摘 要

饮食文化差异是中西方文化差异中的一个突出的表现，研究饮食文化是研究跨文化交际的重要内容之一。中国自古以来重视饮食，对此方面的研究也十分丰富。但大部分研究都站在中方的角度上，不够客观，从而忽视了西方饮食的优点。而西方对饮食文化的研究较少，大都只涉及营养学方面，对其起源与历史介绍的较少。本文从食器的角度出发，从地理环境，宗教和饮食观念三个方面对比分析了中西方饮食文化的差异。筷子与刀叉，这些简单的食器不仅代表了饮食文化的不同，也显示出了中西方两种文化体系的差异。饮食文化是一个民族文化的缩影，了解和学习饮食文化，能够帮助我们开阔眼界，吸收更多优秀的文化，适应时代的发展。

关键词：饮食文化；食器；环境；宗教；饮食观念

Abstract

The difference of diet culture is an important aspect in the cultural differences between China and western countries. The study of diet culture is part of the important contents of intercultural communication. So far, China has attached great importance to food and the researches on it are also very rich. But most of the studies are from the perspective of Chinese culture, which are not objective enough and ignore the advantages of western diets. However, there are few researches on diet culture in the west, and some are only related to nutrition. This paper, from the view of tableware, analyzes differences between Chinese and western diet culture in three aspects: geographical environment, religions and diet concepts. As for chopsticks, knives and forks, the simple tableware not only represents the different food culture, but also shows the differences between the two cultural systems in China and the west. Diet culture is an epitome of a national culture. Therefore, understanding and studying diet culture can help people broaden horizon, absorb more excellent culture and adapt to the development of the times.

Key Words: diet culture; tableware; geographical environment; religion; diet concept

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background of studying diet culture 1

1.2 The purpose and significance of this paper 2

1.3 The layout of this paper 3

2 The Different Origins of Tableware due to Geographical Environment 5

2.1 The origins of Chinese tableware 5

2.2 The origins of western tableware 6

3 The Different Habits of Using Tableware because of Religions 9

3.1 The religious factors in China 9

3.2 The religious factors in the West 10

4 The Different Diet Concepts in China and the West 12

4.1 Chinese diet concepts 12

4.2 Western diet concepts 14

5 Conclusions 16

References 17

Acknowledgements 19

Analyzing the Different Diet Culture between China and the West from the Perspective of Tableware

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of studying diet culture

In the 21st century, mankind came into the age of information and technology. Globalization becomes an unavoidable trend with the communication among countries and regions increasingly deepening. More and more individuals can easily travel to other countries and gain a better understanding of various endemic cultures, especially the diet culture. China and the west, because of their different history and geography, have formed two distinct kinds of diet cultures. The collision, the exchange as well as the combination between Chinese and western food culture promotes the development of human civilization. Therefore, analyzing and comparing diverse diet culture between China and the west is one of the most important methods of studying cross-cultural communication.

Diet culture constitutes an indispensable part of a national culture. “It is a generic concept related to natural science, social science and philosophy” (Wang, 2006:2). There is a wide range of diet culture. The developments of food raw materials, food production processes and customs, traditions, thinking and philosophy on the basis of the diet all can be described as the contents of the diet culture. It is not formed overnight, but over time and passes through historical precipitation and eventually creates a kind of culture with national characteristics. Therefore, diet culture of a country or a region often can be regarded as the national and regional cultural epitome. “Collective dining system” in China, for example, indicates the Chinese collectivism, while the “individual dining system” in western countries is the embodiment of the western individualism. Diet culture is a small but the most familiar part of daily life. It can reflect the entire culture. Then, we can understand Chinese and western culture more easily and vividly by studying diet culture.