LUOYANG NORMAL UNIVERSITY
2014届本科毕业论文
中西方饮食文化差异
院（系）名称 专 业 名 称 学学指完
外国语学院 英语（双学位）
张杨子
120722066 生姓名 号
导成
教时
师 间
莫艳艳讲师 2014年5月
Luoyang Normal University
Different Food Cultures Between China and the West
A Thesis Submitted to Foreign Languages College of
Luoyang Normal University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
By Zhang Yangzi Supervisor：Mo Yanyan
May 10, 2014 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
中文摘要
饮食文化在世界文化中起着十分重要的作用，不同的国家有自己不同的饮食文化特点。 中国是一种农耕文化的陆地文化，而传统的西方文化是一种畜牧文化的海洋文化，两种不同的文化反映出人们生活方式的差异，其中饮食文化更是具有代表性的一个方面。在此基础上，本文研究分析了中西饮食文化在各个方面的不同之处。分析表明，在不同的文化背景下，中西方在饮食观念、饮食内容、饮食方式还是餐桌礼仪等各个方面的差异都是显而易见的。正是这种不同饮食文化的沟通与交流，推动了全世界范围内文化的融合。
关键词: 差异；文化；饮食文化
I A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
Abstract In the complex world culture, the dietary culture plays an extremely important role.The differences between Chinese and Western culture created the differences between Chinese and Western food culture.Different countries have their own dietary cultures.Traditional Chinese culture is agricultural culture and land culture, while traditional western culture is animal husbandry culture and ocean culture.These two kinds of cultures reflect diverse life styles in which food is the most representative aspect.In variously cultural contexts, differences in food lie in concept, object, kitchen ware, table ware, or table manners.And understanding these differences could promote the communication of cultures in the world.
Key words: difference; culture; food culture
II A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
Table of Contents 中文摘要..........................................................................................................................................Ⅰ Abstract............................................................................................................................................Ⅱ Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................Ⅲ 1.Introduction.......….……………………………………………………………............................1 2.Dietary Concept…………………....……………………………….............................................
2 2.1.Chinese Dietary Concept………......……………………………………….........................2
2.2.Western Dietary Concept….………………….…………………..…….….........................3 3.Food …………….…………………………………………………….........................................
4 3.1.Condiment……...……………....…………………………………………….......................5 3.2.Side Dish……......………………………………………………………..............................5 4.Table Manners……………………………………………………...............................................7
4.1.Differences Between Chinese and Western Table Manners…......……....................…….....7
4.2.Characteristics of Table Manners…………...……………………………....................… ...7
4.2.1.Characteristics of Table Manners in China ………………….......................................8
4.2.2.Characteristics of Table Manners in the West................................................................8 5.Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................9 Bibliography....................................................................................................................................10
III A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts 1.Introduction Diet is not only the premise of social development, but also the paramount material base for human to survive with good health condition.In the early stage of barbarism, like other animals, looking for food to survive is just the instinct for human beings.But when man began to use fire to cook food and they entered the age of civilization, especially the time of cooking with the pottery, the food became the creation made by the human own wisdom and their technology.Then there is the eential difference in diet between human beings and animals that the diet has its cultural nature.Thus the history of human diet is to be this kind of history that human adapt to nature, conquer and reform nature to survive and develop in the nature, and the human dietary culture gradually comes into being in the course of this progre.As an important part of human culture, the dietary culture has a generalized meaning and a narrowed meaning.This thesis discu the dietary culture in this narrow sense which is the total of material wealth and spirit wealth created and accumulated in the long-term progre of food consumption, and it is the knowledge about what to eat, how to eat and why to eat, including dietary object, dietary tableware and so on.China has profound cultural heritage of dietary culture and diet play a foremost role in people’s daily life so that dietary culture take a huge proportion in Chinese culture.Facing the dietary culture from other countries, we should accept or reject them based on ourselves condition.We can’t only chase for enjoyment in taste, because it is harmful to our physical health if we eat too much foreign food which is belong to the high calories food.However, it is obvious that we shouldn’t aimlely reject all the new objects.Under the influence of entering the WTO and globalization, the international connection has become closer and closer so that the collision and fusion in the dietary culture always happen between Chinese and westerners.Granted, it takes a long time for two different cultures to merge and coexist and there must be an aspect that both sides can’t adapt to each other.If this phenomenon occurs, we should try our best to understand, respect and tolerate another culture in right manner.
