中西方时间观念对比研究

中西方时间观念对比研究

comparison between the Chinese concept of time and western concept of time

0ginates from agriculture civilization and industrial civilization which affect l people’s behavior，awareness Of concepts，industrial relationship，interpersonal relationship and value orientation．Different cultures breed different time conceptions and time behaviors．

Today will talk about the aspects of their differences．

When different time views meet with each other —cultural communication，conflicts and obstacles Of interpersonal communication may arise.

1．Introduction

Because of the social practice，ways of thinking and understanding and time of people from different cultures are different.．That is to say, time ,as an objective existence，has different forms of reflection in different cultures．Time view is seen as a part of cultural deed structure，which affects people‘s perception of the world，controls their judgment and determines the ways of behaviors．The vagueness and exactness Of Chinese and western cu1ture usually lead to conflicts and misunderstanding when peop1e interact with each Other．The Chinese use time Very casually and tangibly（明确的）．The Chinese prefer to say some uncertain words 1ike “at Once"，”sometimes”，“a short while"，which a1ways contrary to the westerners．Chinese students who are studying English tend to misuse the tense when communicating with the foreigners．The reason may be that there is no clear differentiation of the concept Of time in Chinese．When a Chinese and a westerner parted from a party，the westerner said，“I shall invite you to have a lunch one day”．And the Chinese took his words seriously and had been waiting f0r his invitation，but in Vain．So he thought the westerner was dishonest and he did not carry out his promise．In fact，such“promises”，as“we will keep in touch”and‘‘I will see you 0ne day"，do not specify the time and place of the invitation and are only greetings．Because we are accustomed to such vague expressing way Of time，we tend to take them seriously．

Conversely，a certain behavior also reflects certain concept of time and transmits some message about it．As a way 0f non-verbal exchange，time has its own special communicative

function．Just as American cultural anthropologist ([??nθr??p?l?d??st] 人类学家)E．T．Hall has pointed out that it has its own language，every culture owns its

“time language"(Hall，l 959，p．2O)．We all have such experience that when people shake hands with each other on social occasions，we can know something about their identities，relationship and status from the order of who stretches his hand first and how long the shaking has lasted．Similarly，if two sides have made an appointment to negotiate a contract at 9：00，while

one side was late and made no apology，it shows that this side is insincere or his concept of time is not ripe yet．

原因：Though time is a cognitive(认知的) concept shared by the human society，because the social practice of people from different cultures and their different historical and geographical environments，people may differ in the meanings they give to time and the way they make use of time．Therefore，when people from different cultures carry out communication, time, as an invisible guide, will has a great effect on people’s words and deeds，which prevents communication from realizing its intended purpose．目的：We try to discuss the difference between time values and time behaviors of Chinese cultures and western cultures so as to analyze their impacts on the cultural communication．

2．Difference

1..round-trip time view Vs a linear one-directional time view

环形时间观Vs直线式时间观

In the oriental（东方的）world，farming is the major way of carrying out material exchange dominates all the economic life of the whole society．This pastoral civilization treats human and the nature as interrelated and interacted，the world as an integer organically linked．So the oriental society formed the round-trip time outlook that is“the nature and the human integer”．This kind Of time Out1ook thinks that time is like a circ1e and all the things in the world return to its origina1 state after a cyc1e of time，For example，the alternation of day and night，the come and go of the four seasons，the turning of the twelve months，the increase of the age and the growing of plants(JIAYu—xin，1 997，p．7 1)．This kind of time View makes the oriental think that they are rich in time，which enables them to handle the time at their disposal

and do things at ease．For example，when a teacher has not finished an important point i n his class，he can prolong his class．At the Chinese wedding feast，few people will come at the time on

the invitation paper．The time distance between the earliest and the Iatest can be Over One hour．And the wedding feast can last two or three hours．The time of app0intment and Visiting ends is rarely certain．If a friend wh0 you have never met says he will visit you this weekend，you have to stay at home for the whole day to wait for him．

