Compared with China's "taste" diet, the West is a rational concept of diet. No matter the color, fragrance, taste, shape and nutrition of food, how many calories, vitamins, protein and so on should be taken in a day. Even if it tastes the same, you must eat it-it is nutritious. This concept of diet is compatible with the whole western philosophy system. Metaphysics is the main feature of western philosophy. The object of western philosophy is the cause of things, often metaphysical, and metaphysical theories are interrelated, thus forming metaphysical philosophy. This philosophy has brought vitality to western culture and made it develop by leaps and bounds in natural science, psychology and methodology. But in other aspects, this philosophical proposition has great obstacles, such as food culture. At the banquet, you can pay attention to the collocation of tableware, materials, services and raw materials in shape and color. But no matter how luxurious and high-end, from L.A. to new york, steak has only one flavor, and there is no art at all. As a dish, chicken is chicken and steak is steak. Even if there is a match, it is done in the disk. A plate of "French lamb chops" with mashed potatoes, leaning against the lamb chops, and boiled green beans and some tomatoes on the other side. The colors are in sharp contrast, but the raw materials are irrelevant, the taste is harmonious, each has its own flavor and is simple and clear.
China people attach great importance to "eating". The proverb "Food is the sky for the people" shows that we regard eating as important as the sky. Because our nation has been in a state of low productivity for thousands of years, people are always hungry, so we have a unique food-oriented diet culture. I think this is probably due to the need of survival. If a culture takes eating as the first thing, then there will be two phenomena: on the one hand, to maximize its function is not only to maintain survival, but also to preserve health, which is the cultural basis of "medicine tonic is not as good as food tonic"; On the other hand, excessive attention to food will make people admire the pursuit of food.
In China's cooking, the pursuit of delicacy is almost to the extreme, so that China people make a living by opening restaurants overseas, which has become the foundation for us to settle down in the world! Unfortunately, when we regard the pursuit of delicacy as the first demand, we ignore the most fundamental nutritional value of food. Many of our traditional foods have to be fried in hot oil and cooked with low fire for a long time. As a result, the nutrients in the dishes are destroyed and many nutrients are lost during processing. So when it comes to nutrition, it actually touches the biggest weakness of China's food culture. There is a folk proverb: "Food is the first priority for the people, and taste is the first priority for food". It is this pursuit of food that makes us ignore the true meaning of eating.
When people in China taste dishes, they often say that this dish is delicious and that dish is not. However, if you want to further ask what is "delicious", why "delicious" and where "delicious" is, I am afraid it is not easy to make it clear. This shows that China people's pursuit of delicious food is an indescribable "artistic conception", which is still difficult to cover with what people usually call "color, fragrance, taste, shape and utensils".
The key to the unique charm of China's diet lies in its taste. The production of food lies in harmony, so that the original flavor of food, the cooked taste after heating, the taste of ingredients and auxiliary materials, and the harmonious taste of seasonings are intertwined and coordinated with each other, so that they complement each other, penetrate each other and blend with each other. You have me and I have you. The harmonious beauty of China's cooking is the essence of China's cooking art, and the variety of dishes is an external thing, while the taste is an internal thing. It is the most important embodiment of China's aesthetic diet view that he pays attention to the interior without deliberately modifying the appearance, and pays attention to the taste of dishes without revealing the shape and color of dishes excessively.
In China, the pursuit of beauty in diet obviously overwhelms rationality, and this view of diet is also consistent with China's traditional philosophy. As a representative of oriental philosophy, China's philosophy is macroscopic, intuitive, fuzzy and unpredictable. The method of making Chinese food is to reconcile the tripod and finally reconcile a beautiful taste. This emphasizes the sense of proportion, that is, overall cooperation. It contains rich dialectics of China's philosophy. Everything is based on the beauty and harmony of food. The variety in the range determines the richness and diversity of Chinese food, determines the characteristics of Chinese food, and even determines the characteristics of every chef.
