edit and cerrect

make this paper to perfect

On Differences of Table Culture between China and Western countries

By

Zhao Bing

Tutor: He Wei

Beijing Language University

March 20,2013

北京语言大学毕业论文

论文题目：中西方用餐文化差异

姓名：赵冰

年级：2011级

专业：商务英语

导师姓名：贺炜

完成日期：2013年3月20日

摘要

饮食是人类生活、生存与发展的必需，可是由于中西方文化传统的差异，导致了中西方饮食文化面的差异，为了中西方更好的交流，找到这些差异并尊重彼此的文化会让我们避免很多误会和错误。本文介绍了中西餐桌文化的不同之处，包括进餐的方式，座位的安排，上菜的顺序，进餐的礼仪，喝酒的礼仪以及餐具的不同。同时，本文还探究了差异产生的原因并就跨文化交流中应持的态度给出建议。通过本文的介绍使人们了解中西饮食文化的差异，促进中西跨文化交际活动的顺利进行。

关键词：餐桌文化 差异 跨文化交际

Abstract

Food is an indispensable part for the survival and development of human beings. Because of the differences between Chinese and Western cultural traditions, the Chinese and Western table cultures are different. In order to facilitate the culture communication between China and the West, we study these differences and then learn from each other. This thesis will explore into the differences of table manners between China and Western countries, including dietary patterns, seating arrangement, the order of serving dishes, the etiquette of having meals, drinking style and different tableware. Moreover, the thesis will analyze the reasons behind these differences and also give some suggestions on cross-culture communication. All in all, the thesis is intended to promote the cross-culture communication between China and Western countries.

Key words: table culture, difference, cross-culture communication

Content

Introduction

1. The major differences of table culture between China and Western countries

1.1 Dietary Patterns

1.2 Seating Arrangement

1.3 The Order of Serving Dishes

1.4 The Etiquette of Having Meals

1.5 Drinking style

2.. Different tableware

2.1 Chopsticks versus knife and fork

2.2 The ladle versus the spoon

3. Reasons of Different table culture

4. Suggestions on table manners in cross-culture communication

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Table manners as a cultural category play an important role in our daily life and also in our society. At the same time, eating etiquette could perform an important function in the communication between China and Western countries. China has a long history of table culture. According to the recorded document, China have formed its table culture in the Zhou Dynasty. These have rituals matured and developed, became the fundamental culture of personal relationships. In Western countries, they also have their refined and elegant table manners. Due to the differences of natural environment and life style in China and Western countries, people have different kinds of table culture, which somehow reflect the customs and habits between China and Western countries. Comparing the table culture between China and Western countries will help us learn more about culture in different countries and therefore, we’ll try to respect each country’s culture and custom. “Concerning foreign affairs, although eating a meal is very common, it is also very important.”(金正昆，2005:63) As one of significant diplomatic methods, dietary etiquette plays an important role in cross-cultural communication. The dining table is one of the most vital places where good cultures are displayed. Elegant manners at the table may bring friendship and even success. As the economy develops, more and more businesses are settled on the table. So it is quite important for us to get a good knowledge of the table cultures.

1. The major differences of table culture between China and Western countries

1.1 Dietary Patterns

In China, when we are eating, people always sit around a round table and share all the dishes on the table. If you are being treated to a formal dinner and particularly if the host thinks you’re in the country for the first time, he will do the best to give you a taste of many different types of dishes. People toast each other and share the vegetables, which reflect the mutual respect between people in the face of the good things, and also show the virtues of comity. Sitting around the table also makes it easy for people to communicate with each other. “Chinese consider that having meals is not only a target of tasting and enjoying but also an intermediary for people to convey the emotion.”(金正昆，2005:245) Perhaps one of the things that surprise a Western visitor most is that some of the Chinese hosts like to put food into the plates of their guests. In formal dinners, there are always “public” chopsticks and spoons for this purpose, but some hosts may use their own chopsticks. This is a sign of genuine friendship and politeness. It is always polite to eat the food. If you do not eat it, just leave the food in the plate.

