What are the major differences between Chinese and Western cultures?
中国文化和西方文化有什么主要差异？
QUORA网站读者评论：
Jamie Cawley, LIved in China 2012-2018, now Hong Kong
They are very much different flavours of the same basic dish. Take Chinese cooking and Western cooking and you have the prime example of culture in its overall similarity and detailed variation. Chinese steam buns, Westerners bake them, Westerners use Cheese, Chinese use soy sauce, westerners put pork, herbs and spices in a sausage,Chinese put them in a xiaolongbao. Westerners find Chinese food delicious and sometimes a bit odd, Chinese feel exactly the same way about western food.
The culture of the west is much more religiously based then that of China and there are still many strong believers in religions and ideologies in the west, for reasons I, as a westerner myself, cannot quite understand, compared to the gentle cynicism that predominates in China (sometimes called Confucianism).
Contemporary Chinese culture (apart from cooking) is largely taken from the west but that is simply a timing factor - China was economically behind for two hundred years and the first and easiest thing in catching up was to copy existing solutions which were available form the west. Now I am seeing the small start of a Chinese modern culture developing (not just Red and Dragons. China has 40,000 KFCs but the west has yet to get Miantiao widely - but it will!
它们就是把同一种菜煮成不同口味了。以中国烹饪和西方烹饪为例，你就会发现文化的总体相似性和详细的差异。糕点中国用蒸，西方人用烤，西方人用奶酪，中国人用酱油，西方人把猪肉，香草和香料放在香肠里，中国人把它们包进小笼包里。西方人觉得中国菜很好吃，有时也有点奇怪，中国人对西餐的感觉完全一样。
西方的文化比中国的文化更以宗教为基础，西方仍然有很多宗教和意识形态的坚定信仰者，个中原因，作为一个西方人，我不能完全理解，相比之下，在中国占主导地位的是温和的犬儒主义(有时被称为儒教)。
当代中国文化(除了烹饪)很大程度上是从西方借鉴过来的，但这只是时间因素——中国在经济上落后了200年，要迎头赶上，首先也是最容易的事情就是复制西方现有的解决方案。现在我看到了中国现代文化发展的一个小开端(不仅仅是红色和龙)。中国有4万家KFCs，但面条在西方国家还没有得到普遍认可——但它会的!
Oh Kimyee
Many have touched upon family values and education. I'll touch on a slightly different topic: Social grace.
In Western cultures, showing social grace typically involves giving people personal space, providing compliments (when applicable), and being encouraging during rough times. In short, positivity is viewed as an extremely important trait when being courteous with others.
很多人都谈及家庭价值观和教育。我要谈一个稍微不同的话题:社交礼仪。
在西方文化中，展现社交礼仪通常包括给人们私人空间，不吝赞美(如果适用的话)，以及在别人遇到困难的时候给予鼓励。简而言之，积极的态度被认为是礼貌待人的一个非常重要的品质。
In Chinese culture, people value openness even at the expense of feelings as this demonstrates you care. For instance, a Chinese person may comment on how much weight you've gained (with no prompting) and suggest you eat more veggies and cut down on the sugar. To a Westerner, this appears rude as body weight is a sensitive topic. To Chinese folks, this is a normal conversation as someone is merely showing concern in an open manner.
That said, there are certain topics that the Chinese only compliment others on while wrapping their own situation in layers of disguise. The most common topic would be education; Chinese parents absolutely love praising how well other children are performing in school or extracurriculars but will never say that their own child does well (regardless of whether it's true). It ultimately transpires into a humble brag competition.
在中国文化中，人们重视公开，甚至不惜伤害感情，因为这表明你在乎。例如，一个中国人可能会对你评头论足，说你长胖了，让你多吃蔬菜，少吃糖。对于西方人来说，这其实有点粗鲁，因为体重是一个敏感话题。但对中国人来说，这是一种正常的对话，因为有些人只是以一种开放的方式表示关心。
也就是说，在某些话题上，中国人会在恭维别人的同时，用层层伪装来掩饰自己的情况。最常见的话题是教育;中国父母绝对喜欢称赞别人家孩子在学校或课外活动中的表现，但永远不会说他们自己的孩子表现也很好(不管这是不是真的)。它最终演变成一场谦虚的自夸比赛。
Gabriella Crystal Hendricks, studied at Northwest University
I'm sorry for taking so long to answer this question. I thought a lot about this question. And I don't want to answe a question Bc I have to, I want to answer a question Bc I have my own experience and opinion about it.
About money: Chinese people love to share their financial situation with people. And sometimes people will ask you how much money you make every month. Not Bc they care, Bc they want to compare and to see who make more money.
