Abstract Marriage is one of the progressing symbols of human civilization. With the development of society, people's demands on civilization have been higher and higher, and they pay more and more attention to details of marriage, thus gradually becoming a ritual. Due to various factors such as economy, politics, history, religion, geographic features and so on, people in different districts of the East and West have shaped their own characteristic marriage customs，which reflect effectively the discrepancies between China and the West. 57726

This thesis attempts to explore the discrepancies in marriage customs between Chinese and Western cultures in terms of food, clothing, etiquettes and wedding shower. Based on comparing different cultures, we will better understand differences of historical development and cultural background between China and the West to boost the efficiency of learning the Eastern and Western cultures so as to improve English abilities as well as broaden horizons. What's more, grasping cultural differences could make further efforts to advance cultural exchange, which has a positive impact on the effective development of international communication and cooperation. Therefore, it is urgent to adopt measures to reduce disparities, such as improving teaching methods, emphasizing on students' non-verbal communication abilities, changing teachers' way of thinking, blending Chinese and Western Cultures and so on.

Key words: marriage customs; cultural difference; main reasons; measures

摘要婚姻是人类文明进步的标志之一。随着社会的发展，人类对于文明的要求越来越高，自然对于婚嫁中的各项细节也越来越重视，并逐渐发展成为一种礼仪。由于经济、政治、历史、宗教、地理特征等诸多因素的影响，中西方不同地区形成了具有各自地方特色的婚礼习俗,充分反映了中西方文化间的差异。

本文将从衣、食、行、礼仪这四个方面来探讨中西方婚礼习俗的差异。通过研究婚俗，可以使人们对中西方的历史发展和文化背景的差异有全面地了解，从而提高中西方文化的学习效率，达到提升英语水平和开阔视野的目的。再者，把握好文化差异，还能更进一步的推动文化交流，对有效地开展国际交流和合作产生的积极影响。因此，我们亟需采取措施减少文化差异给文化交流带来的负面影响，如改进教学方法、重点发展学生的非语言交流能力、加大中国和西方文化融合等等。

毕业论文关键词：婚礼习俗；文化差异；主要原因；措施

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Differences in Chinese and Western Marriage Customs 2

3.1 Chinese Marriage Customs 2

3.2 Western Marriage Customs 5

4. Reasons for Differences between Western and Eastern Cultures 8

4.1 Western Theories 8

4.2 Chinese Theories 9

5. Cultural Integration 10

5.1 Tendency of the Cultural Integration 10

5.2 Importance of Understanding Cultural Differences 11

5.3 Measures of Promoting Cultural Integration 11

6. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 15

1. Introduction

Marriage culture is an important part of the national culture. Western way of daily life has changed dramatically in the exchange inherent in traditional culture because of accelerating globalization process and deepening the degree of a blend of western culture. However, there is still a marriage performance and in-depth study on the subject which has a strong ethnic characteristic. Different cultures can shape different wedding customs. On one hand, western wedding ceremony is terrific and romantic while Chinese is traditional and special. On the other hand, western wedding is simple while Chinese is complex. At the same time, wedding customs can also reflect the culture itself. Through the discrepancy of wedding customs, we can know more about the characteristics of the traditional western weddings. Meanwhile, they are shaped and polished by their own culture.