中西方文化禁忌

1、注意，笔画的中英文名称并无公认体系。点dot， 即tiny dash。横horizontal，即rightward stroke。竖vertical，即downward stroke。提rise或rising，即flick up and rightwards。尾部变尖锐（taper）。捺press down或right-falling，即falling rightwards，flattening at the bottom。撇throw away或left-falling，即falling leftwards，with slight curve，not very curved。折break或t

2、urning，即90 degree turn，going down or going right only。钩hook，即appended to other strokes，going down or going left only。弯bend，即usually concave 凹的on the left。斜slant，即usually concave on the right。笔画stroke点、横、竖、撇、捺、折、钩、提dot stroke, horizontal stroke, vertical stroke, left-falling stroke, right-falling str

3、oke, turning stroke, hook stroke, raising stroke复杂笔画可以从上述基本笔画组合而来，例如，竖钩即可为vertical+hook。每个汉字不同笔画书写顺序是固定的，即笔顺。在不同书体中，或在不同地区（中国大陆、台湾、香港、澳门、日本、韩国、朝鲜、越南），笔顺可能不同。永字八法（eight principlels of yong；见篇首图）包含了八种基本笔画的写法与笔顺。顺便说一下，部首叫radical；音调叫tone。拇指 thumb, often considered not to be a finger食指 index finger, also

4、 called pointer finger, or forefinger中指 middle finger, often the longest无名指 ring finger, also known as fourth finger小指 little finger, also known as pinky中国民间禁忌节日禁忌春节是新年之始，禁忌较多。如忌打碎器物，打碎了要说“岁岁（碎碎）平安”或“越打越发”之类的吉利话，还有忌遇殡葬，忌丧家拜年，忌吵架骂人，忌请医生，忌迁居、剃头理发等。正月初一是新年的第一天，禁忌更多。如吃年饭忌无鱼，有鱼也忌全部吃光，是为了讨个“有余（鱼）”的吉利。吃有骨头

5、的食物忌说:“骨头”，要说成“财喜坨”。吃饱了不能说：“我不吃了。”这是很不吉利的话。初一这一天忌动刀、斧、剪之类的器物，忌挑水、下地干活，忌借火种，忌讨债，忌购物，忌针线活，忌杀生，忌啼哭，忌说一切不吉利的话，凡“破、坏、死、光、鬼、输、穷、完了、背时、病”等一些不好的字眼都要避免。一般来说小儿无忌，但有的地方在初一早晨家长要用干净草纸揩一揩小孩的嘴巴，意思是把小孩的嘴当屁股，即是说了不吉利的话，也当是“放屁”，不算犯忌。另外，许多地方还忌吃豆腐，因为按习俗办丧事时才吃豆腐，老人寿终正寝的叫做“倒了豆腐山”。还忌扫地，扫了地也不能把垃圾倒掉，认为会把财气扫掉；过去还忌讳初一早上倒夜壶，也认为

6、会破财。又忌条凳（长板凳）倒地，因为人死停柩是搁在两条长板凳上的，出殡时抬起棺材，踢倒板凳才起步。总之，正月特别是初一禁忌一切认为不吉利的事情。其它节日也多有禁忌，如二月二古称“中和节”，俗称“龙抬头”，忌动剪刀针线，忌推磨，汲水忌碰井沿，都是怕伤了龙。清明节前一二日为“寒食节”，禁忌烟火。七月“鬼节”忌晚间外出，以免惊动鬼神而遭殃。八月中秋节忌阴雨，否则来年年景不好。九月重阳节有的地方忌讳出嫁不到三年的女儿回娘家，有所谓“回家过重阳，死她婆婆娘”的说法。另外，一些节令也有忌讳，如立秋忌无雨，认为该日雷鸣下雨则预示丰收，有所谓“雷动秋，狗儿猫儿不吃粥”的俗语。但也有相反的禁忌，认为该日雷鸣主稻

7、秀不实，有谚语“秋毂碌，收秕谷。”立冬也有忌雷鸣的，俗语说“雷打冬，十个牛栏九个空。”大概是说牲畜会死亡。chinese culture taboo #1: take credit for achievements - 受到表扬后不谦虚one of the first things most foreigners in china learn about cultural differences is the way to reply to compliments. in america if someone says you have a nice car or keep up your y

8、ard well you would most likely say, thank you. i have worked hard for it. to respond to a compliment like that in china would be considered very prideful. it is almost like there are set rules for what is right to say in certain situations. say for example, you are visiting a friend who has recently

