Intercultural Communication and Conflicts between Chinese and Western Cultures-.doc

Intercultural Communication and Conflicts between Chinese and Western CulturesAbstract: During the intercultural communication between Chinese and Western countries, examples of cultural conflicts are very common, seriously affecting the smooth progress of exchanges. So it is necessary to find out the deeper reasons and to take certain measures to develop the ability of intercultural communication, avoiding cultural conflicts.Key words: intercultural communication, cultural differences, cultural conflictsWith China's gradual opening up to the outside world, the people and things from Western society more and more come into our vision. At the same time, foreign people are more familiar with Chinese things. The transnational, cross-national and cross-cultural economic and social interactions will be increasing, which provides us with a lot of opportunities to contact and interact with Westerners. We will know more about other countries cultures. But this is not a simple matter, because we are facing people from different and unfamiliar cultures and countries. Their way of thinking, way of life and behavior are different from ours. So it is inevitable that we will confront the emergence of the phenomenon of cultural conflicts in the interaction process.1. Cultural conflicts that are very often in the intercultural communication  There are many kinds of cultural conflicts in the communication between Chinese and Western people. We cannot describe them one by one. So in the following, only several ones that are very common are listed.1.1 Conflicts in privacy aspectsChinese people's concept of privacy is relatively weak. People like to share secrets with other people. They think that individual belongs to the group. People should consider the factor of solidarity. When people are together, they are often very willing to understand other people's ups and downs, and the opposite side is also willing to be honest and tell other people about their worries. Westerners attach much importance to personal privacy. They pay attention to their individual space. They have the right to protect their own privacy. And they do not want to mention too much of their own thing to others. Even they are reluctant to let others intervene in their personal things. So, in the problem of privacy, Chinese and the west often face conflicts. In China, for example, for the first meeting, people will often ask each other's age, marital status, job, or even income. In the eyes of the Chinese people, this is an act of courtesy or even a way to show caring. Chinese people also think this will shorten the distance between people, promoting their communication. But in Western eyes, this is considered to be a violation of their privacy and they dont like this. 1.2 Conflicts in the concept of timeWesterners have a strong sense of time. Westerners concepts of time and money are linked together. The concept that time is money is deeply ingrained. In daily life, they always make considerate plan and arrangement about their time. So they cherish time and develop a good habit of going to an appointment on time. They will not waste other peoples time, as well as their own. In the West, if you want to visit someone, you have to provide in advance a notice or an agreement, and explain the purpose of visit, the time and the place. A careful plan must be made. If all these have been solved, you could pay a visit to someone. Chinese people are with considerable arbitrariness in the use of time. They generally do not do strictly according to the plan like Westerners. Chinese could visit their friends casually and at any time, or even anywhere, in what way. If they are late for an appointment, just say something like “Im sorry”. Then things are solved. It doesnt matter. 1.3 Conflicts in polite language   Chinese people pay attention to be humble. They put the emphasis on that “Looking down on one to show respect to others”. They see this as a virtue. This politeness phenomenon is rich of Chinese cultural characteristics. This has become a tradition from the history. In Western countries, when they are commended, they are always very pleased to say “Thank you” to show acceptance. We think that Westerners are too self-confident and immodest. They focus too much on themselves. When Westerners hear that Chinese people deny others praise to them, or hear them deny their own achievements, or even Chinese people resign themselves worthless, they would be very surprised that Chinese people are dishonest. They think people should be natural to accept other peoples praise. 1.4 Conflicts in the aspects of dining customs      The Chinese nation is known as the fine tradition of warm hospitality. In Chinese feasts, people tend to toast each other and give cigarettes to each other. In Chinese banquets, even though the delicious food filled the whole table, the owner always used to say a few “excuse me” sentences. This is their way to show courtesy. The owners sometimes would use chopsticks to pick up the food and give it to the guests bowl by every possible means to persuade the guests to eat more vegetables and drink more alcohol. They always say that they have had a bad host. Maybe this is their way to make the guests at home. In Western countries, people emphasize respect for individual rights and personal privacy. So they will not do inconsiderate things. They pay more attention to the communication. When having dinner, they will not pick up food into your bowl at their own willing. They will just say “make yourself at home”. They would let you eat whatever you want. The atmosphere at dinner is very relaxed. They would not use various kinds of means to persuade the guests to drink more. And they do not have you to drink out of control until you are drunk,2. Causes of the phenomenon of cultural conflicts  The phenomenon of cultural conflicts is caused by a variety of reasons. And the fundamental reason is that Chinese and Western countries have different cultures, and different historical backgrounds. This will inevitably lead to peoples difference in the way of thinking, behavior and other aspects. Whats worse, it will even lead to conflicts. In the following, we will specifically come to look at the main reasons.2.1 Difference in mode of thinking Culture may affect peoples views and understandings of the external things. Different countries have different cultures. So it is inevitable that there are differences in peoples mode of thinking. This point is particularly evident in the communication between the eastern and western cultures. Mode of thinking in Western culture often focuses on logic and analysis, while the mode of thinking in Eastern culture often shows intuitive integrity. Due to the influence of traditional culture, Chinese people often pay special attention to intuition, as well as the experience and feeling in the process of understanding. Compared with the western mode of thinking, the mode of thinking in Chinese culture is obviously general and vague. Over time, it will form a mindset. In essence, the mindset tends to ignore the difference of individual things, at the same time exaggerating cognitive attitude which is related to a certain social group, often with emotion. And some are with certain fixed beliefs. Among all the fixed modes, some sets are correct, while others are wrong, which will directly affect the intercultural communication, resulting in communication failure.2.2 Difference in value orientation  Peoples interpersonal skills are produced in the process of socialization. So it is inevitably linked with values. Every culture has its own unique system of value, which is the peoples philosophy of life, moral standards and norms of behavior. This system can help people distinguish between beauty and ugliness, good and evil. But it cannot exist without the specific culture. The criteria of every culture are different. One thing may be regarded as good in one culture, while in another culture, it is treated as bad. However, within their own cultural systems, its existence is treated as reasonable. And we shouldnt understand one standard of value as advanced, and another standard of value behind. We may take Chinese and Western cultures as an example. In Chinese culture, people highly praise the humble politeness and pursue to go with the flow. Do not look like the feisty, and at the same time the social climate is often blocked with too many prominent individuals.In Chinese culture, the collective orientation takes the place of domination. The pursuit of personal development is seen as a serious individualism. It is bound to be condemned. However, in Western culture, people highly value individualism. “Going with the flow” is seen as a lack of enterprising spirit of the performance. It is the synonym of lazy and incompetent. It is not taken by both society and individuals. People oriented thinking is rooted in their hearts. People there highly advocate the independent thinking and the independent judgment. They hold that people should rely on their own ability to achieve their personal interests. In their opinion, personal interests are supreme.