However, in Western countries, even though they also sit around a table in dinner time, each of them has his or her own set of tableware, and his or her own share of dish. It seems somewhat cheerless and cold, but it is very healthy and clean. Also, they can decide what to eat and how to eat according to their own need and love. “The nucleus of England and USA banquet is associating with others through the talk with the neighbor guest to make friends with each other.”(李常磊，2004:63)Although all the banquet’s purpose is to communicate with others, in China, we always show this with all the people sitting around tables while Westerners often show this only by talking with the guest who is sitting next to them.

1.2 Seating Arrangement

There are also some differences in seating arrangement. In China, people regard seating arrangement as a very important thing. People’s dining position reflects the most obvious etiquette of Chinese table manners. In ancient society, men are supreme, and women are not allowed to sit with men on the same table. Even if they could sit at the table, the seat must be in an unimportant place. Women’s status in China is deeply affected by Confucian ethics, which conveys the belief that women are inferior to men in nature. Although now it is modern society, this kind of ancient etiquette still remains in some parts of China. Nevertheless, nowadays in China, because of the further communication between China and Western countries, more and more Chinese people are influenced by the Western ethics and begin to accept the “lady first” principle. They begin to show respect to women and the phenomenon of looking down upon women is becoming less and less.

The master of a family usually sits on the first-class seat. The first-class seat is usually near the interior of a room facing to the door. Once there is a guest, where the guest is seated depends on his age, social status and so on. “Taking the left for upper” is the traditional custom in China. It means that the left seats are higher than the right ones. The guest of honor should be arranged on the left of the host.

In the West, after the hostess announces that dinner is ready, the host should lead guests to sit in turn. The principle of general seating arrangement is to sit according to the segregation of the sexes. The main male guests sit down firstly at the right side of the hostess. However, the main female guests are seated on the right of the main male guests. People always sit or leave the table from the left side of their chairs. They also believe in the principle of lady-first. For example, if a woman and a man come to a restaurant, the man should invite the woman to sit on his right hand side to show his respect to the woman. They respect women because most of the Westerners are Christians, and in Christianity, “Mary, as the mother who gave birth to Jesus and brought him up, has a noble and modest character, so she is respected and called a virgin” (刘佩华，2005：178)

1. 3 The Order of Serving Dishes

In China, in a formal banquet, the meal usually begins with a set of at least four cold dishes, to be followed by the main courses of hot meat and vegetable dishes. Soup then will be served (unless in Guangdong style restaurants) to be followed by staple food ranging from rice, noodles to dumplings. If you wish to have your rice to go with other dishes, you should say so in good time, for most of the Chinese choose to have the staple food at last or have none of them at all. Nevertheless, in the west, the order will be: Appetizer, soup, meat or fish, vegetable salad or cheese, sweets or fruit, coffee or tea. When people are having coffee, the coffee spoon is not used to pound the sugar cube into pieces. The spoon is only used to stir the coffee. In addition, people do not add sugar to coffee for others. It is impolite to add sugar without knowing others’ taste.

1.4 The Etiquette of Having Meals

From earlier Qing dynasty, Chinese people have the rite of having meals, such as cleaning hands before eating, keeping quiet while eating and finishing all the food in one’s own bowl etc. Most of these rituals have been observed up to now. “In modern society in China the basics of the rite of having meals are written into books.”(刘佩华，2005:199)

Nowadays, when Chinese are eating, they should follow the rituals. Firstly, before eating, the host should propose a toast to the guests. If there are some elders, the younger generation shouldn’t eat until the elders take the first taste of dishes. When rice is put into bowls, it is best just to fill 80% content of the bowls. Generally, it is impolite for the guest to ask for another bowl of rice after finishing their first one. However, it’s the hostess’ duty to fill the guest’s bowl with more rice in time even before the guest’s bowl is really empty. We Chinese think it is disgraceful if we don’t have enough food for the guests, so we normally prepare more food than guests can eat. When eating, Chinese will keep saying “eat more” and even force the guests to have more and more to show their hospitality. Therefore, in order to avoid more food to be added, guests should leave some food in their bowls or plates to show that they are really full. In addition, when eating, people must pay attention to how to use the chopsticks properly.