Second, the differences between Chinese and Western dieters
Westerners believe that dishes are to satisfy hunger, so they specialize in "hard dishes" such as large pieces of meat and whole chicken. China's food is "delicious", so China's cooking also shows great arbitrariness in the use of materials: what many westerners regard as discarded is an excellent raw material in China, and what foreign chefs can't handle can be turned into magic as soon as it reaches the hands of China chefs. It shows that China's diet has a wide range of randomness in materials.
According to the survey of western botanists, people in China eat more than 600 kinds of vegetables, six times more than those in the west. In fact, in Chinese cuisine, vegetarian dishes are ordinary foods, and meat dishes only enter the ordinary diet structure when the living standard is high, so there has been a saying of "vegetable food" since ancient times, and vegetable food plays a dominant role in the ordinary diet structure. China people's plant cooking is closely related to the advocacy of Buddhists. They regard animals as "living things" and plants as "lifeless things", so they advocate vegetarianism.
When introducing the dietary characteristics of their own countries, westerners think that they pay more attention to the reasonable collocation of nutrition than China. There are developed food industries, such as canned food and fast food, which are time-saving and nutritious, so people in their country are generally stronger than people in China: tall, with long legs, wide shoulders and muscular; China people, on the other hand, are thin, with narrow shoulders and short legs and light yellow color. According to the obvious differences between Chinese and western food objects, some people call China a plant word, while westerners call it an animal word.
Third, different ways of eating.
There are great differences between Chinese and western food styles, and this difference also has an impact on national character. In China, any banquet, no matter for what purpose, will only have one form, that is, everyone will sit together and enjoy a seat. Banquets should use round tables to create a United, polite and interesting atmosphere in form. Food is placed in the center of a table, which is not only the object of appreciation and tasting, but also the medium of emotional communication. People toast each other, take food and exhort each other, which embodies the virtue of mutual respect and courtesy between people in the face of beautiful things. Although from the perspective of hygiene, this kind of diet has obvious shortcomings, but it conforms to the universal mentality of "happy reunion" of our nation, embodies the influence of the category of "harmony" in China's classical philosophy on later generations' thoughts, and is conducive to collective emotional exchange, so it is difficult to reform so far.
Although food and wine are very important at western-style banquets, they are actually used as foil. The core of the banquet is friendship, which is realized by talking to the guests next door. If the sociality of banquets is compared to dancing, it can be said that Chinese banquets are like group dances, while western banquets are like ballroom dancing for men and women. It can be seen that the purpose of friendship between Chinese banquet and western banquet is obvious, but Chinese banquet is more about the friendship of the whole banquet, while western banquet is more about the friendship between neighboring guests. The more obvious difference from China's diet is the buffet which is popular in the west. This method is: all the food is displayed one by one, and everyone needs what they want, so they can move freely without being fixed in their seats. This way facilitates the emotional communication between individuals, without putting all the words on the table, and also reflects the respect of westerners for individuality and self. But each eats his own food, does not interfere with each other, and lacks some China people's mood of chatting and having fun.
So in the final analysis, it is the difference between sensibility and rationality. However, this difference seems to be blurred with the development of science. More and more people in China are not only concerned about the color, smell and taste of vegetables, but also about their hygiene and nutrition. Especially after SARS. Also, because people are getting busier and busier at work, they think Chinese food is too much trouble to cook, so it's better to have a hamburger or something. So the difference in diet is not clear.
A person living abroad said: "It's strange: in China, people have a fever, and we all use the method of' stifling sweat' to cool him down;" In foreign countries, people treat fever by wearing less clothes or even taking a bath with ice water. This is cruel! " This difference in treatment is a typical manifestation of cultural differences between China and the West.
(A), the main manifestations of cultural differences between China and the West
When it comes to the many differences between Chinese and western cultures, they actually permeate all aspects of social life:
First of all, from the basic living conditions of human beings-diet, there are great differences between China and westerners in cooking techniques and dining methods.
