, and many other considerations.Sociable taboo is in the aspect of personal behavior and interpersonal actions, and they all belong to daily taboos. In this regard, folk taboos play a normative role. In the subtle interpersonal relations, especially between friends and relatives, the law is often beyond reach and powerless. To a certain extent, the taboo functions to limit the behavior. Customs are different in different dietary, so diet taboos reflect a certain degree of folk beliefs. In China, the heaven is able to affect how much people can access to food. Agriculture, hunting, fishing and other labor activities, often associate with religion, festivals and form some unique diet taboos. 2.3 Origin Talking about the origin of taboo, generally there are four explanations 323-24. The first concerns the spiritual power of the worship and fear of the god. Second is the desire for self-restraint and limitation. Third is to adhere to and obey the morality. Fourth is a summary of lessons and some knowledge from them. Here, we divide them as follows: a study on the supernatural power, a study on the desire, a study on the ceremonies, and a study on lessons.Firstly, the study is about the supernatural power. Supernatural power, is also called as “mana 320”. In English it is also translated as Manna, Mana, or Mara, etc. Stemming from the Oceania, it is an anthropological term that refers to things or people embodying supernatural forces. As in Chinese, the correspondence to it is “灵力421”, and it means a power that is supernatural. It is said that taboo is the spiritual force with direct or indirect attachment to somebody and through which the ghost makes the effect. The original idea of the primitive things forms taboos and the original ban. Ghost and Goblin are considered to be a spiritual force, they are also considered to be “like the devil 4234” and “non-contact”. Tian Shunzhu, who is a writer once said that some taboos are generated from the worship of ghost, and people know where there is a breach, it is subject to retaliation for the ghost524. So we can see that taboos arise with peoples fear of the spiritual force. The study of the supernatural power, in fact, is a study of the development history of human belief, it analyzes the power of peoples spiritual beliefs and the resulting emotions generated by the belief, such as respect and fear, etc., and accordingly it traces back to the source of taboos.Secondly, the study is on the desire. Freud believed that it is not enough to find the root of taboo only from peoples belief. In his book Totem and Taboo he said: Windt made people know that taboo is a kind of performance and the extension of faith to the devil forces by ancient people. Wens theory in fact not really traced back to the original reason for taboos, or dug out the root causes. Fear or “the devil” in psychology can not be considered to be the first cause, and that is people cannot find the source of a thing, unless the existence of the devil is real. Taboo itself is a contradiction of emotional words, because strong prohibition must also be something that everyone wants to do. How can people who break the taboos be considered as a taboo is that he must have already had the characteristics which may induce others to follow him. Here, Freud has noted psychologically inhibited desire. Desire, is a human instinct need, but as a social man, he has to somewhat suppress the desire. This kind of suppression of desire is the fundamental source of taboo. The study of the desire is broad. It is mainly in terms of psychology source of taboo stressing the “suppression 651” side of taboo.Thirdly, the study is of the ceremonies. In the study of desire, the role of social constraints has been stated. Social constraints can be reflected in many ceremonies. Ceremony represents something “unreasonable”, “socially prescriptive”. Ceremony taboo is that people must unconditionally obey a prohibition. The provision of the ceremony is to ensure that the kind of ceremony is smoothly and successfully completed, that the ceremony marks the significance that is completely recognized. Some people define taboo as “passive worship”. Taboo is also directly translated as “the prohibition on the rituals”. The study of ceremonies is from the “prescriptive society” 17. Taboo is a social contract of the embryo. From sociological point of view, the origin of taboos is clear. It often goes with some sort of arbitrary requirement. After the formation of taboo, it has an “irresistible force of constraint”. People, out of the need for communication, often do not go to carefully examine its rationality, but only absolutely obey it. This kind of taboo is based on the initial requirement, so it is unreasonable and elusive.Fourthly, the study is on the lessons. The lessons are from the failures or mistakes. Ignorance and underdevelopment often result in common misunderstanding. The “common misunderstanding” derived “lessons” are the origin of taboos. People lose their confidence in one or several failures and losses. People fear to struggle with nature and have psychological mystery to the struggle with nature. In review of the losses, people exaggerate them and the behavior of people becomes the precepts and ceremonies. The study is the epistemological origin of the taboos. The taboo has reflected peoples awareness of the activities of deviation, but for peoples understanding of the development, the taboo is an indispensable