An Analysis of Chinese and Western.docx

An Analysis of Chinese and Western.docx

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AnAnalysisofChineseandWestern

Acknowledgements

Firstly,Iwanttoexpressmygratitudetomysupervisor,Ms.Hu.Becauseofherpatientinstruction,thispaperiscompletedontime.

Secondly,Iwanttothanktheabundantlibraryresourcesandconvenientonlineresourcesofourschool,whichhelpedmequitealot.

Lastbutnotleast,Isincerelythankmyfriends.Wesupporteachotherandsharejoys,andthenwewillalsowelcometheendoffour-yearuniversitylifetogether.

Abstract

Ghosts'cultureisaworldphenomenon.Thereexistsavividandlonghistoryofghosts'culturebothinChinaandinthewest.Becauseofdifferentculturalbackgrounds,oneregion'sghosts'culturecanbeobviouslydistinguishedfromotherregions'.ThroughthecontrastivestudyofthedifferencesandbetweenChineseandwesternghosts'cultureonthesurface,deeperimplicationswillberevealed.Thispaperfirstintroducesthedefinitionandvalueofghostculture,thenpresentsdifferentghosts'conceptsofChineseandwesternpeople.Usually,literaturesandfolkcustomsarethemeanscultureusedtointerprettheworld.Inthiscase,thispaperanalyzesthedifferencesofChineseandwesternghosts'culturefromtheperspectivesofliteratureandfolkcustom,andprobesintothereasonsofthedifferences.Fromthisspecialperspectiveofghosts'culture,peoplecanhaveanunderstandingaboutthedifferencesbetweenChineseandwesternculturalsoastopromotecross-culturalcommunication.

KeyWords:

Chineseandwesternculture;ghosts'culture;ghosts'literature;ghosts'festival;funeral.

摘要

鬼文化是世界性的文化现象，中西方都有着生动、悠久的鬼文化历史。

受文化背景的影响，每个地域鬼文化都有着不同于其它地域鬼文化的鲜明特点。

对中西方鬼文化的比较研究，是从表层次的异同进入到更深层次的文化分析。

这篇论文首先介绍鬼文化的定义以及价值。

其次，分别介绍中西方人对鬼文化的认知。

从文学和民俗的角度对比中西方鬼文化的差异，并在此基础上分析总结出中西方鬼文化差异的原因。

从鬼文化这个特殊的角度出发，人们了解中西方文化差异，从而促进跨文化交际。

关键字：

中西方文化；鬼文化；鬼文学；鬼节日；葬礼

Contents

TOC\o"1-3"\h\uHYPERLINK\l_Toc306041.Induction1

HYPERLINK\l_Toc293852.IntroductiontoGhosts'Culture2

HYPERLINK\l_Toc111372.1DefinitionofGhosts'Culture2

HYPERLINK\l_Toc101762.2.ValueofGhosts'Culture3

HYPERLINK\l_Toc37753.GhostConceptsinChineseandWesternCulture4

HYPERLINK\l_Toc65933.1GhostsConceptsinChineseCulture4

HYPERLINK\l_Toc325573.2Ghosts'ConceptsinWesternCulture5

HYPERLINK\l_Toc103024.AnalysisofChineseandWesternGhosts'Culture6

HYPERLINK\l_Toc69084.1ChineseandWesternGhostsCultureinLiterature6

HYPERLINK\l_Toc192374.1.1ChineseGhosts'CultureinLiterature6

HYPERLINK\l_Toc273754.1.2WesternGhosts'CultureinLiterature7

HYPERLINK\l_Toc241784.1.3DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternGhosts'CultureinLiterature7

HYPERLINK\l_Toc82484.2ChineseandWesternGhosts'CultureinFolkCustoms8

HYPERLINK\l_Toc18344.2.1ChineseGhosts'CultureinFolkCustoms8

HYPERLINK\l_Toc25514.2.2WesternGhosts'CultureinfolkCustoms9

HYPERLINK\l_Toc259424.2.3DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternGhosts'CultureinFolkCustoms9

HYPERLINK\l_Toc183884.3ReasonsforthedifferencesinChineseandWesternGhosts'Culture10

HYPERLINK\l_Toc88924.3.1ReligiousReasons10

HYPERLINK\l_Toc108314.3.2SocialReasons12

HYPERLINK\l_Toc113594.3.3IdeologicalReason12

HYPERLINK\l_Toc304015.Conclusion13

HYPERLINK\l_Toc5397Bibliography15

AnAnalysisofChineseandWesternGhosts'Culture

1.Induction

Ghosts'cultureisaworldwidephenomenon.Althoughitisthemostspecialpartofculture,ghosts'cultureiscloselyconnectedwithmanyotherpartsofculture,suchasliterature,folkcustoms,philosophy,psychology,religion,etc.Itisanimportantpartofculturalnottobeignored.

Actually,theexistenceofghosts'culturecanbedatedbackfromtheappearingofhumancivilization.Ithasinfluencedhumansocialideologygreatly.InChina,ghostresearchhasnowbecomeaspecializedsubject.Inthewesternworld,ghostresearchisverypopularandhasformeditsownbranchoflearning.

Fromthereligiousghostbelieftovarioustaboosindailylife;fromallkindsofliteratureworksonghoststhemetovarioushorrormovies;fromChineseghostfestivaltowesternHalloween;fromscientificresearchtopopularentertainment,suchastheHauntedHouse,ghosts'culturemaintainsenduringstatuswhereverandwheneverthroughoutthehistory.Itattractsalotofscholarsfromdifferentacademicbackgroundintheworld.Thenhowisitformed?