In the re-cooking technique, China people try their best to pursue the color, fragrance and taste of dishes by frying, boiling, steaming, frying and frying. However, the cooking methods of westerners are much simpler than those of China. It seems that they don't care much about the color and beauty of dishes, but focus more on "how to keep the nutritional value of food as much as possible". This difference makes it easy for us to see that China people pay attention to form, while westerners pay attention to content.
Looking at the way of eating, people in China often sit around the table and take care of their own needs; Westerners, on the other hand, divide food into small portions in advance, one for each person, and eat their own, which is irrelevant. The overall concept of China people and the individual consciousness of westerners are vividly displayed in this difference.
Secondly, from the likes and dislikes of color, China people like red as a symbol of happiness and prosperity; Westerners prefer blue, because in their hearts, blue is the representative of calmness. Therefore, China people advocate enthusiasm, while westerners pay attention to rationality.
Third, from the perspective of word-making methods, China people mainly use pictographs; The purpose of westerners is to "try to make people understand the meaning of a word". This difference in goals clearly shows that Chinese people pay attention to the aesthetic feeling of appearance, while westerners pay attention to the inherent practicality.
Finally. From an artistic point of view, China's traditional Chinese painting is open and closed, splashing ink and freehand brushwork, with a rainbow momentum; Western oil paintings pay attention to human proportions and optical principles. The different styles of freehand brushwork and realism show two different national characters: emotion and rationality.
(B), the historical origin of cultural differences between China and the West
To sum up, the differences between Chinese and Western cultures can be summed up in the most essential point: China people value morality and feelings; Westerners value efficiency and rationality.
This difference is deeply rooted in the historical origin of the two cultures. According to the pre-Qin philosophers, China culture is "Tao" and an enlightenment era. "Benevolent people love others", the blood relationship is endless, and it has become the first cornerstone of China culture on the basis of patriarchal society. From Boyaqin to orphan Zhao. From 19 ancient poems to Tang poetry and Song poetry, where is the word "love" missing? !
On the other hand, the mother of all western theories begins with philosophy. The definition of philosophy is "knowledge that loves wisdom". Aristotle's logic and Archimedes' geometry are all products of attaching importance to wisdom.
(C), the continuation and development of cultural differences between China and the West in the contemporary era
In modern society, this historical difference is still continuing and developing. China people want to take the initiative to coordinate social life in advance, and choose the way of personal progress on the premise of giving consideration to long-term interests and overall interests. From the war years, heroic martyrs gave their precious lives for the benefit of the country and the people; In peacetime, athletes sacrificed the opportunity to participate in competitions and win medals for the honor of their motherland. All these show that the concept of the supremacy of the whole is deeply rooted in the hearts of China people. The reason is that China people attach importance to feelings and morality!
Westerners hope to passively restrain society afterwards and solve problems by legal and organizational means. This undoubtedly makes sense. From British empiricism to American pragmatism; From Luther's religious reform to Weber's Protestant capitalist theory, and then to Mill's egoism, there is a rational spirit. In the process of pursuing the overall interests, its ultimate goal is to realize the personal life value. Foreign athletes often take part in competitions in their own names. The goal they pursue is not simply to win glory for their country, but more importantly, to let themselves go beyond the limits of life and realize their dreams of life! This idea of "individual standard" undoubtedly comes from the guidance of reason.
Facing the scarcity of resources in the world, China and the West have different attitudes. China mostly adapts to the limited resources by controlling his own desires and needs. On the contrary, the western solution is to develop limited resources as much as possible to adapt to and satisfy people's infinite desires. In order to satisfy the desire, by hook or by crook, even monopoly and war.
(4) Comparative analysis of Chinese and western cultural characteristics.