For westerners, it's not polite to ask people's financials. Bc it's none of others business.
我很抱歉花了这么长时间来回答这个问题。关于这个问题我想了很多。我不想因为必须回答问题而回答问题，我想回答的是我对此有经验和看法的问题。
关于金钱：中国人喜欢和别人分享他们的财务状况。有时人们会问你每个月赚多少钱。他们不是因为关心你才问，他们是想比较，看谁赚的钱更多。
对西方人来说，询问别人的财务状况是不礼貌的。这不关别人的事。
来源：三泰虎 http://www.santaihu.com/46110.html 译者：Joyceliu
About spending money: Chinese likes saving money instead of spending. For example, we decorate our house for living, not for feelings. We don't buy extra useless stuff to make our home look beautiful. We buy stuff to use, not for looking. As long as it's still working, we don't get a new one to replace it.
For westerners: people like to make their home cozy and beautiful, sometimes they buy candles and decorations to put it on the table to make it look better.
About who pay the bill: for Chinese people, the elder,the male,the staff instead of the boss, the one who asked people out.
For westeners: ALWAYS PAY FOR YOURSELF
关于花钱:中国人喜欢存钱而不是花钱。例如，我们装饰我们的房子是为了生活，而不是感情。我们不买额外无用的东西，让我们的家看起来更漂亮。我们买东西是为了实用，而不是为了
颜值。只要还能用，我们就不会买新的来代替它。对西方人来说:人们喜欢把自己的家弄得既舒适又漂亮，有时他们会买蜡烛和装饰品放在桌子上，让家里看起来更美。
关于谁买单：对于中国人来说，是年长者，是男性，是员工而非老板，是主动约别人出去的人。
对西方人来说:永远为自己买单
About dating: for Chinese boys, if a boy likes a girl, he would get her number and talk to her, maybe flirt with her and ask her out sometimes without telling the girl that he likes her, if he "felt"the same way, then he will tell her that he likes her and asks her to be his gf. Then if everything goes well, after they became bf and gf,they will go on dates. But sometimes, girls just don't get it. For example, one of my friend gave me medicine when I had a cold. I was grateful about that, but I didn't have a second thought. Bc I thought he was being nice as a friend. He had never said anything or did anything to convey the idea that he likes me. We didn't talk that much, I didn't know him that well, he didn't know me well either. One night, he told me that he liked a girl and he didn't know if he should let her know, I was like sure, why not, the chance is fifty-fifty. So later that night, he sent me a message like he wants me to be his gf. I was totally shocked. So I told him that I was busy at doing my homework and I'll talk to him later. He probably thought I was going to turn him down,so after couple days,I told him that I don't him that much, I can't be his gf. And he texted me back said: I was kidding! So I said that I was kidding too. He was trying to save his dignity. But the truth is I don't even know who he is. But for him, it's about I look down on him Bc he's not good Enough. That's not true. It's just Bc I don't know him well Enough. I don't like his personality either.
关于约会:对中国男孩而言,如果他喜欢一个女孩,他会要到她的电话号码,和她聊天,也许和她调情,偶尔约她出门，而不告诉女孩他喜欢她。如果他“感觉”女孩对他有一样的想法，那么他会告诉她，他喜欢她，请她做他的女朋友。如果一切顺利，当他们成为男朋友和女朋友后，他们会继续约会。但有时候，女孩子就是不明白。例如，我的一个朋友在我感冒的时候给了我药。对此我很感激，但我没有多想。我认为他就只是一个好朋友。他从未说过或做过任何事来表示他喜欢我。我们聊得不多，我也不太了解他，他也不太了解我。一天晚上，他告诉我他喜欢一个女孩，他不知道是否应该让她知道。我说当然要啊，为什么不呢？毕竟胜率有50%对50%。所以那天晚上，他给我发了一条信息，好像想让我成为他的女朋友。我完全震惊了。所以我告诉他我正忙着做我的家庭作业，稍后我会和他谈谈。他可能以为我会拒绝他，所以几天后，我告诉他我不怎么喜欢他，我不能成为他的女朋友。他回我短信说:我是开玩笑的!所以我说我也是在开玩笑。他试图保全自己的尊严。但事实是我甚至都不了解他。但对他来说，这是因为他不够好，我看不起他。那不是真的。我对他不是很了解。我也不喜欢他的个性。
For westerners: ask a girl out that makes a date and both of them know it. They gets to know each other through the dates.then they establish a relationship. If it doesn't work out, no hard feelings.