9、 moved to a new house. when you enter you are expected to make some positive remarks about his house. “it is spacious.” “the lighting is good.” “it faces the correct direction.” “no, it is small.” “the lighting is not very good, especially in the afternoons.” “a lot of noise drifts up from the stree

10、t.” you are never supposed to directly accept the praise. there is a chinese phrase that is basically an all inclusive divert praise conversation tool. that is na li, na li. the direct english translation is where, where? whenever people compliment my chinese, and it doesnt take much language prowes

11、s to draw compliments, i use this phrase and people know that since i didnt say thank you i must have been in china a while.i heard of a story of a foreigner who complimented a chinese woman by telling her she was pretty. she had practiced a bit of english and knew how to translate some chinese phra

12、ses directly into english. so she said, where, where? the foreigner was quite taken aback, but assumed she just wanted a bit more praise. he said, umm, uh, your face is quite attractive. by now she was blushing. where, where? this time the foreigner thought she was pretty presumptuous to keep demand

13、ing more praise, but didnt want to offend her. well, your nose is quite graceful and your eyes have a sparkle to them. this time her whole face was bright red as she stammered one more time, where?chinese culture taboo #2: showing the bottom of your shoes -被人看见鞋底in china, people walk almost everywhe

14、re. shoes tend to collect more dirt and junk than in western countries. showing someone the bottom of your shoes is considered very rude. it is rude even when it happens in natural situations such as crossing your legs or putting your feet up on a coffee table. like many rooted customs, this is slow

15、ly changing .the younger generation would not get as upset if this were to happen as an elderly person would. also, when you enter someones house you are supposed to take off your shoes first. most homes have a set of house shoes for wearing inside and which they offer to guests. although the home o

16、wner might protest and tell you it is not necessary to take off your shoes, you should do it anyway unless you are very close to the host. he is also being polite by saying no need, no need, but actually there is a need. when my family first arrived in china, my father rode on the subway and crossed

17、 his legs in the seat. the gentleman sitting next to him took out a pad and paper and wrote something intently on it. then he showed the paper to my father. it said, the action which you are taking is impolite. needless to say, we think twice before crossing our legs in public now!chinese culture ta

18、boo #3: major on one food and skip the others -只吃一种食物，其他的不吃the rights and wrongs of food etiquette could be an entire article in and of themselves. i will briefly summarize the dos and donts here. traditional chinese serve the bowls of guests. it is considered rude to help yourself to the food you w

19、ant when at someones house. the proper way is to wait until the host serves your bowl. dont be afraid that you will go hungry because good hosts take it as their personal mission to make sure your bowl is completely full all the time. even after you have eaten 3-4 bowls full of food they will contin

20、ue to scoop it for you and say dont be polite. eat up. you havent eaten anything yet. in the process they will give you what they consider to be the very best food, which might or might not be what you like.in other less traditional homes, you might have freedom to serve some of your own food. if yo

21、u do, beware. reaching across the table for another dish is a big no no. so is using your chopsticks to pick out the meat or food from a dish you like the best. if you do seem to eat one thing more than another, it is likely that they will serve you more of that. my mother went to a guests house whe

22、re she was served a kind of boiled greens. they werent her favorite so she ate them first to save the best for last. they saw saw her quickly eating them up and interpreted that to mean she loved them. the hostess promptly got her bowl, went to the kitchen, and gave her another scoop. it is often ad

23、visable to leave a little bit of food left in your bowl or the host might think you are still hungry and fill it up again. then again, in some regions it is considered very wasteful to leave any food. sound complicated? it is. accept a dinner invitation at your own risk. no, in seriousness most chin

24、ese know that westerners will not know all the rules or customs. they will give you some leeway, but try to be sensitive and navigate the system as well as you can. just like in the states, do be gracious and rave over every good thing you eat. cooks enjoy the attention worldwide.chinese culture tab

25、oo #4: hug a member of the opposite sex as a greeting -问候时拥抱异性in the us, it is very common for guys to hug girls and vice-versa as a friendly greeting. during my church fellowship time back in the states i can see guys and girls hugging across the entire auditorium. in some areas of the south it fee

26、ls weird to offer your hand. believe it or not, social customs in china are not the same as americas south. if you are a guy and want to make a chinese girl feel extremely awkward and uncomfortable, offering a hug as a greeting is the way to go. she will likely offer a nervous laugh and attempt to e