The difference of dietary culture between Chinese and westerners will arouse culture misunderstanding in certain extent.For example, many Chinese think that Hamburger, KFC and McDonald’s are the typical food in American.But it is not the fact.The fact is American food is very complex.
1 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts Therefore, in this thesis, we discu the difference of dietary culture between Chinese and westerners from dietary concept, dietary object, cooking utensil, dietary tableware and table manners.Through the study, it is beneficial for both sides to strengthen the communication in culture, and more able to eliminate the obstacles and misunderstanding when two nations are communicating, so that people can have in-depth understanding about the dietary culture from China and western countries.To study both parties’ dietary culture difference from various aspects, it can not only help us to strengthen the awarene and adaption in the culture communication, but also can enhance our understanding, tolerate and accept the foreign culture.Then this makes Chinese and western dietary culture can mutually develop and fuse in communication, which it plays a remarkable role in boosting the development of culture in the whole world .2.Dietary Concept
Diet is absolutely neceary in mankind’s life, and even in the existence or development.Because of the differences between Chinese and English cultural traditions, the Chinese and English dietary cultures are different in concept.2.1.Chinese Dietary Concept In Chinese dietary culture, people play more attention to pursuing the taste than to emphasizing the nutrition.They consider that the nutrition is le important if the food is delicious and good-looking enough.The reason why there is a unique dietary culture that eating is on top of the list in Chinese nation is that productivity has been always under the average level for thousands of years and people have not enough food to eat.People often say the taste is the most important in the whole of color, aroma and taste.In addition, the key of special charm in Chinese diet is nothing but its taste.Chinese think a lot of art and sensibility, so the pursuit of delicious taste is always the highest meaning in dietary.However, a part of the nutrition may lack in pursuing the deliciousne in Chinese diet.The shape of the food is the external thing while the taste is the internal thing.Emphasizing the inner and not decorating painstakingly the external, or emphasizing the taste rather than showing off the form of the dishes, is the paramount expreion in Chinese dietary concept.But it does not take any count of the collocation of nutrition.The medicated food appeared in the Tang dynasty and now there is a formulation that “diet therapy is better than medical treatments”, which all reflect that Chinese pay attention to the collocation in
2 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts dietary nutrition since ancient times.However, the traditional nutrition theory only has a vague concept without specific data analysis as westerners to figure out what kind of food is good for health with nutrition.Chinese people are thinking highly of eat.Bread is the staff of life, this old adage explained that we see eating as important as days.Because our national for thousands of years are in the low level of productivity, people always do not have enough to eat, so they would have a unique food culture that eating is very important.I think this is probably from a survival to needs.Li Xiaohong pointed out: If a culture put ate as primary, so it will appear two phenomena: on one hand will put the food function to acme, not only survive, but also use it to maintain healthy, this is also the culture basis that ―diet cures more than the doctors.On the other hand, the exceive attention to eat, it can make the person praise highly of delicious pursuit.
2.2.Western Dietary Concept In western dietary culture, eating like a biological machine add fuel, especially about the food\'s nutrition composition, protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and all kinds of inorganic element content , people play more attention to pursuing the nutrition than to emphasizing the color, aroma and taste.The western diet is a kind of rational diet so that they devote particular care to the nutrition and collocation.They treat dietary as a science with a realistic attitude to lay stre on dietary nutrition and as a result, the pursuit of nutrition becomes the highest meaning in diet.The core standard in evaluating food in westerners is whether it is reasonable in dietary nutrition and whether it accord with the scientific demand.Westerners often think that food is just a means of survival so that they pay more attention to dietary nutrition and supply condition of energy and they seldom connect dietary with spiritual enjoyment, which reflects a strong practicability and utilitarian.For westerners, the only thing they care is not what the food color, aroma, taste and shape is, is the nutrition must be guaranteed.Then they spend time on paying attention to how many calorie, vitamin, protein, etc.should be absorbed a day with neglect of color, aroma and taste.Even if the taste may be the same, even compared with Chinese food, or as dull as cardboard, but the sense push them to eat because it is nutritive.For another word, it just like refuels the machine.As to westerners, the taste is the secondary.If heating up the food will cause the lo of nutrition, they prefer to eat the half-baked, even raw food.Therefore, the western dietary can be summarized with convenience and practicability.There is a case in point that a nutritive breakfast can be simply made of a combination of some bread, jam, cheese, butter and fresh vegetables.
