论文-中西方餐桌礼仪对比(英文版)

Abstract

This paper mainly focuses on the differences of table manners of China and Western countries. In our modern society, the cross-culture communication between China and Western countries becomes a hot issue and the influences of Chinese and Western etiquette are increasingly profound, which causes the differences in table manners. In this paper, we attach more importance to the different table manners of China and Western countries, such as, the different ways people sit for a meal, different dining concepts and different table wares and so on. Meanwhile, it helps us understand the situation. In this way, we can know well the western countries’ cultural background, and can set up a harmonious relationship with the westerns.

Key Words: table manners, cultural background, table culture

摘要

本文主要讲中西方餐桌礼仪的不同点和相同点.在当今社会,随着中西方跨文化交流的平凡以及中西方礼仪的影响加深,导致双方餐桌礼仪方面的差异产生.本文着重于比较中西方在餐桌礼仪.例如,就餐是人们不同的入座方式,不同的饮食概念以及不同的餐具等等.此外还会指出不同国家中的一些用餐禁忌来帮助人们更好的理解餐桌礼仪。通过此法,我们可以更加了解西方国家的文化背景,并且建立起良好的关系。

关键词：餐桌礼仪，文化背景，餐桌文化

CONTENTS Acknowledgements (i)

Abstract (ii)

摘要 (iii)

1 Introduction (1)

2 Defence of table manners (2)

2.1 Arrangement of seat (2)

2.1.1 Arrangement of seat in Chinese way

2.1.2 Arrangement of seat in western way

2.1.3 The reason of seat arrangement

2.2 Tablewares (4)

2.2.1 How to use and where to put Chinese tablewares

2.2.2 How to use and where to put western table ware

2.2.3 Reasons that cause the differences of tablewares

2.3 The right order of dish up (8)

2.3.1 Chinese order

2.3.2 Western order

2.3.3 Different value that reflected by those order

2.4 Different atmospheres at table (10)

2.5 The way to finish eating (11)

3 Conclusion (12)

Bibliography (13)

1. Introduction

With the development of global economy, cross-culture communication has become more and more frequent, and the differences between Chinese and western culture have become more obvious, especially the differences of table manners.

Having dinner is more than the basic necessity of life. Instead, having dinner is an important part of social formulae. “John Loke, a famous British philosopher once said, the purpose of playing a ceremonial role is to change the original stubborn to gentle, so that people’s temper can become more moderate and let people learn to respect for others and get along with each others.”(Duan, Chen, 2008) There is no doubt that sometimes some strangers become acquaintances, those acquaintances get a better understanding of the other even to the germination of love. Because table manner is so fantastic that it does us a favor on acquiring more information, opening up eyesight and expanding the circle of communication. It is obvious that table manners are quite important in people’s everyday life. There are numberless differences between Chinese and western food cultures, and those differences cause the differences of table manners.

China is one of the four earliest civilizations in the world. Chinese nation is the only inheritance millennium civilization. Western society went through the darkness of Middle Ages and then came to Renaissance, gave birth to capitalism and modern civilization. Today, with the economic globalization, international commercial activities have become more and more frequently and cross-culture communication has come into every nation’s daily life. In international commercial negotiations, Chinese representatives might have dinners with foreign representatives, while in daily life we might be invited to dinners by foreign friends. This paper mainly talks about the differences of table manners between two cultures, to analyze the causes, aim to achieve cross-culture communication more successfully.

2. Differences of table manners

“Social customs differ greatly from one country to another. It is therefore impossible to give guidelines that are universally applicable. Generally speaking, you should act naturally, always remaining friendly, courteous, and dignified.”(Qian, 2006)

The core ideology of Chinese culture is collective consciousness while the western thought core is individualism. So when western people are invited to dinner or party, they order their own food and drink their own wine, to avoid working their wills to other people. While Chinese people would consider it as unreasonable behavior because in Chinese culture, individual must obey collective consciousness. Chinese people value harmonization, and there is an old saying that “Harmony is most precious.”So Chinese people like to dine together and eat together.