China people's patience and abstinence lack exchange requirements, which leads to the fact that the Chinese nation in history, despite its splendid culture, has no soil for commodity economy, and the self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy has dominated for thousands of years. People pay attention to the improvement of personal quality, but seldom care about the question of "whether society is equal to individuals", which leads to the fact that citizens, as individuals, are not supreme in their rights.
In western civilization, the concept of private ownership is deeply rooted, and its basic character is frankness and directness. The satisfaction of individual survival needs the mutual exchange between people, which makes commodity economy emerge as the times require. At the same time, westerners attach great importance to the question of "whether society is fair to individuals", and the legal rights of every citizen are the first.
Faced with two completely different cultures, we can't tell which one is better. Because, no matter which culture has its own strengths, it has given birth to two different civilizations; They also have their own shortcomings, which leads to the shortcomings of both cultures and needs to be developed and improved.
The advantages of China culture are: attaching importance to people themselves and reducing disputes; The disadvantage is that the premise of universal moral consciousness ultimately comes down to the self-control of individual psychological state, and it is difficult to implement supervision and guarantee measures. The advantages of western culture are: strong operability; Disadvantages are: laissez-faire.
Summary:
Therefore, westerners are just smart, but they are caught in the ice water of egoism; However, China's nepotism led to nepotism. Westerners use advanced science to conquer nature and destroy the balance of nature, but the glory of modernization eventually appears in the west; China people restrain themselves from adapting to nature, but they also catch up with modern technology and advanced management methods.
There are differences in comparison and differences in identification. Plums are dyed white by snow, but the snow has lost the fragrance of plums. Both cultures aim at the same goal-to make human beings happier and constantly develop and improve. China culture with Confucianism as the core and western culture with Christianity as the core can only form a brand-new cultural system and solve the problem of personalized satisfaction more reasonably, so as to realize the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, man and man, and man and society.
According to the Sing Tao Daily, China people have a strong sense of family, consanguinity and family ethics, which are deeply rooted in their minds. Parents and children will always be a family. Even if you get married and set up a new home, you will still be inseparable from your parents and regard supporting and serving your parents as your due responsibility.
Americans are different. As soon as their children reach adulthood, they will leave the nest and their parents will no longer raise them. Once children are independent, they will no longer pay attention to their parents' affairs, let alone support their parents or live under the same roof for generations.
This cultural difference between China and the West is particularly obvious in China. In China, it is natural for parents to buy things for their children when a big family comes to shop, and it is also natural for adult children to pay their parents. It is often the case that adult children compete for money for their elderly parents, and the two sides compete for a long time. Foreigners are different. Parents and children manage their own money separately, not living in isolation from each other. Even some children have to buy things with their own pocket money from helping their parents do housework. Every time I reach out my arm and take a coin from the wallet of a child shorter than the counter, I always feel unspeakable sadness in my heart. I really want to ask my parents standing by, why don't they pay? And those adult children are as financially independent as their elderly parents. When their elderly parents cut their hands from their crumpled wallets to save money, they felt at ease and were unmoved.
There was once a big guest who lived in a high-class white area and was a doctor. Every time he comes, he wants to buy thousands of things. Once, I went shopping with my mother from new york. Seeing that he is a big guest, the boss dare not neglect him. He personally received them and took them upstairs to see valuables. It took him a long time to get down. The boss couldn't help saying, "The old lady is picky and doesn't like anything." Downstairs, the old lady picked three cloisonne boxes with a total price of 50 dollars and an equivalent pink crystal elephant. She put them in the palm of her hand and couldn't put them down. One minute she said she wanted to buy an elephant, and the next she said she wanted to buy a box. Think twice. I can't help but whisper to myself: since I like it, why not buy it quickly? What a miser. At this time, the son standing next to her was impatient and said to his mother, "You only have more than 50 yuan. You can only buy one. When you go back to new york and remit the money, the boss will send it to you. " Oh, I was wrong about that old lady. It is not that she is picky and stingy, but that she really has no money. I have mixed feelings in my heart: No wonder Americans don't have such high expectations for "success" and "success" as China people do. A doctor who spends money like water would rather see his mother disappointed than pay a little money for her. It's a pity that the family has raised a rich boy, but his parents can't touch any light.