3 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts 3.Food
China is known for vast fields and various geographical environments with a long history and an abundant production as well as species of plants and animals, which offer the sufficient resources of products to the formation of Chinese dietary culture.Chinese staple food is based on rice and wheat.On the side, millet, corn, buckwheat, potato and sweet potato are also the main food people usual eat so they take a tiny place in the dietary culture.Except for the rice noodles, there are still kinds of food can be supplied for people to make their life more colorful, including the other kinds of pasta, steamed bun, deep-fired dough sticks, various porridge, cookie and ever-changing snacks.In the Chinese long history, the distribution of “south rice and north wheat” has formed this situation that the main raw materials are rice and wheat in Chinese staple food.Most Chinese people prefer to take vegetarian diet as the principle thing.According to a study of western botanist, there are more than 600 species of vegetables in China.It is six times more than the west.In fact, in the Chinese dishes, vegetarian dishes are considered as the common food, and only in holidays or at the higher living standards, the meat can be a part of the usual diet.The western dietary culture mainly originates from rear livestock culture, which decides the western dietary structure that takes meat and dairy products as the principal things and vegetarian dishes as the auxiliary thing.According to the weather, it is not suitable for western countries to plant the crop so that they give priority to animal husbandry and give second place to agriculture.In addition, another factor to give first place to animal is that the technology is quite high in the animal cultivation.As a result, there are a lot of kinds of animals and a huge production of meat in western countries.The main agriculture products are wheat, corn, and grape and so on.In the western dietary structure, the meat also takes up the exceive place in the dishes.They are mainly beef, chicken, pork, mutton as well as fish.It is obvious that what they usually eat is provided with a “three-high” characteristic that is high protein, high fat and high calorie.Therefore, meat has occupied and will always occupy the remarkable high proportion in western dietary.Although the proportion of planting has increased in recent years, the proportion of meat in dietary structure is always higher in the western than in Chinese.Therefore, when westerners prepare the diet, you can see most dishes are meat and a few are vegetables.What’s more, bread and meat are the principle food; coffee, wine and milk are the main drinking in their life.
4 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts 3.1.Condiment The condiment is also different between the Chinese and westerners in cooking dishes.In China, the taste plays a part as the soul in the dish so that there are seven main kinds of taste in the Chinese diet, including sour, sweet, bitter, salt, peppery, fresh and obscure.The purpose of condiment is to exert a positive effect on reaching the excellent fusion from some seasoning, which has the ability to add aroma without weird smell as well as the smell from fresh meat or fish.What’s more, it can ameliorate the color of the dishes which can draw their attention to have a try.They usually choose the ginger, scallion, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and monosodium glutamate to be their condiments in common use.But sometimes, they will use grain wine to season.The western-style food is almost the meat, which is always proceed into a piece of maive one.Thus there is a big problem in the condiment that it is difficult to saturate the maive piece with condiment used in China.In order to solve this problem, they make up with two methods that they adopt to cook sauce without anything and they have the entree with sauce.Since then, they have formed a special way in condiment in western-style dish.Based on the five used foundation of sweet, sour, bitter, salt and peppery in the west, they prefer to such effect that can make them feel a deep delicious with appetite.They usually choose the cream, butter, sauce, lemon, onion, celery