process. Although, in a sense, it has “practical” significance, “experience,” in its meaning, its “lessons learned” summary is not to be lost.3. A contrast of cultural taboos between China and Britain3.1 Introduction of Chinese cultural taboosIn China, taboos affect peoples mind and their everyday life. In the system of taboo, Chinese believe that the origin of disaster exists everywhere. They hide in some invisible things, places and even locations. Any word or act may cause a catastrophe. In a word, etiquette cultural taboos have a great effect on peoples daily life.3.1.1 Topic taboosThere are many taboo topics in China, and different places have their own taboos. Lots of topics are forbidden in peoples communication. For example, the number four is not a number that people like to mention because its pronunciation is the same with Chinese character of death. To the old people in China, they believe that talking about things relating to death may trigger scourge or other unlucky stuffs. The number taboo has its influence in our daily life. In hospitals, rooms and beds are seldom marked with the number four. For hospitals are the places dealing with the living and the dead. Coincidentally, buildings also dont use number four to mark their rooms and floors. People use F13B to take the place of F14. Modern Chinese still take it as a tradition and their offspring get used to this phenomenon. In China, mentioning of sex is to some degree not acceptable. Chinese is a nation with long history and famous for its good etiquette and sound manners. People pay much attention on their behavior. Talking about sex is considered to be dirty and it will make other people embarassed. This topic is too personal to anyone and it is privacy to everyone.If someone is a Christian in China, do not talk about other religion before him and it may irritate him. And it is the same to other religion believers.3.1.2 Sociable taboos Sociable taboos are taboos on how people get along with others and their behaviours of interacting with outer world.China is famous for hospitality. There are also many taboos on how to welcome and get along with visitors. People usually take some presents with them, and some gifts have their unique meaning. When someone is in hospital, visitors usually take fruits as presents. In general, apples, oranges, peaches, chestnuts are welcome as they all have the implication of having good luck and recovering soon. Remember not to take pears to patient, because its pronunciation is similar to the word of separation.Take sociable taboos in Menggu Minority as an example. In the pastoral home or in the tourist spots, the host or hostess will offer guests a bowl of tea sincerely. Guests have to use their right hands or both hands and bow slightly to pick up the tea. Guests should not use their left hands, otherwise they will be considered as a man who has no knowledge of courtesy. If the host or hostess is going to pour some tea into the bowl, and the guest doesnt want any more, he may use the spoon or the spout to gently touch the edge of the bowl, the host will instantly understand the intention of the guest.3.1.3 Diet taboosDiet taboos may exert a direct impact on the food culture of all ethnic groups and adjust the diet structure. In the past, people usually prayed for their ancestors spirits first after the harvest or hunting, thanked the gods bless, and then turned to their own consumption. Eating is a serious and sacred thing, and the Chinese people treat a meal as the most important event for one day or even in life. Chinese usually ask “Have you had the meal?” when meeting with their acquaintances. Therefore, any mistakes or taboo will immediately cause misunderstanding and peoples relationship will turn disharmonious. When eating, any improper topics are forbidden at table, as it may lead to a disaster. For example, if a child can not eat a whole bowl of rice, in the future he has to marry pock-marked wife or husband.Take diet taboos of Hui Minority as an example. In Hui Minority, pork and donkey meat and blood and meat of some ferocious beasts are forbidden. They also never eat fish without scales and the livestock slaughtered by non-Muslims. Canned food and dim sums that are not produced by Muslim are not welcome. People are forbidden to make a joke about food.3.2 Introduction of British cultural taboos Britain is considered to be a serious nation and is a country famous for its gentlemen manners, so many more etiquettes and taboos exist which people need to pay attention to.3.2.1 Topic taboos In Britain, topics of conversation may involve all aspects of the daily lives. However, there are also some private things that can not be asked. Take topic of age as an example. Englishmen dont like to mention their real age, especially for old people. In Western culture, the value of age is almost negligible. Asking a persons age is very rude and is considered lacking in good manners. If old people are willing to talk about their age, they would naturally talk about this issue. For example, they will want others to guess how old they are.Next topic is related to money. In the West, people think the money issue is purely individual. Even within the family, generally family members do not know the exact income of each other. But this does not mean the relationship between family members is not good. This is merely a reflection of a perception: family allows its members to maintain a certain degree of ind