对西方人来说:约一个女孩出去约会，他们都知道这意味着什么。他们通过约会了解彼此。然后他们建立恋爱关系。如果没有成功，也不会难过。
Louis Cohen, retired programmer; little or no tolerance for BS
One big aspect is attitudes toward groups vs individuals. Western culture, especially in the USA, stresses individual responsibility and achievement. You work for yourself, not your extended family much less your state or city or even country.
一个重要的方面是对群体和个人的态度。西方文化，尤其是在美国，强调个人的责任和成就。你是为自己工作，而不是为你的大家庭，更不用说你的州、城市甚至国家了。
Stephen Pogson
Plenty.
Most prominent is that the West has a morality & culture based upon Christianity; whereas China’s is influenced by Taoism & Confucianism.
Whilst Chinese culture has generally been a smooth evolution over about 4,000 years, the West has moved forward in fits and spurts (often due to religious changes and wars). We had the Greeks, the Romans, the Normans, then the Dark Ages until the Renaissance & then the Enlightenment.
Most notably, China is one country & has been since the first Emperor from Qin. The West is a mass of changing countries; for example Yugoslavia existed until the 1980s but is now Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia. Germany only came into existence (& Belgium) in the latter 19th Century.
有很多差异。
最突出的是西方有以基督教为基础的道德文化;而中国受道教和儒教的影响。
中国文化在大约4000年的时间里一直平稳地发展，而西方是断断续续地发展(通常是由于宗教的变化和战争)。我们有希腊人，罗马人，诺曼人，然后是黑暗时代直到文艺复兴和启蒙运动。
最值得注意的是，中国是一个国家，自秦始皇之后就一直是一个国家。西方是一群不断变化的国家;例如，南斯拉夫直到1980年代才存在，但现在是克罗地亚、塞尔维亚、黑山、波斯尼亚。德国是在19世纪后期才出现的(比利时也是)。
Patrick Edwin Moran, lived in Taiwan 7 yrs, studied Chinese & philosophy since 1960, && hist. culture
I don’t even know enough to characterize Western culture. Chinese culture is even longer in extent, and it has lots of things that I’ve vaguely heard about but haven’t seen for myself.
The freshman course in Western Civilization took an entire year. A similar course abut Chinese culture would take a second year. Even then it woiuld be difficult to synthesize that much information.
我不知道该如何描述西方文化。中国文化的历史更为源远流长，有很多东西我隐约听说过，但我自己没有看到过。
大一的西方文明课程花了整整一年的时间。与中国文化类似的课程需要两年的时间。即使那样，合成这么多信息也很困难。
Chinese culture aims at a society characterized by organic unity working for the benefit of all individuals in the world. Western culture thinks that is stupid, probably impossible, and tends to think of all problems in terms of “me,” then “my family and friends,”…, then several levels on down there is some vague idea that “we’re all in this together.” Nevertheless, we go hell-bent for global disaster because “me and my friends” want to have a high-energy lifestyle and make money, so to hell with our great grandchildren.
中国文化的目标是建立一个有机统一的社会，为世界上所有个人谋福利。西方文化认为这是愚蠢的，可能是不可能的，并且倾向于用“我”、“我的家人和朋友”来思考所有的问题……尽管如此，我们还是为全球灾难而拼命，因为“我和我的朋友”想要高耗能的生活方式，想赚钱，所以我们的子孙后代见鬼去吧。
Lee Thé, native Californian; BA Sociology UCLA; backgrounds in advertising, school teaching, but mostly computer mag...
culture?
There's a fascinating book about this: The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and why, by Richard Nisbett. Politics & Social Sciences. It's based on a bunch of cross-cultural psych experiments, designed and conducted by a team of Asian and Western researchers.
文化吗?
关于这方面有一本很有意思的书:《思维的地理:亚洲人和西方人思维的不同及原因》，理查德·尼斯贝特著。政治与社会科学。它基于一系列跨文化心理实验，由亚洲和西方的研究人员设计和实施。
Here's one of the test diagrams:
They found that 80% of Chinese gave one answer, while a similar proportion of Westerners gave the other.
The author speculated that a lot of the differences they found stemmed from the kind of culture needed to farm rice vs. the one needed to farm wheat.
下面是一个测试图:
他们发现，80%的中国人给出了一个答案，而同样比例的西方人给出了另一个答案。
作者推测他们发现的许多差异来自于种植水稻和种植小麦的不同文化。
Read the book if you want to see more of that team's findings about the two cultures. It did not say one was better than the other--just very different, and often leading members of one culture to see members of the other as behaving improperly or even immorally.