and bay leaves to be their condiments in common use.In addition, spice and wine are the two important factors in cooking.Because both vanilla and spice have the special smell, they exert an indispensable effect on the aroma of their dishes.For instance, when they cook the vegetable soup、spaghetti and sauce、stuffed、salad, they always used a kind of mixed spice, which are used to mix together with the marjoram and oregano.In addition, thyme is also the main spice for them to add into the soup, venison and barbecue while sage is mainly used in the dishes made with pork in their daily life.3.2.Side Dish The side dish also plays a significant part in the Chinese dietary structure.The side dish indicates that they are the combination for raw material in one dish, including cold dish and hot dish, or the combination for all the dishes showed up on the table.The latter one develops based on the former one and there is no denying that the highest form is belonging to the latter one.Now we take side dish of hot dish as an example to make a compare.The side dish of hot dish is required with the quality of dish in China.It should coordinate appropriately with one or several
5 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts kinds of raw materials which have been proceed to the shape they need.Then a complete dish comes into being.As a chef for side dish, he must not only be proficient in the skill of cutting up, but also be familiar with the shape of the finished product.Besides, it is awfully eential for the chef to be acquainted with the cooking method for the reason that the raw material will have some changes during the cooking.In addition, the fundamental rules of the collocation are very crucial in the dish, such as, the collocation of color, the collocation of shape, the collocation of aroma, the collocation of taste and the collocation of nutrition and so on.And all of these collocations prefer to concentrate on reflecting the collocation of meat and vegetables.In other words, it is the collocation of animal material and vegetarian material.The Chinese make plant as the main dish, and has a lot of contact with the advocacy of Buddhism.Their think the animal is \"the life\", but plants the laws of nature \"not to work\", therefore, advocates the vegetarianism .
For the westerners, the side dish is also the indispensable part in hot dishes.As usual, after finishing the main food that they have already put on a dish, a small amount of vegetables, rice or noodles proceed should be put on the edge of the dish or on another dish by side.Thus a complete piece of dish completes.It is said that the food have a collocation with the main food is called side dish.A case in point is that French fries and vegetarian salad are the side dish of fried chicken or other kinds of hamburger in the KFC or McDonald’s.Thus it can be seen that there is a certain difference between Chinese diet and western diet in the form of side dish.However, the effect they exert is the same.They both own the function to complement the nutrition, to balance the dietary, to enhance the beauty and to give the aroma.In addition, the fundamental rules of the collocation are very crucial in the dish. For example, all kinds of side dish are most made with different color vegetables.What is more, the side dish is asked for being proceed to the definite shape under meticulous requirement, such as strip、olive shape、globular、che shape、waist drum shape and so on.Most of the deep-frying meat and roasting meat are deserved with three side dishes which are potato and two different color vegetables.They are considered to be a set of side dish.There are a lot of cases we can illustrate.For example, it is a set of side dish that French fries is arranged with boiling pea and carrot in olive shape as well as roasting potato arranged with cauliflower with butter and tomato in piece.However, the characteristic dishes usually choose one kind of side dish made with potato to keep the special aroma, such as the fish.On the side, the dishes with much soup are used to provide with the rice or noodles.Whereas it is rare in Italian
6 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts dish, such as curry chicken with butter rice and Italian beef with macaroni.