27、scape as soon as possible. i have seen this happen several times with unsuspecting foreigners. meanwhile, they didnt have any idea how uncomfortable the girl felt. as weird as that is, it might be even more weird for a girl to initiate the hug. i have been in china for almost nine years and cant rec

28、all seeing that happen. so if it hasnt happened yet, dont be the first try. there doesnt always have to be a first for everything. so what is the appropriate way to act when meeting someone or introducing yourself? if you are a guy meeting a guy you can offer a warm handshake. it is not so common in

29、 china still, but it will probably be accepted. however, it is more normal when meeting someone to exchange verbal greetings, but not any physical contact. if you are unsure what to do, a good rule of thumb is always to wait and see how the other person responds. more than ninety percent of the time

30、 they wont offer their hand, so you dont need to either.chinese culture taboo #5: ask a member of the opposite sex his/her birth date -问异性的生日in the west, this is generally an innocent question. you could have a hundred reasons for asking such as planning a party or event, preparing a gift, or simple

31、 banter. in china, it could be much more than an innocent question and cause you a load of trouble. asking someone his birth date often signals a romantic interest. why? traditionally china has complex rules for making the perfect match of husband and wife. it is not necessarily based on interests,

32、hobbies, or even love. it is based on calculations by fortune tellers or feng shui specialists who have professional careers in matchmaking. parents will often submit the birth date (down to the minute and second) of their child and their childs significant other. these specialists are paid big buck

33、s to somehow determine if they match and if the marriage will be lucky or prosperous. so if a guy asks a girl for her birth date it could be interpreted as, i am interested in marrying you and want to see if we are a match. again, this is not as important to the younger generation as the elder gener

34、ation. many traditions like this are gradually waning in importance. but if you want to avoid any confusion it is better to stick to safer topics. and if someone asks you your birth date, watch out!western taboos:1social tabooin english speaking countries,you should make anappointment before paying

35、a visit to sb.sudden visit must be avoided, otherwise,the hostwill feel unhappy,because theunexpectedvisitwilldisrupt his original schedule and lead him togreat inconvenience. usuallyanappointment should beon time,but according tothe habit,americans are accustomed to belatefor 3 or5minutes,10 minute

36、s lateis alsook,especially for thedinner orparty,in ordertogivethe hostess moremakeuptime.of course,there is one of the biggesttaboosin english speaking countries,thatsindividual privacy. just as anenglishsaying goes:amanshomeishiscastle.that is to say:a mans homeis sacred and inviolable不可侵犯的,no one

37、 canenterwithout permission.personal thingisalso like this,theydo not have to let others know, let aloneto interfere.asking aboutthe age of the individual,property, income,marriage,love,religion,politics,businessis another way ofinvading someonescastle.therefore, questionslikehowoldareyou?,what syou

38、rincome?,howmuchdidthatdresscostyou?,areyoumarriedorsingle?,areyouarepublicanorademocrat?,areyoucatholic?must beavoided.if you really want toknowtheotherssituation of this respect, youcantalk about yourself,and thenleadthe other totalkabouthis condition.in addition, people inenglishcountriesare accu

39、stomed to send flowers asgifts, there aretaboos here.first of all,avoid sendingeven numbers offlowers, for they believe itbrings bad luck.also avoid sending whiteflowers,such asthe white lilies, foritis seen as aharbinger of doomor a symbol of death.in addition,avoid sendingwhiteorred and white flow

40、ers topatients.2holiday taboochristmas is agreat western festival,taboos inthis festival are mainly contacted to the christmas pudding.many westerners think that thestir of the puddingcan make oneselfgood luckin the coming year.therefore, when theyre makingchristmaspudding,each member of the familya

41、t least stir puddingandmake a wish, forthey believe thatwishis very likely to achieve.but be careful,the pudding canonly be stiredin a clockwise direction,notanti-clockwise; theycant tellthewishto anyone.in the westernchristian countries,most peoplebelieve thestorythatjesus was betrayed, andwas cruc

42、ified on the cross.to commemorate him, peopleset uppassion tide,which is the annualfridaybefore easter.westerners generallyregard this asunauspicious不吉利的.so on this day, onemust not be engaged inthingswith the symboliclink. suchas haircutting,shoeing修蹄 a horse,as well asnaillingnail.3superstitionand