如果你想了解更多关于这两种文化的研究成果，那就读读这本书。它并不是说某一种文化比另一种文化好——只是两者非常不同，常常会导致一种文化的成员认为另一种文化的成员行为不当，甚至不道德。
Sikandar Azam Khan Alizai, studied at Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degrees
The following are the differences between china and the west, in my opinion
There is still more familial bond in chinese in comparison with the west.
Approach to the world dominance
People of china dont have huge ego issues
Respect for elders is more
Chinese still dont occupy or attack countries
There is still a difference of gender in china
The level of frustration is low which is why in chinese chulture mass murdering is not common
在我看来，以下是中国和西方之间的差异
与西方相比，中国还有更多的家庭纽带。
正走向世界主导地位
中国人不会太自我
更为尊敬长者
中国至今不占领或攻击别国
依然存在性别差异
中国人不满程度较低，所以中国文化中大规模自杀并不常见
Spiritualism is still a part of chinese culture
And vice versa for the western culure.
In summary, culturally china in my opinion stands way taller than the western culture. In the west people want to feel themselves to be answerable to no one, thr reason of cultural downfall i consider; where in china people are yet to reach those limits.
唯灵论仍然是中国文化的一部分
西方文化也是如此。
总之，在我看来，中国文化比西方文化高深得多。西方人觉得自己不需要对任何人负责，我认为这是文化衰落的原因；在中国，人们还有发展空间。
Simon Wang, lived in Taipei (1991-1999)
Here are 8 illustrations which juxtaposes the cultures of the West (blue) and East (red). These are generalizations, of course, so these illustrations aren’t true of all Chinese people or Westerners.
以下是8张阐述中西文化差异的图，蓝色是指西方，红色指东方。
这只是泛化，并非代表所有中国人，也并非代表所有西方人
1) Dealing with problems.
处理问题
2) The individual.
个人
3) Transportation.
交通
4) Expressing an opinion.
表达观点
5) Sunshine.
阳光日照
6) Society and senior citizens.
社会和老年人
7) Networking.
交流
8) Streets on Sundays.
周日的街道
My own background, in case you’re interested. I was born in Taipei and lived there for 8 years. Then I immigrated to California and have lived here ever since. I’m in my mid-20s.
我出生在台北，在台北住了8年，后来移民加州，并一直生活到现在。我现在20来岁。
Nic Ngu, Malaysian Chinese
Chinese emphasize on self-depreciation and humility. Chinese parents and educators try not to give too much positive comments on their kids so that they won't fail due to overconfidence. We believe that kids should understand that they still have a long way to go in terms of study or anything else. The downside is that kids often develop lower self-esteem.
Western culture is the other way round. Parents and educators in many western countries rarely give negative comments about a child. Western parents and teachers will always try to say something nice about a kid. Western kids often grow up to be confident which is usually a good thing, but too much confidence can be bad as well.
中国人强调自我贬损和谦虚。中国的父母和教育工作者尽量不给孩子太多正面的评价，这样他们就不会因为过于自信而失败。我们相信孩子们应该明白他们在学习或其他方面还有很长的路要走。但不利的一面是，孩子们往往自尊心更容易受到伤害。
西方文化恰恰相反。许多西方国家的家长和教育工作者很少对孩子做出负面评价。西方父母和老师总是试图说孩子的好话。西方的孩子在成长过程中往往会变得自信，这通常是件好事，但过于自信也可能是件坏事。
Isaiah Pablo
There’s lots of differences. Some are as follows.
Harmony - In ancient Chinese culture, harmony with the universe is emphasized. There’s an order of things that you ought to follow in order to be successful. That’s why China often preserved it’s natural resources because it realized how important it was for it’s survival. Western culture is about imposing your will. You make things happen. You have to work hard and achieve the impossible regardless of what happens. That’s why you often see nature being destroyed in western societies.
Individuality vs. Hierarchy - Chinese culture has a collectivist society. Conforming to a group is very important. They do what’s best for the family and it affects their careers, dating lives, list goes on. If a boss disrespects a Chinese person, he/she is expected to take the insult. Preserving harmony and knowing your place in society is more important than yourself. This isn’t the case in Western culture. The person is more important than a group. You have your own values, choices, opinions, etc.
Success - In Western culture, success is defined by the outside world. Your self worth depends on your achievements and successes. In Chinese society, success is found inside of yourself. You find yourself by eliminating the “false” self and being self-aware. Virtue is highly valued.
