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In cross-culture communication, the misunderstandings caused by culture barrier appear frequently. Sometimes well-meaning talking might make people embarrassed. So, studying the differences between different cultures and studying the right actions of cross-culture communication are necessary. The purpose of knowing the differences of table manners is to understand the present cross-cultural situation and to have a better idea of people’s relationships by avoiding unnecessary misunderstanding and mistakes. Comparing the table manners of China and western countries and keeping pace with the changing world can be more meaningful to all people.
This thesis mainly focuses on the differences of table manners. It introduces the connotations and features of Chinese and western table manners, and it shows us the manifestations of these differences. Beside these, it makes an analysis of the reasons, which helps people have a deeper understanding of Chinese and western cultures.
2. Literature Review
In the past few years, many studies have been done and published on the reasons of table manner differences between China and western countries. Early researches on tableware also do a lot of contributions to today’s table customs. There is no doubt that Chinese people commonly use chopsticks, the main cutlery in the Chinese meal. People use spoon for drinking soup or assisting chopsticks to ladle food; while cup is used for containing tea, water, beverage, juice and so on, but not wine. Wet towel is used for wiping hands before meal, so you can not use it for wiping mouth and face, but after a meal, it can be used to wipe mouth. Knife and fork of western meals are like chopsticks of Chinese meals. They play a leading role in western tableware. There are some basic principles, for example, the knife is held in the right hand and the fork in the left hand. And in a formal western meal there must be at least two spoons. The big spoon is the soup spoon placed on the upper right of the plate alongside of knife and fork. The small one is the dessert spoon. In addition, hot towels are replaced by napkins. The shape of napkin has rectangular and square. When dining, the large napkin can be folded diagonally and placed on the lap with the point facing your knees.
As the saying goes “bread is the staff of life.” Food is very important to human beings. At present, a numbers of research workers embark on the explorations of table etiquette. According to what Chen Hua and Wang Yipei said, (2011) there are many differences in tableware, seating protocol and table culture between China and the west. Studying these differences is good for promoting cultural exchanges between China and the west. Duan Jie and Chen Qian (2008) kick table etiquette around, too. In the book, they expound some general knowledge of table etiquette. And it gives an account of many manners following the process of a banquet. What’s more, it tells about the etiquette in different occasions. Zhu Shimei (2013) has made a thorough inquiry of table etiquette from the aspect of dining. Wang Juan analyzed the table etiquette from the aspect of taboos. Yu Feng (2011) talked about table etiquette from the dinnerware, mainly from the chopsticks and forks. Although, they have made many explorations, there is not a specific exploration on the differences between Chinese and western etiquette following the process of a banquet. From the previous literature reviews, we can see that the study in this field has become more and more significant.
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3. Introduction to Chinese and Western Table Etiquette
Diet is actually the contents of our daily lives. It has special status in Chinese culture, and it also has a great distinction between China and the west.
As one of the world’s ancient nations，China has a history of diet almost as long as that of Chinese civilization. It is documented that Chinese table etiquette formed a relatively complete system, which can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty. It has formed a set of programs, the host sends out the invitations before the date of the dinner in order that the guests have enough time to attend the dinner party. The host must welcome the gusts at the door, where they meet with each other and greet each other. If the dinner party has not started, the host would take the guests to the living room. Then the guests would be treated with fruits and tea. When the dinner starts, the host will take them to the dining room.