This is the reality in the United States. A son can become a millionaire, but his parents are still poor, which is far from the China tradition of China people that "mother and son are precious" and "one person gains the word and the whole family can ascend to heaven".
Now that Americans with strong family ties come to the United States, China's traditional thought and virtue of respecting the old and loving the young will not be impacted by American culture. I hope that China people living in the United States can stick to their fine traditions and virtues, and make this wonderful flower of Chinese culture bloom more brilliantly in the hundred gardens of all ethnic groups in the United States.
Chopsticks, knives and forks reflect the cultural differences between China and the West.
When it comes to chopsticks, everyone is familiar with them. The guy who eats every day, a pair in hand is convenient and practical. Besides soup, you can sweep the whole table. Many people in China who are used to chopsticks don't think much of foreigners' knives and forks. They need a long row of knives, forks and spoons just for a meal. It's really troublesome to touch a large piece of food with both hands. Every time I think of this place, I can't help feeling a lot of pride. Maybe you can't guess, but these two simple sticks are very learned.
The origin of chopsticks can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty, and its name is related to the taboos of Jiangnan people.
Speaking of the history of serving human diet, these chopsticks can be regarded as the ancestors of knives and forks. In ancient times, our ancestors mainly grabbed food with their hands. Since "apes are separated from each other", people have found that food is more delicious when it is cooked. In the pre-Qin era, people generally did not eat with chopsticks. According to the records in the Book of Rites, it is speculated that people put rice into their mouths by hand at that time. Later, because it was impossible for people to barbecue food directly by hand, they needed tools such as bamboo sticks to place and turn the food, and they used the soup of cook the meat cuisine as a cooker, which they also used to eat. Over time, clever ancestors gradually learned to hold with bamboo sticks, which is the earliest prototype of chopsticks.
Chopsticks were called chopsticks in ancient times, and the origin of chopsticks can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty. Chopsticks are mentioned in the Book of Rites, Xunzi and Historical Records. In Everything is done wrong, Zhou Wang, who is famous for his luxury, is mentioned in particular. He eats with "Zhu Xiang". Professor You of Zhejiang University believes that the differences between chopsticks and knives and forks, the eastern and western food tools, are related to the environment, and chopsticks should originate from places where bamboo is found. Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty said: "From the bamboo sound." Just verified such a conclusion.
But "Notes" said: "Those who have vegetables in the soup should use it, and those who have no vegetables should not use it." From the word formation, "Cong Mu" is considered by some scholars as wooden chopsticks. It can be recalled that there are many trees in the north and many bamboos in the south of China. Our ancestors used local materials, and bamboo and wood became the most primitive raw materials for chopsticks in China. Research shows that chopsticks were not widely used until after the Han Dynasty. Later, "Chopsticks" evolved into "Chopsticks", which was related to the folk customs of ancient Jiangnan water towns in China. Folk navigation does not say "live", and boatmen can't eat without chopsticks. It's all homophonic, just changed to "fast". Later, in order to distinguish it from the often said "fast", bamboo heads were added.
Knife and fork appeared because they adapted to the eating habits of Europeans, and it and chopsticks influenced the different life concepts of the East and the West.
Knife and fork appeared much later than chopsticks. According to Professor You's research, the original origin of knives and forks is related to the living habits of nomadic people in ancient Europe. They immediately live with knives and often cook and cut the meat to eat. Later, after moving towards settled life, animal husbandry dominated Europe, and bread and the like were all non-staple foods, which were directly taken by hand. The staple food is beef and mutton, which is cut with a knife and sent to import. After settling in the city, knives and forks enter the family kitchen, so you don't have to carry them with you. It is not difficult to see that knives and chopsticks, as the main tableware in the west today, have completely different identities. They can be used to slaughter, dissect and cut the meat of cattle and sheep, and can also be used as tableware when cooking and eating.