43、 taboothereresome commonsuperstitionsand taboos inamerican society,such as follows: 1)get out of bed fromthe wrong direction,you will have a bad day.2)to have a black catcross the road in front of you isunlucky.3)inthe morning before the wedding,the brideshouldnt see the groom.4)cattle lying down in

44、dicate rain.5)a cricket in the house bringsgood luck.6)walk under a ladderwill bring bad luck.7)lighting three cigarettes from one matchbrings bad luck to the third person.8)to break a mirror brings7 years of bad luck.9)graba rabbits foot brings good luck.10)open an umbrella in the housebrings bad l

45、uck.some of thesesuperstitionshave theiraccounts, but many aregroundless.4racial slur种族歧视in english,the racial slurisan important part oflanguagetaboo.this phenomenonis particularly evident inthe united states.americanblacks werediscriminatedinhistory,wordsused tocurseblack racialbecome sensitive an

46、dtaboos.for example,niggeriscompletelybanned for it has theintense ofinsultingcolor. negro has themean ofcontempt, itsalso ataboo.nowamericanblacks are knownas blacks orafricanamerican.in english,somewordscontaining blackare also regarded astaboos.in english, whitemeans innocencepurecleancharity-of

47、which are thepositivemeaning of the commendatory 赞赏的term;however, blackis related toevilsin anddirty. such as:blackguard(villain坏人),blacklist(black list黑名单),blackmark(stain污点) and so on.the family call theshame of the familyblack sheep, notwhite sheep.while akindlieis called whitelie,notso bad asord

48、inarylie(generallylie)or blacklie(evillie).theexistence oftaboostendto promote the development oflanguage, toenrichthe vocabulary oflanguage. thatpeoplewant tosaysomeone,something withoutinvolving taboos, creates an objectiveand necessaryconditionfor theorigin of euphemism.5diet taboodiet taboosincl

49、ude dietaryrulesand dietary contents.as everyone knows, the westerners eatwiththeseparate dining system,looking forcannibalism食人. they take little or none of the dish thatthey disliketoavoidwasting,so they will be veryrepugnantaboutothers giving themfood.after supper,they put forkin the plateaccordi

50、ng to the rules;they will notbogeytoteeth;they alsoavoidspilledsalt,because peoplethink it would bring bad luck;if it is spilled, one mustpick upa handful of saltto the leftshoulderthrowthree times4.about thedietary contents,westernersavoidfat, boneand poultryskin(exceptduck,chickenskin);they avoidf

51、ood made ofabstain 自制fromvariousanimal heads,feet,visceral内脏的; they alsoavoid meat from their pets,such asdog andsnake; strongflavor ofcondiment佐料 is alsoabstained避免.6 time and number tabooin western culture, friday, number 3 and 13 are the taboos. in the eyes of westerners, friday is an unlucky day

52、, they often say black friday, for friday is good friday, moreover, adam and eve were driven out of the garden of eden伊甸园 on friday. so westerners believe it unlucky to hold a wedding ceremony, to travel,to voyage, to start a new job, to hold a conference or do any business on friday. number 13 is a

53、 troubling number, so in daily life, people avoid number 13.for example, they avoid eating with 13 people sitting together or serving 13 dishes. house, floor and various serial numbers also try to avoid 13. for when jesus and his disciples were having dinner, the thirteenth people was judah who betr

54、ayed jesus for 30 silver coins, then jesus was crucified in the 13th on friday.7 color taboodue to the differences between chinese and western culture, even the same color in western culture has been given different meanings, red, yellow and black are the representative. lets go in detail, red: in t

55、he west, red is often regarded as a derogatory term, it means anger, dangerous, bossy, arrogant, cruel, crazy, evil, even bloody. for example, red hands ( the bloody hand, killing hand); red - headed ( furious); be caught red - handed ( caught in the act ) etc. yellow: it stands for cowardice and tr

56、eason in the west, for in the bible its judah who put on the yellow dress betrayed jesus. in addition, yellow also has the meaning of miss, so in english, yellow pages is said to be telephone book. black: in the west, black is a symbol of the devil, evil, suffering and misfortune, therefore, its als

57、o called dead color black. in the modern age of european and american countries, black becomes specific to funeral, for westerners think black makes the person serious, so as to express mourning and respect to the dead. however, in the eyes of european and american, black is also a symbol of grave, majesty and noble. in solemn occasions, dignitaries, social celebrities like to dress in black clothes. symphony orchestra members are almost in black suit, in order to show solemn