2.1 Arrangement of seat

2.1.1 Arrangement of seat in Chinese way

Chinese people always choose round tables when entertaining friends. There are lots of rules in China about where to put the round table and which seat takes precedence on the same table.

In China, people used to use the number of the tables to define the size of banquet. In small banquets which have two tables, the table on the left or farther to the portal is the top table. At bigger banquets that have three or more tables, the rules are much more complicated. The top table is always on the right hand and farthest to the portal. Besides, the distance to the top table is also taken into consideration. Generally, seats that closer to the top table take precedence. For example, on the wedding party, family members of the bride or the leaderships are arranged to the table that closest to the top table. Hosts show their reverences to the guests by arranging seats by this way.

Seats at one table also have different meanings. In Chinese table manner, the seat opposite to the door is the honor seat, which is for chief guests or elders; the seats beside are the second honor seat which are for other guests; the seats that opposite to the honor seat are the inferior

seat. Inferior seats are for the host and hostess. So before the banquet, hosts should first invite the chief guest or elders to the honor seat, and then invite other guests to the second honor seat. Hosts sit down on the inferior seats after all the guests sit down.

2.1.2 Arrangement of seat in western way

Western people perfer long table to round table when entertaining friends. The host and the hostess seat at both end of the table, while guests seat at other seats. Men and women are arranged to seat alternately. The chief guest sits at the upper right side of the hostess, and the wife of the chief guest seats at the upper right side of the host. Western gentlemen are very particular about “Lady first”, they are always hospitable to ladies. In China, left is honor and right is secondary; middle is honor and slant is secondary. While in western, right is honor and left is secondary.

The proper way to take the seat in western is to sit by the left hand. Elbows can never put onto the table and hands are forbidden to touch feet. It is better not to walk out before the banquet is finished (unless you really need to). During the dinner, it is better to sit straightly.

2.1.3 The reason of seat arrangement

The main ideology in Chinese culture is group consciousness, and Chinese people believe that individual consciousness should obey group consciousness. So Chinese people choose round tables for banquets. When sitting around round tables, people can talk to each other freely and the atmosphere can be very pulsating. As the nation of etiquette, Chinese people lay emphasis on piety and honesty, and revering elders while caring the young is one of the traditional virtues. So come out the rules for seat arrangement. While in western culture, the main ideoloy is individual consciousness. They believe that everybody’s behavior has their own meaning and value, and personal abilities are reflected by those behaviors. Western philosophy places extra emphasis on individual consciousness, development and self expression. They believe that everybody equals, so they like to use long tables and do not have so many complicated rules for seat arrangement as Chinese people do.

2.2 Tablewares

2.2.1 How to use and where to put Chinese tablewares

Chinese tablewares involve chopsticks, small dish, bowl and glass. At formal banquets, glass is put on the upper left of the plate, while wineglass on the upper right. Chopsticks and spoon are always put together on the right hand of the plate. Toothpick and ashtray are also necessary.

2.2.1.1 Chopsticks

Chopsticks are the main tablewares in Chinese food culture, they always appear in couple. It’s better not to lick chopsticks( whether there are dregs of food or not) before you pick food from the plates. Using chopsticks that licked to pick up food is very impolite and will make other guests feel sick. It is also bad manner to talk with chopsticks in hand, or even brandish chopsticks. The third bad manner of using chopsticks is to insert chopsticks straightly into the food, because only when sacrificing the death do Chinese people doing so. Just remember that chopsticks are tablewares that only used to pick food. It is impolite to use chopsticks to clean tooth or scratch, or pick other things that aren’t food.

