摘 要

婚礼是一个人一生中最为重要的时刻，也是文化的重要组成部分。婚礼习俗往往能够反映一个地方的文化特征与民俗特色。中西方文化背景、价值观念不同，婚礼习俗也各具特色。中国的传统婚礼是谨慎而严肃，西方基督教国家的婚礼则是随意而轻松。

本文从中西方婚礼前、婚礼举行程序和婚礼后的差异,对比了中西方婚礼习俗差异。研究发现，在不同的文化背景和文化指引下，婚礼习俗各不相同。每个国家在举行婚礼时，都是带有各自的不同文化特色。婚礼习俗体现了中西方文化差异，此项研究能够让人们对不同文化有深入的了解，从而更好地促进跨文化交流。

关键词：婚礼习俗，差异，婚礼过程，婚姻观

Contents

Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………………… i

Abstract (English)…………………………………………………………………………………..ii

Abstract (Chinese)…………………………………………………………..……………… …….iii

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Significance of the Research 1

1.3 Organization of the Thesis 2

Chapter 2 Literature Review 3

2.1 Studies Abroad 3

2.2 Studies at Home 3

2.3 Summary 4

Chapter 3 Chinese and Western Wedding Differences 5

3.1 Preparations for Marriage 5

3.2 Wedding Ceremony 6

3.3 After Wedding Activities 7

3.4 Different Views on Marriage 8

3.5 Summary 9

Chapter 4 Conclusion 11

4.1 Major Findings of the Study 11

4.2 Implications 12

4.3 Limitations and Suggestions 12

Bibliography 13

Differences of Chinese and Western Wedding Customs

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Research Background

Marriage is the symbol of the development of human civilization. With the development of Chinese and western cultures, and different cultural background, distinctive wedding customs have been formed. Wedding customs will represent the cultural characteristics and folklore characteristics.

About the wedding customs, different countries have different styles. China and western country have differences on the wedding customs. From the different wedding customs, we can see that these countries have different cultures and other customs in their life.

1.2 Significance of the Research

Wedding custom is one part of differences of Chinese and western culture. It can make people learn more about different culture. Marriage is important for everyone and it is an important part of the culture. Marriage can improve the relationship of families and the communication of people. Moreover, it can promote the development of cultures.

From this thesis, we can see that Chinese wedding is precise and serious. On the contrary, western wedding is relaxed and random. The different cultural background and value is the reason of the differences of wedding customs. And it is conducive to promote Chinese and western cross-cultural communication.

1.3 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis is divided into four parts. The first part is about the preparations for marriage, including Chinese wedding preparation and western wedding preparation. Different countries have different preparations before wedding. The second part focuses on the wedding ceremony, including Chinese wedding ceremony and western wedding ceremony. This part will probes that different ceremonies about Chinese and western wedding. It researches from the beginning of the ceremony, during the ceremony and the end of the ceremony. The third part is about after wedding activities, including after Chinese wedding activities and after western wedding activities. The last part probes into the differences of view of marriage, including attitudes toward love, life styles and faiths to marriage. This thesis will probe into the differences of Chinese and western wedding customs from this four parts.

Chapter 2

Literature Review

The customs of different Chinese and western wedding are various. On the wedding ceremony, Chinese and western people have their own style. Because of this, many scholars at home and abroad have done a lot for researches on it.

2.1 Studies Abroad

About the wedding customs, western countries pay more attention to freedom and random. And they put the feeling at the first place. In their mind, the freedom of love and marriage are important for them. In America, before getting married, the young couples will sign a wedding contract at law office. The contract is about the property ownership and housework after their wedding. Besides, on the wedding ceremony, every man can kiss the bridegroom. In America, it is usual and free. After wedding ceremony, the young couples will go on a honeymoon and begin their happy life. It says that the custom of honeymoon starts from Germany. At that time, after wedding, people will travel to a beautiful place and they will drink sweet water or alcohol 30 days. It means that the beginning of their happy life.

Scholars from aboard, such as Tad Tuleia(1991), and Westermarck(2009) have done some research on the subject early. For example, Tad has mentioned the wedding custom in his curious customs. He tells us American customs, such as love, marriage and religion etc. In addition, Westermarck points out some ideas about the wedding custom in The History of Human Marriage. The famous Westermarck Effect is that two children will not be interested to each other in the sex if they live together every day. Their research is useful for the later study of western wedding customs.

2.2 Studies at Home