Around the15th century, in order to improve the posture of eating, Europeans used double sharp forks. It's unsightly to put food in your mouth with a knife, but it's more elegant to put meat in your mouth with a fork. Forks are strictly tableware, but the weakness of forks is that they can't be cut in front with a knife, so both are indispensable. It was not until the end of 17 that the British upper class began to use the three-pointed fork, and it was not until 18 century that the four-pointed fork appeared. So westerners have only used knives and forks for four or five hundred years.
Knife, fork and chopsticks not only bring about differences in eating habits, but also affect the concept of life of eastern and western people. Professor You believes that knives and forks will inevitably lead to the sharing system, and chopsticks will definitely be accompanied by family members sitting around the table to eat together. The west divided itself into two from the beginning, which led to the idea and habit that westerners pay attention to independence and children will enter the world independently when they grow up. The dining system brought by chopsticks highlights the family unit where the old and the young sit together, thus giving orientals a relatively strong family concept.
Although we can't simply correspond the formation of different traditions with the differences of tableware, there is no doubt that they adapt to and contribute to this differentiation. Chopsticks are a symbol of cultural tradition. China people still use chopsticks when they go to Europe and America. Culture is deeply rooted, and foreigners learn to use chopsticks in China, and they still have to pick up knives and forks when they return to their own countries.
Chopsticks, knives and forks, who is more advanced? Opinions vary, but each has its own wisdom.
Chopsticks are characterized by "constant changes". It's amazing that flat, long, short, hard and soft chopsticks can all be clamped in one clamp. This has always made China people proud and regarded it as a symbol of progress.
Recently, however, some scholars reported: "From the scientific point of view of real anthropological development, chopsticks are an extremely primitive and natural tool. When most people first learn to use tools, they know how to use a few branches instead of their hands to get food. Does not contain any complicated technology. Europeans took the lead in evolution, replacing branches with stone knives, then developing into metal knives and finally developing into forks. And on this basis, developed a cumbersome western etiquette. Knife and fork are the most direct embodiment of European industrial civilization and rational spirit. Do it yourself, be independent, and emphasize reasoning and analysis, which is more conducive to exercising thinking ability. China people who take chopsticks are ready-made, so don't think about it. Everything you push and shove is round and ambiguous. They like to hold vague concepts in everything, so their thinking ability is underdeveloped and they cannot produce an industrial revolution. "
This kind of voice is really inspiring, but the idea of taking the lead in evolution is unscientific, and it is far-fetched to generalize knives and forks into industrial civilization and rational spirit. However, one thing needs to be affirmed. Compared with the simplicity of chopsticks, there are many kinds of knives and forks, which belong to special tools. However, this "specialty" is often ignored by Chinese people because of its "ingenuity". Back at the dinner table, maybe we can easily deal with stewed soybean trotters. Once we meet steak, I'm afraid chopsticks will be ashamed. Knives and forks then show their expertise.
Different people have different opinions. It is difficult to draw a conclusion about the relationship between chopsticks, knives and forks and the way of thinking. But there is a scientific basis for saying that using chopsticks is more conducive to exercising thinking ability. Scientists put forward a research result about chopsticks from a physiological point of view, and came to the conclusion that when eating with chopsticks, more than 30 joints and more than 50 muscles of the human body will be affected, thus stimulating the activities of the brain nervous system and making people flexible in action and thinking. There is no doubt that scientific principles are hidden in chopsticks.
Dr. Li Zhengdao, a famous physicist and Nobel Prize winner in physics, also made a very incisive statement when interviewed by Japanese reporters: "The Chinese nation is an excellent nation, and China people used chopsticks as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. These two simple things have wonderfully applied the lever principle in physics. Chopsticks are an extension of human fingers. They can do almost everything their fingers can, and they are not afraid of high temperature and cold. Too talented! "