Abstract  Diet culture evolved as an important part of culture in the history of human development. Different diet cultures reflect different values. With the development of cross-culture communication, more and more foreign people come to know Chinese diet culture, which serves as a way for them to know Chinese culture better. This article compares the diet culture of China with that of America to help people learn about different core values in these two countries, namely Inpidualism in America and Collectivism in China. It further analyzes the historical factors of the formation of different values in America and China, and portrays the integration of Chinese and American cultures. This article aims to help people understand western culture and respect their own national culture so as to avoid making mistakes in cross-culture communication.62037

Keywords: values；diet culture；inpidualism and collectivism；China and  America

摘要饮食文化作为文化的一个重要组成部分，在人类发展史上不断演变。不同的饮食文化体现不同的价值观。随着跨文化交流的发展，更多的外国人开始了解中国饮食文化，他们对中国饮食文化的了解可以看作是他们更好地了解中国文化的一种方式。本文通过研究饮食文化的差异使人们更好地了解它们所反映的不同核心价值观，也就是美国的个人主义与中国的集体主义。再在分析中美不同饮食文化的基础上进一步分析中美不同价值观产生的历史原因及其融合趋势。本文旨在使人们明白既要理解西方文化又要尊重本国文化。只有这样，人们才能避免犯下跨文化交际错误。

毕业论文关键词：价值观；饮食文化；个人主义与集体主义；中国和美国

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. The Comparisons of Different Diet Cultures between China and America 3

3.1 Differences in Diet Idea 3

3.2 Differences in Diet Patterns 4

3.3 Differences in Table Manners 5

4. The Historical Factors of the Formation of Different Values in China and America 6

4.1 Political Factors 6

4.2 Economic Factors 7

4.3 Cultural Factors 8

5. The Integration of Chinese Culture and American Culture 9

5.1 The Integration of Diet Cultures 9

5.2 The Integration of Different Values 9

6. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 11

1. Introduction 

     The definition of culture is an important and complex problem because of the wide coverage of culture itself and the scholars with different academic background. Tylor said culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.’’(qtd. in Chang Junyue, Lv Chunmei and Zhao Yongqing, 2011：92) Culture can be seen the core and a powerful tool in cross-culture communication. People should learn about each country from the surface culture (i.e clothing, shelter, food, transports, etc.) to the deep culture (i.e world outlooks, values, etc.) in the cross-cultural communication. Surface culture is usually influenced by deep culture and is a reflection of deep culture. And different surface diet cultures are influenced by different values in a country. As far as China and America are concerned, the different diet cultures are deeply influenced by the core values in these two countries, which are Collectivism in China and Inpidualism in America. “We may gain a deep awareness of the role that cultural values play in the inter-cultural communication, even though here only Chinese and American cultural values are selected as examples, Chinese and American values, as the typical sample of Asian and Western culture, may more or less represent the keys in Asian and Western cultures” (Li Yu-ting, 2011: 365).Inpidualism is a social and political philosophy, which pays high attention to the freedom of inpidual people and widely emphasizes that inpiduals have right to make their own decisions, etc., rather than controlled by government (Hornby, and Wang Yvzhang, 2009: 1040). “In inpidualist countries, the autonomy of the inpiduals is paramount. Key words used to invoke this cultural pattern include independence, privacy, self, and the all important ‘I’.” (Xv Lisheng, 2013: 100) People can easily see that inpidualism emphasizes equality, freedom and personality. Inpidualism is often associated with western cultures like American culture while Collectivism is often associated with eastern cultures like Chinese culture. “Collectivist cultures believe in obligations to the group, dependence of the inpidual on organizations and institutions, a ‘we’ consciousness, and an emphasis on belonging.” (Xv Lisheng, 2013: 100) Collectivism requires an absolute loyalty to the group and advocates inpidual people belonging to a society and personal interests should be subjected to the interests of a group.