The western culture usually considers time as a line and a linear 0ne-directional continuous movement．Time is m0ving on and passing．It is very precious and stubborn．Once it has passed，we cannot get it back．They a1so think that time has its beginning and end and can be measured by the clock and calendar；a certain regularized time is a point on this line and the space between two points is a period．Theref0re，the westerners use their time very exactly，1ike to the minute，in a sec0nd，and so on．Time in the western world is nearly a commodity （商品）because it is concrete and valuable．W e can buy，sell，save，waste，lose，borrow，make and measure time．There are also suggesting people how to shop，cook, clean their houses and babysit their children by using less time and achieving excellent results．

2. Monochromic time system Vs．Polychromic time system

单一时间习惯VS多重时间习惯

Different peoples in the worId，because Of their different geographica1 environments，history and traditions，their understandings and attitudes towards time are different，which ref1ect specifically On the habits Of timing and using time．American cultural experts divided the using Of time in different cultures into two areas：One is monochromic time system and the other is polychromic time system(Hall，l 982，p．1 6)．The former emphasizes schedule and punctuality．And subscription and punctuality are the customs of it．Many industrialized society adopt monochromic time system．They plan time very carefully，arrange One thing in a period of time，not easily alter the schedule and stress efficiency．The latter is very casual in timing and using time．Booking are regarded as nothing serious．Being punctual is important but not strict．Many Asian，Latin American，Arabic and African countries beIong to the Iatter．PoIychromic time system is the heritage of traditional agriculturaI society．Their people are used to doing severa1 different things at the same time and do things stressing ripe conditions．The Chinese think that everything in the wor1d develops with the cyc1ing Of time，so people stress（强调）ripe conditions when work．That is to say，each step Of our action is determined temporarily by our surroundings．So the Chinese action is poorly planned，very tangible but inefficient．The Chinese hardly subscribe in advance in the social activity．Friends and relatives can Visit each other at any time and place．In some occasions，peopIe can chat，read newspaper and work at the same time．The Chinese can go on with One thing next day that has not been finished 1ast day．The Chinese salesmen can check Out with the first customer on the one hand，and show the goods to a second one on the other hand，even greet a third One at the same time．However，the westerns can hardly accomplish them and also cannot accept them．

The westerns are accustomed to doing only one thing in a specific unit time．So，caIendar，schedule，diary，annual and accounting ledger p1ay a very important ro1e in the western

wor1d．Americans are strongly controlled by time’s iron hand．They even claim themselves to be“slave to nothing but the clock”：They always feel that time are “ticking in their inner heart. There is a saying“Time is everything ’．Hall(1 982，p．20)has said：“In the western world，nobody can escape from the control Of One—way time’s iron hand．In fact，social and commercial life even sexual lives are all under time’s control. Time weave the net Of people’s life totalIy"．In cross—cultural commercia1 activities，the westerners do things strictly in accordance with time table，while the Chinese stress interpersonal relationship’s harmony and ripe conditions Of things’development，not allowing the time table to interfere．So the trade of these two sides always fails because Of deadline.

3 Past time 0rientation VS．future time Orientation

Time orientation is a re1atively stable factor in cultura1 difference．It is connected to the historical background of the people．Generally speaking，people who have too heavy tradition

load stress history and past，and their time orientation is past—oriented．We belong to past—oriented．People show great respect to the past．The past experience and 1esson are important reference for today’s success and failure．The Chinese show respect to our ancestors and teachers．We like to say things by referring to the old books and stories．That is why we call teacher“1ao shi”. Generally speaking，China is a society searching f0r quietness and stability．Unity and stability are the top priorities of every dynasty and the guarantee of social development．

Contracted to the time orientation，the westerners，especially Americans，hardly look back and always look forward，so future—orientation is their important value conception．They do not put too much emphasis on the history and tradition like other peoples．everyone has the equal chance and history is not so important．If you work hard，you can succeed．They think that future is controllab1e，or at least can be affected by them．what has happened now is just preparation for the bright future．They generally believe that change means improvement and new things are superior to old things．As a result，the westerners hardly confront to the miles and worship their ancestors．Age and experience are not desired to be respected．

eg.Their differentiation(区别) in time orientation makes people from China and the western world react differently towards words like “old age" and “the aged”．China is a society directed by tradition，and peop1e attach importance to age and experience because they are symbols of power and wisdom，so words like“lao'’and“da”in Chinese address a1ways mean respect．However，such honorary titles cannot be used in the western world，because in their mind，”O1d”means that their youth has passed away．If we really want to address，we must use “Respected．．．”Or“Senior?"．