In China, how a person behaves on the banquet will reflect the person’s home training and quality. If a person has good table manners, surely he will leave a good impression on others.

In Western countries, especially in England they like having soup. Therefore, they pay much attention to the etiquette of having soup. They are never allowed to make any sound when eating soup. When eating soup, they should sit straight and scoop the soup from inner side to the edge of the plate. Also, they use their right hands to hold the spoon, and use the left hands to hold the edge of the plates. Moreover, “do not fill the spoon too full, especially the fist spoon, because the first spoon is for you to taste how hot the soup is”(刘佩华，2005:184). Among all the actions of eating soup, the worst behavior is puffing the soup.

When eating Western food, the steak is indispensable. Therefore, the method of how to eat it is very important. The steak must be cut from the left side and it is not allowed to cut the steak into small pieces at a time, because if you do so the good gravy would drift. In addition, there is etiquette when eating. When they eat bread, for example, they should firstly rip the bread into pieces, and then use the left hand to eat.

From these aspects, we can reach a conclusion that many differences of the etiquette of having meals between China and Western arise from the different tableware. In addition, the biggest difference is that China’s rite of having meals pays much attention to showing respect to the guests, especially to the elders while the Western rite of having meals is focused on table manners.

1.5 Drinking style

Drinking as an important part in the banquet is very different in different countries. Alcohol drinking has a long history in China and has developed into a kind of sophisticated wine culture. We are not exaggerating when we boast that wine culture of China is of long standing and well established, gorgeous. When drinking, one should not drink from the bottle. It is considered impolite to pour a drink for yourself. When pouring a drink for an older person, please make sure to use two hands (a sign of respect). If you want a drink, the polite thing to do is fill someone else’s glass and they in turn will fill yours. In some situations, it is rude to turn down a drink that is being offered to you. The Chinese generally touch glasses with each other during a toast

When drinking, the Chinese people care much about the people we drink with, that is, Chinese drinking etiquette shows the respect of the drinkers. The host and guests have their own seat and order of toast. When toasting, the host comes first, and then he should toast the most honored guest and drink up the wine first to show his respect to the guest. Also, the host prefers to urge the guests to drink more to show his hospitality. “In China, when we are on a feast, we have a tradition to urge others to drink. The hospitality of Chinese is shown on the feast very well.”(刘佩华，2002:104) In Chinese wine culture, drinking is regarded as an important way to express people’s emotions to other people. The more you drink, the deeper your friendship is. Moreover, people even consider it a very important ability whether one can drink much or not. “the Chinese regard the capacity for liquor as an very important thing, and a drinker’s capacity for liquor even has much to do with his status and fame”(刘佩华，2005:186)

So in Chinese banquets, the more alcohol the guests drink, the happier the host will be. Consequently, it’s common to see many people get drunk. In a word, in China, the main purpose of drinking is to develop a good relationship with each other, to communicate well with each other and to express respect to each other.

To some extent, we Chinese people sometimes pay more attention to the atmosphere of the drinking than the drinking itself. That is to say, Chinese people are willing to create a good feeling with each other at the table and they would like to do some business while they are drinking. However, Westerners are in the opposite way. They value the drinking more than anything else. The drinking etiquette of west shows the respect to the wine. They hold the view that people who are not good at enjoying drinking surely don’t know how to live life to the fullest. If they say someone drinks like a fish, they do not only mean he drinks a lot but also agree he is good at drinking and he knows the art of drinking. What’s more, contrary to China, Americans do not force other people to drink too much. They hold different views from our Chinese people. They advocate freedom and liberation. They do not like to force other people to do things they don’t like.

The wine cultures as a traditional culture play an important role in dieting etiquette. In view of the differences between China and Western countries, when in international association, everyone should respect other country’s custom and culture.

