Idiom is a crucial component of a language, which is the reflection and crystallization of culture (Liu 77)。 Therefore, the non-equivalence between the Chinese idioms and the English idioms is the indication of the cultural persity。 Because of its special and close relationship with culture, idiom is very difficult to learn for language learners。 The propagation of idiom is also the most difficult thing for English learners。 In light of the difficulties in idiom learning, enough attention and efforts should be given to the discrepancies in idiom resulting from cultural differences。 This paper attempts to analyze the non-equivalence reflected by the cultural contrast between English and Chinese idioms from four aspects: regional culture, customary culture, historical culture and religious culture。 By introducing the knowledge of cultural customs, cultural conflicts, cultural allusions and cultural stories, the paper analyzes idiom from a relatively new cultural aspect。

There are five parts in the paper。 It starts with a brief introduction to this paper, including the importance of the study and the organization of the whole paper。 The second part is a concise discussion about the definition of cross culture, idiom and non-equivalence。 Then it devotes to cultural reasons to explain the non-equivalence between Chinese and English idioms, that is, regional culture, customary culture, historical culture and religious culture。 Part four proposes some approaches and principles to bridge this non-equivalence between the two kinds of idioms, for example: translating literally, adopting similar expressions, free translating, translating literally with a note and so on。 The last part is a conclusion about this paper and the objectives expected to achieve from the study on this phenomenon from the intercultural aspect。

II。 Cross Culture, Idiom and Non-equivalence

There are close relations between cross culture and idiom: idiom reflects the cultural persity of a nation, while it is influenced greatly by the intercultural communication。 With the development of intercultural communication, the relationship between cross culture and non-equivalence has aroused much more attention than before。 Idiom is the most active factor to reflect the non-equivalence phenomenon between Chinese and English cultures。 Then a basic research has been made on the study of this topic。文献综述

2。1 Definition of Cross Culture

“Cross culture” is so complex that it is hard to give a very clear definition of the concept。 Different definitions are made from different views。 According to the baidu encyclopedia, from the psychological aspect, “cross culture” means that the participants do something not only depending on their own rules, practice, values, and behaviors, but also relying on the understanding of others’ rules, practice, values, and behaviors。 The so-called cross culture refers to the cross culture in different countries and different ethnic groups。 From the society, “cross culture” is a social phenomenon which is caused by the increase of social mobility and the racial mixing around the world。 The essence of this phenomenon is to change the traditions and existing cultures in order to create a new culture to promote the cultural exchanges among different cultural systems。

In short, “cross culture” refers to the cultural exchange between different groups with different cultural identity and backgrounds。 It is the exchange between persons who have very different cultural traditions and customs through the cultural system to experience the sense of cultural belonging。 One should actively accept and adapt to different cultures with a tolerant attitude on the basis of the correct cognition of cultural phenomena, cultural customs and cultural habits。

2。2 Definition of Idiom and Its Main Cultural Features