Peoplethinkthattheirthoughtsandfeelingsarenotphysicalbehaviorbutbehaviorofthesoulintheirbodyanddisappearaftertheirdeath.InEngels'sopinion,thereasonwhypeoplethinklikethatisthathumanofhighantiquitydonotknowtheirphysicalstructureandtheyareinfluencedbythesceneintheirdream.（Wang173）.Inremoteantiquity,peoplebegantothinkabouttherelationshipbetweenthesoulandtheworld:

nowthatsoulsexistevenafterdeath,theywillnotdisappearbythemselves.Thentheideaofimmortalsoulsandghostsgraduallyforms.Ghostisafruitbaredbyhumanthoughts.Theremustbesomerelationshipbetweenthemysteriousghostphenomenonandhumansociety.（Fiske6）.Thatistosay,ghostisamirrorthatreflectshumanworld.Oncetheconceptofghostexists,itwillpermeateintopeople'sthoughtsandinfluencetheirviewofworld.（Wang169）.Besides,ghosts'cultureinvolvesmanyotheraspectsofculture.JustasXuHualongmentionedthatghostwasrelatedtomanyacademiccirclessuchasliterature,folk-custom,art,philosophy,psychologyandreligion.（XuHL1）.Hence,researchinghostcultureprovidesagoodfoundationforresearchofliteratureandfolk-custom.（Feng32）.

Inancient,attemptingtocommunicatewithghosts,peoplecreatedwitchcraft,whichformedthebasisoflaterghost-relatedfolk-customs.Theirattempttoexpressghostfeelingsinliteratureandartformedthebasisoflatercorrespondingpartsofghosts'culture

Thispaperanalyzesdifferentghostsphenomenonsunderdifferentculturebackgroundandhowsignificantistheimpactofghostsonculture.Thispaperinterpretstheghosts'cultureintermsofliteratureandfolk-custom.Throughrevealingdifferentvalueshiddenindifferentghosts'culture,itbenefitscross-cultural.

2.IntroductiontoGhosts'Culture

AccordingtoOxfordAdvancedLearner'sEnglish-ChineseDictionary,“ghost”wasdefinedas"thespiritofadeadpersonappearingtosomebodywhoisstilllivingperson".（"Ghost,"def.620）.

Ghosts'cultureismysterious,andalwaysarousesgreatcuriosityofhumanfromancienttimestoourtimes.Afterthousandsyearsofexploration,plentyofsignificantachievementsaremade,suchasghostfictions,ghostfestivals,ghostsartworks.Itisallthesethingscomposedtheghosts'cultureofanarea.

2.1DefinitionofGhosts'Culture

Inlate19century,anthropologistEdwardBurnettTaylorfoundthatbeforethereligioncameintobeing,manwasscaredofdeath.Theyweresurprisedatnotonlythedifferencesbetweendeadbodyandlivinghumanbodybutalsothephenomenonofbreathanddream.（XuXL77）.

Asaresult,theysuspectedthatamanwasconsistedoftwoparts:

thebodyandthesoul.Thusghostconceptcameintobeing.

TheancientChinesephilosopherXunZithoughtghostwasaproductcreatedbyhuman.Peoplethinkthattheyactuallyseetheghost,inXunZi'sview,alwaysundertheconditionofjadedness.Henceghostisapartofhuman'simagination.（XuCC52）.

Asfortheghostculture,asitsliteralmeaningsuggests,itreferstothepartoftheculturerelatedtotheghost.Specificallyspeaking,ghostcultureisakindofillusoryculturalphenomenonthatderivedfromman'sdeath,funeral,necromancyandcult.Andghostculturealsoreferstoaunionpartofman'sbelief,opinion,mentalityandactiontowardghostsincludingitssocialinfluence.（Huang1）.

Soghosts'cultureismorelikeakindofbeliefinarealsense.Superficially,itcanbereferredtodifferentmanifestationshumanusedtoexpressghostsfeelings.

Inaword,humancreatedghosts'culture.Itisanexpressionofhumanthoughtsaboutdeathandareflectionoftherealworld.

2.2.ValueofGhosts'Culture

Researchofghostcultureprovidesagoodfoundationforliteratureandfolk-customresearch.Ghostcultureresearchcanpromotethedevelopmentofliteratureandfolkcustoms.（XuHL10）.Dullandrigidartandliteraryworksarecountlessthroughoutthehistory.However,theycanbegivenanewlifeandbecomecreativeafterghostelementsareinjected.Becauseofghosts,plentyofartisticformsareproduced,suchasJapaneseghostdance,ChineseghostOpera,paintingscreatedbySpanishvampirepainterVictoriaFrances.Artistscreatedtheseartworksbasedontheirunderstandingofghosts'culture.Thatistosay,theseinnovationscouldnotbemadewithouttheadditionofghosts'culture.

Moreover,theresearchofghosts'culturecanrevealtheridiculoussuperstitionsandhelppeopletodealwithitinascientificway.Foralongtime,thesuperstitionofghostispopularinChina.Eventoday,morethanafewpeoplearestillpossessedbyghostsuperstitions.TakearealtragedyhappenedinHaiancountyofJiangsuprovinceforinstance.ThegovernmentpublishedthatgroundburialisbannedpermanentlyforthecitizenslivinginthecountysinceMarch5,1993.Consequently,aboutfortypeoplecommittedsuicidebeforethedatesotoensurethattheirbodiescanbeperfectlyburiedintotheground.Theybelievedthatthatwouldlettheirsoulsfindpeace.Andiftheyacceptcremation,itwouldnotonlydestroytheirremains,butalsoruinthechancereincarnateandlivetheirhumanlifecontinuously.Superstitionsarealsoexistedinthewesterncountries.Accordingtothelatestsurvey,57%Americansconfessthattheybelieveinsuperstitions.And24%Americans