4.Table Manners Good manners mean good behavior in social communication.A person with good manners is always agreeable companion.Speaking of table manners, every country has its own characteristic.In China, table manners in people’s life occupy a very important position.People think that repast is not only for our basic physiological needs, but also for our social needs.And it do the same for the west.4.1.Differences Between Chinese and Western Table Manners The main difference on the Chinese dinner table is chopsticks instead of knife and fork, but that\'s only superficial.Besides, in decent restaurants, you can always ask for a pair of knife and fork, if you find the chopsticks not helpful enough.The real difference is that in the West, you have your own plate of food, while in China the dishes are placed on the table and everyone shares.If you are being treated to a formal dinner and particularly if the host thinks you\'re in the country for the first time, he will do the best to give you a taste of many different types of dishes.The meal usually begins with a set of at least four cold dishes, to be followed by the main courses of hot meat and vegetable dishes.Soup then will be served (unle in Guangdong style restaurants) to be followed by staple food ranging from rice, noodles to dumplings.If you wish to have your rice to go with other dishes, you should say so in good time, for most of the Chinese choose to have the staple food at last or have none of them at all.Perhaps one of the things that surprise a Western visitor most is that some of the Chinese hosts like to put food into the plates of their guests.In formal dinners, there are always \"public\" chopsticks and spoons for this purpose, but some hosts may use their own chopsticks.This is a sign of genuine friendship and politene.It is always polite to eat the food.If you do not eat it, just leave the food in the plate.People in China tend to over-order food, for they will find it embarraing if all the food is consumed.When you have had enough, just say so.Or you will always overeat! 4.2.Characteristics of Table Manners
The dining table is one of the most important places where good manners are displayed.Rese
7 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts arching it will help people to learn the language culture and improve the ability of communication in cro-culture practice.4.2.1.Characteristics of Table Manners in China Chinese table manners of families have no intrinsic quality even there are different region and position.No matter three meals a day or guest’s arrival, always bowls with chopsticks, food with soup.There is no rule for how to put the tableware.What people care about more is not the gorgeous tableware but the sumptuous food? People’s dining position reflects the most obvious etiquette of Chinese table manners.In ancient society, men are supreme, and women are not allowed to sit with men on the same table.Although this is modern society, this kind of ancient etiquette still remains.Today in China, the phenomenon that men sit on the table before women can be found everywhere.The master of a family usually sits on the first-cla seat.The first-cla seat is usually near the interior of a room facing to the door.Once there is a guest, the master will offer the first-cla seat to the guest politely.If it is an ordinary meal of family, families should start after the elder.If there is a guest, the master offer the food to the guest is eential from the beginning to the end.And the tradition of urging others to drink is also a special phenomenon.4.2.2.Characteristics of Table Manners in the West The biggest difference in table manners between Chinese and western is the details of table manners can be as clear as the specifications what can exactly give people correct manners to refer to.Here are several typical manners what can illustrate the rigor of Western-style food：
①The western-style food official drinks the soup posture request to enter in advanced the soup with the ladle to oneself far that one side, then to leaves the direction which oneself goes far away to delimit lightly abundantly.②When dines in the proce, if you need to put down the knife, the edge faces oneself aumes in the plate as 10 o’clock shape.The tool bit is the hand of a clock, the hilt is the minute hand); the jaw buckles in the edge of a sword, the jaw direction 2 o’clock.The knife and fork aumes but actually V glyph.But V glyph knife and fork places the tray lower part (to depend on your direction).③The knife with forks parallel places in the plate 5 o\'clock positions when dines finished.Approximately the knife or forks the total length 1/3 handle department dew in tray edge exterior.The fork downward buckle on the plate, the knife’s edge faces to you.
8 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts ④When eats the bread, must tear down the bread may by an entrance scrap.The butter should in before you put in the mouth.Do not wipe beforehand the entire bread the full butter.
5.Conclusion There are distinct differences in dietary concept, dietary object, dietary kitchen ware and dietary tableware between Chinese and westerners and they have their own advantage.Of course, the differences between Chinese and westerners have relativity in dietary culture.The study of differences in dietary culture needs the mutual understanding and appreciation between different cultures.When facing two kinds of dietary culture, we should learn from others’ strong point to offset our weakne rather than blind pursue the enjoyment of taste.With the increasing fast globalization, the dietary culture between Chinese and westerners will integrate in the collision and complement in the fusion under the background which is collided and fused by economy, culture and information changes.It can not only enhance the mutual understanding and enjoy the different feeling from different food, but also strengthen the communication, complementation and fusion in culture. As the improvement of the living quality and standard, Chinese begin focusing on the food nutrition, health and science of cooking while westerners start to develop from the artistic realm of color, smell, taste, meaning and shape of Chinese food.Only if the dietary culture communicates in common development can people enjoy the more delicious, convenient, nutritional and healthy food.The communication of dietary culture exists in our daily life as the hinge of diverse cultures in the proce of integration in economic and cultural globalization.The dietary culture has become a type of cultural impact which is strengthening step by step.Moreover, it exerts a huger effect than any other power on globalization and changing the world softly.It is poible to anticipate that the dietary culture between Chinese and westerners will become more and more charming under the communication and fusion.
9 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
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