II. Different tableware

2.1 Chopsticks versus knife and fork

In China, the tableware is comparatively simple, always bowls, plates, spoons and chopsticks. There is no rule for how to put the tableware. What people care more about is not the gorgeous tableware but the delicious food. Chopsticks are indispensable part of Chinese tableware. Chopsticks have a long history in China. From Shang dynasty, Chinese began to use ivory to make chopsticks. Now the chopsticks are usually made of bamboo or wood. Recently, because of the influence of the South Korea, chopsticks made of steel also appear in China. Chopsticks are considered as an extension of one’s fingers. They are traditionally held in the right hand, even by left-handed people. Although chopsticks may now be deployed by either hand, left-handed chopstick use is considered improper. This practice prevents a left-handed chopstick user from accidentally elbowing a right-handed user seated nearby. In the long history of using chopsticks, Chinese also have some rules. Firstly, if there are remnants on the chopsticks, don’t lick. Secondly, we should put aside the chopsticks while talking to others. Thirdly, do not insert chopsticks vertically on the food, because it is only used when we are in memory of someone dead. At last, chopsticks are only used for picking up food. It is rude to use chopsticks to pick your teeth. Apart from these rules, if someone put the chopsticks on the dishes, it would show the person is full and do not want to eat or drink anything.

In Western countries, people use much tableware with different kinds and sizes. The knife and fork are their main tools to have meals. “Eating using forks firstly appeared in Italy in 11th century.”(刘佩华，2005:82) The Western people always like to eat different dishes with different pairs of knife and fork with different sizes. They usually start eating from the edge of the dish. Usually, knife is used to cut food and fork is used to carry food into mouth. The Englishmen always lay the fork on the left side of the plate and lay the knife on the right and accordingly, they would use the fork with their left hands and use the knife with their right hands. However, the American has something different. They take fork in their left hands, and cut off a piece of meat or whatever it is in the normal way. Then they put the knife down, transfer the fork to their right hand, and only then do they transport the food to their mouth. If you need to put down the knife and fork during the dinner, you should put them on both sides of the plate, and knife and fork should be put in the way that looks like the Chinese word “八”. After dinner (or you do not want to eat any more), you should put the fork and knife parallel on the plate with the fork’s reverse side up. That means you have finished the dinner.

2.2 The Ladle versus the spoon

In Western countries, they always use the ladle. There are two ladles on the table, the big one being soup ladle, and the small one being the dessert ladle. These two kind ladles cannot be used confusingly. In England, people like soup so much that they never say drinking soup but eating soup. Therefore, the soup plays a very important role on their dining table, and using ladle is also very important. In addition, in Western countries, they use the ladles made of the steel, and the handle is long. In China, ladles are not regarded as important as they are in Western countries. Chinese usually use the spoon made of China and the handle is short.

3. The Reasons of Different table culture

The main ideology in Chinese culture is group consciousness, and Chinese people believe that individual consciousness should obey group consciousness. Wang Li (1900-1986), a respected Chinese linguistic and social observer, wrote in 1943, “Mealtime in China is the best demonstration of our cooperative spirit. Ten or twelve people can share a dish and a soup. At banquets, we emphasize a synchronous use of chopsticks.” (1996:21) So Chinese people choose round tables for banquets. When sitting around round tables, people can talk to each other freely and the atmosphere can be very warm. As the nation of etiquette, Chinese people lay emphasis on piety and honesty, and revering elders while caring the young is one of the traditional virtues. So we have the rules for seat arrangement. However, in Western culture, the main ideology is individual consciousness. They believe that everybody’s behavior has their own meaning and value, and personal abilities are reflected by those behaviors. Western philosophy places extra emphasis on individual consciousness, development and self expression. “But in the West, it emphasizes individual rights and privacy. They will prepare course according to the number of guests, and they will not do more than necessary, in order to avoid wasting a lot of food. They also do not urge others to drink or pick up food for others. Western meal is dull but pays more attention to the nutrition and balanced diet.” (Luo, 2007) They believe that everybody is equal, so they like to use long tables and do not have so many complicated rules for seat arrangement as Chinese people do.

