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摘 要节日是人类生活的精华和浓缩，是核心的文化。节日反映了国家文化中最精致、最有代表性的方面。春节和圣诞节分别是中国和西方最重要的节日，代表了中国和西方的风俗文化。本文将运用对比的方法，从其起源，装饰，庆祝方式，食物，礼物等方面对这两个节日进行比较，探讨两者之间的差异和共同之处，进而揭示中西文化之间的异同，以更好地促进两国之间的跨文化交流。29572
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毕业论文关键词：春节；圣诞节；文化差异
Abstract The festival is the concentration and essence of human life and bears the culture, and the festival reflects the most exquisite and the most representative respect of the national culture. Spring Festival and Christmas are two most important festivals in China and western countries, which are the representatives of Chinese and western culture and customs. This paper aims at making a detailed comparison of the festival customs from the perspectives of origin, decoration, celebration, food, gifts and so on by using the comparison-and-contrast method and also discusses the differences and resemblances between Spring Festival and Christmas. It further reveals the differences and similarities in Chinese and western cultures so as to promote the cross-cultural communication between China and western countries.
Key words: Spring Festival; Christmas; cultural differences
An Analysis of the Cultural Differences Between Spring Festival and Christmas
Contents
摘 要...i
Abstract...ii
I. Introduction..1
II. The Origin of Spring Festival and Christmas...........2
2.1 The Origin of Spring Festival............3
2.2 The Origin of Christmas.....4
III. Differences in Traditional Customs...5
3.1 Traditional Customs of Spring Festival...............6
3.2 Traditional Customs of Christmas....................9
IV. Similarities Between Spring Festival and Christmas........11
4.1 Family Reunion......11
4.2 Reviewing the Past and Envisioning the Future..12
4.3 Ways of Celebration..12
4.4 Social Functions.................13
V. Conclusion14
Bibliography15
Acknowledgements.16
I. Introduction
The different customs between China and the West are considered to be one of the elementary reasons for errors or mistakes made by English learners. Custom has a close relationship with culture, which inherently gives expression to its corresponding culture. That is to say, custom is an intrinsic part of culture. Therefore a comparison is studied between China and the West in the aspects of social values, religion, and ways of thinking to distinguish the differences between Chinese and Western customs.
Festival is considered as a special occasion on which people may express thanks for a harvest and memorize an honored person or event, as a way of paying respect to the dead or celebrating a ceremony. As is known, a large number of festivals are celebrated across the whole world. Although the perse believes, regions, religions and cultures result in various festivals and the ways of celebration differ from one field to another, most people have common feelings for the festivals, which are praying for wealth, health, happiness and reunion, achieving the good wishes and embodying the love of life. Festival which can be viewed as a cultural phenomenon comes from the process of human evolution and historical development. This kind of unique cultural phenomenon shows the human consciousness and attention to the natural circumstances and external surroundings. The festival celebration also shows people’s nostalgic feelings for traditions and conveys their expectations to pursue the dreams and plans.
The festival is the epitome and essence of human life and traditional culture. The festival reflects the national culture in the most exquisite and the most representative respect. Festival is considered to be a carrier of culture or a reflection of the means of behavior and thought that people learn, create and share. Through this unique and special cultural phenomenon, it is more convenient and straight for the researchers to explore into the deeper layer of human culture (Zhang 82). What’s more, the festival provides a crosscut for us to explore the differences and similarities of two cultures. As we know, it is difficult for us to make researches on all aspects of festival customs since culture itself is a very complex phenomenon. Thus, two festivals are contrasted which are typical and representative --- the Spring Festival & Christmas to make a brief comparison.