4.Time view difference and SociaI reIations

Time View difference can affect people’s value judgment of the relationship between themselves and the outside world．For example，people have different expectations and evaluation concerning the length of interpersonal relationship’s maintaining time，like parents，children，coup1es，lovers，and friends，and so on．

Americans frequently move from one place to another and their interpersonal relationship is short and changeable．0n the contrary，in China，children have too look after their aged parents until their death，friendship should be long-lasting，and residence will not easily be changed．This different cultural value expectation that has close connection with time Value has made some equal words in English and Chinese have unequal effect，like hopping，divorce and remarry．Corresponding to time View and interpersonal relationship is long-term or short—term man-thing (人为的)relationship．

Materials’eternity has once been a dream to our human society．People are committed to extend the life of products in order to make them more valuable to us．But the rapidly developing western industrial civilization and fast life space have greatly changed westerners’conception．Man—thing relation becomes shorter and shorter．

The modem application Of the English word“change”gives it positive meaning：Changing technology，changing concept，for a better change．The Chinese entered industrial civilization very 1ate and they still insist on the eternity and resist to reforn1．“bian"in Chinese has always been used to express the negative meaning，like“bian xin"，“bian gu"，“bian zhi"，“bian tai"and

so on．This kind of difference inevitably brings about different value judgments of their respective behavior standards．In fast-pace countries，patience is n0t highly regarded，while hurry is more favored．However，patient robust and implicit are specially emphasized．

5.Changes and fusion Of Chinese time view and western time view

People’s time views have been formed gradually，and they are relatively stable in a long time，but they are not without changes．The better Of living conditions，the development Of the economy，the improvement Of the society and the increase of the interaction of people from different cu1tural backgrounds will undoubtedly have subt1e effects on their time Views，alth0ugh it is also a long process．with China’s joining the WTO and under the influence of globalization，peop1e’s concepts and life styles have changed a lot．The old time views are challenged and a brand new time View is in the process of formation．

6. The Values and planning 0f time have been strengthened

In a society dominated by traditional culture，time is value1ess，and peop1e can work，sing and chat at the same time．With the development of market economy and the improvement of industria1ization，the vague time system of agricultural society is required to move towards more strict and exact modern time system．The concepts that“time is money"and“efficiency is life”are gradually accepted by people．Now being late for an appointment will be regarded as unreliab1e and irresponsible，as a result，this person cannot get Others’trust．

The speed Of people’s life has also increased：On the road，people are hurrying．When happen to meet an old friend，they just nod to each other，hardly stopping to have a long chat．There are less visits being paid to the neighbors．

These on one hand show that people are more practical and their affection is not so good，On the other hand they also show we are more respectful Of personal space and we do not interfere others’life order casually．

7.CONCLUSION: Turning from past-oriented to future-oriented

With the coming Of the new century，，the world is changing all the time，and the competition is more acute．To any nation，looking back is useless．It can only move forwards．The power of age，experience and teacher in Chinese culture begin to be challenged．When people take their past and history correctly，they are hurrying to make plans and aims for their life at the same time．

In the 2 l st century，the life and future—oriented time conception that based on nationality，practicality and efficiency are gradual1y accepted by people from different culture．However，because time Views Of different society are factors of respective cu1tures，their biases are deep —rooted and it is not easy to be got rid of .So when people Of the two sides carry out cross—communication，they should be aware of this p0int and try to avoid conflicts and obstacles brought about by cultural difference Of time views，so that our communication can achieve its intended aims and we can understand each other’s culture better．

作为结语

Now ,the time values of both Chinese and western have impacts on each other and are gradually integrated with each Other．We need to know more about them so that we can form a better concept of time and take a better advantage of time in the future job market.