The difference between chopsticks and knife and fork is one of the main differences of table culture between Chinese and Western culture. The reasons that cause the differences involve natural environment and social environment. Chopsticks were invented thousands years ago at the place where bamboo grew luxuriantly. The Chinese ancestors used local materials to produce chopsticks and bamboo became the original material of chopsticks. Knives and forks are invented much later than chopsticks. Knives and forks can relate to ancient European nomads’ habits and customs. As the nation of equestrian, the nomads carried knives wherever they went. They always use knives to cut the cooked meat off, and then use the knives to send the meat into mouth. In order to improve eating gesture, Europeans began to use forks after about the 15th century. At that time, the forks had only two tips. Forks used today in modern style have four tips were invented in the 18th century. Chopsticks and forks not only cause the differences of food culture, but also cause the differences of life perceptions between Chinese and Western cultures.

4. Suggestions on table manners in cross-culture communication

In cross-culture communication, the parties involved should respect the culture and traditions of other parties. On table manners, the main party should give full play to their own cultural expertise on the basis of respect for the guests and their cultural traditions. With the development of Sino-US relations and frequent exchanges between the two countries, they begin to have some common characteristics. It is important for us to keep a rational attitude to this trend. On one hand, we should put our own culture in the first place. On the other hand, we should pay attention to the integration of the different culture and take active part in absorbing the fine cultures of other countries. When it comes to the table culture, we should hold a similar attitude. Table culture, as a significant branch of all cultures, plays an important role in our daily life. We need to pay attention to the differences of table cultures and be tolerant of the differences. Every culture in the world is equal, with no one being dominant or recessive to another. We should avoid using our own culture, morality and value to judge foreign culture. We should treat foreign culture objectively and comprehensively. At the same time, we should insist on our own culture and avoid following foreign culture blindly.

Conclusion

In summary, through the analysis of the differences of Sino-Western table culture, we can have a good understanding of the respective cultures, which is also very helpful to improve our own cultural identity. Meanwhile, it also promotes Chinese civilization and put Chinese people at ease in the process of exchanging with other people. Besides, it can help us to enhance the awareness of cross-cultural communication and make us realize that respect for cultural differences is essential on improving cross-cultural communicative competence. With the increasing integration between all the countries, contacts between people become closer. The etiquette is also attached to more and more importance, especially the importance of table cultures. Whether it is oriental diet or Western diet, each has a profound cultural and social foundation. The differences of eating habits between China and Western countries are caused by different factors, such as cultures, custom, atmosphere, historical connotations, nutritional values and economic conditions. Therefore, in the process of cross-cultural communication, we should establish a value of unity to try to understand each other and to achieve mutual adaptation. It must be noted that we should never completely abandon our own table cultures and values. Under the circumstance of globalization, table cultures of China and Western countries are bound to take on new changes in the collision. The purpose of knowing the differences and similarities of table manners is to understand the present cross-cultural situation and to have a better idea of people’s relationships by avoiding unnecessary misunderstanding and mistakes.

Bibliography

Kagitcibasi, C.(Eds.), Handbook of Cross-culture Psychology (2nd). Boston: Allyn& Bacon, 1997.

Pamela, M.S., &Kathryn, R.D., Food and Culture in America [M], USA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1998.

金正昆《涉外礼仪教程》，北京：中国人民大学出版社，2005

李常磊《英美文化博览》，上海：上海世界图书出版社，2004

刘承华《文化与人格：对中西方文化差异的一次比较》，北京：中国科学技术出版社，2002

刘佩华《中外礼仪文化比较》，中山：中山大学出版社，2005

赵荣光《古代传统饮酒观的演变及中国人的时代特征》，《饮食文化研究》，北京：2006

罗露莎，浅析中西饮食文化差异《双语学习（学术版）》2007年第5期.

钱清，《礼仪与风俗》Etiquette and Custom, 外文出版社,2006.

杨洁.跨文化交际中的餐桌礼仪差异[J]文教资料，2011，（4）.

张文娟.浅析中西方餐桌礼仪存在差异的原因[J]现代商业。2009，（4）