- 上一篇：中西方饮食文化差异对民族性格的影响
- 下一篇：论景点介绍翻译中跨文化意识的重要性
Wu (2009) firstly introduces the regional differences and contrasts about food culture in China, then tells respectively about the food’s doctrine of Confucius and Mencius, Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, which offer a general idea about their thoughts of food to foreshadow the comparison between Chinese tea culture and western coffee culture.
The third chapter of the whole book mainly studies on the Chinese tea culture, including the combination of tea and scholars, such as Bai Juyi who planted trees, picked tea-leaves and wrote poems everyday during his stay in the cottage of Mount Lu for a decade. He wrote about more than 300 tea poems. The poet of Qing dynasty, Cao Xueqin and Sun Zhongshan in modern times showed their high praises on Chinese tea in their works. There are also numerous poets, scholars and calligraphers in various dynasties writing about tea who will not be listed here. They made an acquaintance with friends through drinking tea when they got together, which had become a custom known to all. Tea, in Tang dynasty, has turned into the most popular and elegant object to receive and detain guests. Apart from it, the tea banquet is an activity of scholars’ social gatherings after middle Tang dynasty.
Also, the author tells the relationship between tea and Buddhist. When the tea drinking and planting are pursued in temples, regulations and the philosophy, life idea are then mixed together. This point provides material to analyze the comparison between the Zen in Chinese culture and the Christ Spirit in western coffee culture.
Lu (2007) particularly collected the historical data of tea leaves from the past dynasties and recorded the personal investigation and practical experience to state the history, producing area, effect, plant, collect and process, decoction and drink of tea leaves in the Tang Dynasty and before Tang Dynasty. As an authoritative script describing tea, it maintains great influence on Chinese tea culture.
Though these scholars have already studied the Chinese tea culture and western coffee culture in the round, there are still some shortcomings about the analysis of differences. This paper mainly explore the comparison from the perspective of the golden mean of the Confucian school and the reason; the unity of heaven, earth and man and the distinction between heaven and man; the Zen and the Christ spirit. However, some scholars have already analyzed the Zen and the philosophy of Confucianism, Taoists and Buddhist about Chinese tea culture, but they haven’t done the work of summary and conclusion, neither does the western coffee culture. This paper is to look through interior differences between Chinese tea culture and western coffee culture and make a comparative study.
Since this is a paper about the comparative study of Chinese tea culture and western coffee culture, comparison and contrast is the most important method to analyze it. Through the comparison and contrast between Chinese tea culture and western coffee culture, we can find that there exist similarities and differences between them, but on the basis of their similarities, this paper looks through the interior of the different cultures reflected in China and western countries under some backgrounds of historical knowledge.
After the respective study of Chinese tea culture and western coffee culture, the paper tries to fuse them by analyzing their expansions in globalization with the help of reference books and internet. Thus it will promote people’s awareness and make them better understand the cultural differences between China and western countries so as to eliminate and avoid the misunderstandings in the cross-cultural communication.
2 History of Chinese Tea Culture and Western Coffee Culture
Chinese tea culture has a history of five thousand years. Whatever in tea producing or non-producing areas, the creation and heritage of tea culture are enduring. It is a peculiar cultural landscape in life and also a precious heritage of Chinese tea culture. Like China's tea culture, coffee culture also has rich history and connotation. In the encyclopedia, the interpretation of the "coffee culture" is that coffee culture comes from Greek "Kaweh", which means "strength and passion".