2.2.1.2 Spoon

The main function for spoon is scooping food. Sometimes spoon is also used to assist chopsticks picking food in big size. It is better not to pick food only by spoon or scoop too much food at one time. Never scoop a full spoon of food at one time or the food might splash out and stain tablecloth or clothes. The right way to use spoon is: scoop the food, and wait for seconds to make sure that the soup will not splash out, and then move the spoon back, enjoying the food. If the spoon is not needed, put it on your own plate; do not put it on the table directly. Once you scoop the food, you should never put them back. It’s better to eat at once or put into your plate. If the food is too scalding to eat, never stir the food or blow by mouth. You can put them into the bowl and wait for a while. It is impolite to put the spoon in to mouth, or lick the spoon over and over again.

2.2.1.3 Plate

The plate in smaller size is small dish, which is used to put food, just like bowl. Plates on the table should not move or pile up. The main function of small dish is to store food that picked from the public plates temporarily. When using small dishes, you should not put too much food together at one time. It is very impolite and might affect the tastes of food. The dreg of food or bones should put at the edge of the plate. You can not spit them from mouth directly to the plate or table or to the ground. You should use chopsticks to bring them to the plate. If the small dish is full, you can ask the waiter or waitress to shift one.

2.2.1.4 Glass

Glasses are used to store soft drink like water, coke, soda water or fruit juice. Do not use glass to drink wine or put the glass up side down. Besides, you can not spit out the drink back to the glass. It is impolite and might make guests fell sick.

2.2.1.5 Napkin

In middle-size or big-size restaurants in China, waiters will first offer a wet warm towel to every guest. This kind of towel is used to clean hands. After cleaning, you should put it back to the plate and the waiter will take it away. Sometime at big banquets, waiter would offer another towel. Different from the first towel, the second one can only use to clean mouth; it can not clean face or perspiration.

2.2.2 How to use and where to put western table ware

In western culture, tablewares for food contain knife, fork, spoon, plate and glass. Western tablewares have a more complicated rule in how to put than Chinese tablewares. At formal western banquets, the tablewares are always put in the same way. The common principles are: the place plate is in the middle; knife on the right; fork on the left; spoon sidelong ahead the place plate; staple food on the left; tablewares on the right; other tablewares act according to the circumstances.

The number of the wineglass is equal to the number of wine’s kind. The proper order to put glasses from left to right is: strong drink glass, wine glass, champagne glass and beer glass.

The napkin is put on the place plate. If there is something to put in the plate before the guests sit down, the napkin would be put behind the place plate.

2.2.2.1 Knife and fork

The right way to use knife and fork is: knife is used to cut food and fork is used to carry food into mouth. If you need to put down the knife and fork during the dinner, you should put them on both sides of the plate, and knife and fork should be put in the way that looks like the Chinese word “八”. After dinner (or you do not want to eat any more), you should put the fork and knife parallel on the plate with the fork’s reverse side up. That means you have finished the dinner. You can use knife and fork in a French way that handle fork in your left hand and knife in the right hand; you can also use them in an English way that handle knife in your left hand and fork in the right hand. It depends on your own.

2.2.2.2 Spoon

Usually there are two kinds of spoons: the big one is soup spoon and the small one is dessert spoon. Soup spoon is always put on the outermost right side, together with the knife. Dessert spoon is put together with desert knife and fork.

2.2.2.3 The right order to use tableware

Although there are so many tablewares at western dinner, the rule for using tablewares is simple. The right order to use tablewares is to pick from outside to inside. There is an exception that when salad is sent together with entrée, the knife and fork that closest to the plate are salad knife and fork. The salad plate is on the left of the dinner knife and fork. If there is no salad plate, salad knife and fork will send together with salad. The other exception is that oyster fork is on the right hand of dinner plate, which is on the outmost side of tablewares. Spoons are on the right hand of forks. The outmost one is soup spoon; the one between knives and soup spoon is dessert spoon; the leftmost one is dessert fork. Usually, in order to distinguish dessert tablewares from other tablewares, people used to put the dessert tablewares above the dinner plate.

Napkins are also important in western dinner. After sitting down, you can drink appetizer and