有很多不同。比如：
和谐——中国古代文化强调宇宙万物的和谐。要想成功，你需要遵循一系列的事情。这就是为什么中国经常保护它的自然资源，因为它意识到这对生存的重要性。西方文化则在于强加你的意志。是你让事情得以发生。无论发生什么，你必须努力工作，完成不可能的事情。这就是为什么你经常看到西方社会的自然遭到破坏。
个性与等级——中国文化是一个集体主义社会。服从一个团队是非常重要的。他们会做对家庭最有利的事情，这会影响他们的事业，约会生活，等等。如果老板不尊重中国人，他/她就会受到侮辱。坚持和谐，了解自己在社会中的地位比你自己更重要。在西方文化中并非如此。人比群体更重要。你有自己的价值观、选择、观点等等。
成功——在西方文化中，成功是由外界来定义的。你的自我价值取决于你的成就和成功。在中国社会，成功在于你自己。你通过消除“错误的”自我和保持自我意识来发现自己。美德是很可贵的。
Brian Robert Smith, former Certified General Accountant
This is a short answer relating to the source of the differences, and is just a personal opinion.
Most western philosophy/religion is based on the concept of perfectionism. There are gods, and people are poor images of the gods. If we eliminate all the “faults” we will be perfect. This leads to a binary style of thinking, where everything is right or wrong, and we must eliminate all the “wrongs”. “The road to heaven is straight and narrow”.
Eastern philosophy uses the yin/yang concept, where there is “good and bad, light and darkness, male and female, sun and moon”, built into everything. Every good thing has its faults, and every bad thing has some benefits. In the yin/yang world, “every straight line passes from light into darkness.”
这是一个对差异来源的简短回答，只是我的个人观点。
大多数西方哲学/宗教是基于至善论的概念。上帝是存在的，而人类是上帝的可怜形象。如果我们消除所有的“缺点”，我们就会完美。这导致了一种二元思维方式，一切都是对的或错的，我们必须消除所有的“错误”。“通往天堂的路是笔直而狭窄的”。
东方哲学使用阴阳概念，其中有“好与坏，光明与黑暗，男性与女性，太阳与月亮”并深入到所有事物中。每件好事都有它的缺点，每件坏事都有它的好处。在阴阳世界里，“每一条直线都从光明走向黑暗。”
These philosophies have impacts on the way we form our belief systems, our religions, and our ways of life. In the west, one can only belong to one religion, while in the east, it is possible to believe in many different religions at the same time.
这些哲学影响了我们形成信仰系统、宗教和生活方式的方式。在西方，一个人只能信仰一种宗教，而在东方，可以同时信仰多种不同的宗教。
Robert Stephen Campbell, Lived in Asia ten years.
I am sure that somewhere, sometime, I must have read a cleverly worded statement explaining that people start life believing that what they see and hear around them is normal. Too many people go through life believing that THAT “normal” is proper, the only correct way for things to be. Some learn to appreciate ideas from other places and even to look down on their own society. Only a few learn to objectively judge the good, the bad, and the merely different found in different cultures. I hope that I have reached that third level, but I have no guarantees.
I am not knowledgeable enough about Chinese culture or about Western culture in general to do a valid comparison. My perceptions are too mixed. My wife and her sister, born in Japan and raised in Japan, Europe, and the US, are definately Third Culture Kids. “Formally defined, TCKs are people who have spent a portion of their formative childhood years (0-18) in a culture different than their parents’.” They insist that I, too, am a TCK. TCK-ness is one of the things we have in common.
我相信，在某个地方，某个时候，我一定读过一篇措辞巧妙的声明，解释说人们会相信他们开始生活时周围的所见所闻才是正常的。太多的人一生都相信“正常”是正确的，是唯一正确的方式。一些人则学会欣赏其他想法，甚至瞧不起自己的社会。只有少数人学会客观地判断在不同文化中发现的好的、坏的和不同之处。我希望我已经达到了第三级，但我不能保证。
我对中国文化或西方文化的了解还不够多，无法进行有效的比较。我的看法太复杂了。我的妻子和她的妹妹出生在日本，在日本、欧洲和美国长大。正式定义中，TCKs指的是那些童年时期(0-18岁)有部分时间生活在与父辈不同的文化环境中的人，他们所处的文化环境与父母不同。“他们坚持说，我也是个TCK。坦率是我们的一个共同点。
China has the good, the admirable, and the not so good. Please excuse my not pointing fingers.
The West has some good, and some not so good. We [society] constantly argue about which is which.
At this late stage of my life, I am not in a position to judge or choose between East and West.
Thank you for the A2A, sorry that I could not be of more help.
中国有好的，令人钦佩的地方，也有不好的地方。请原谅我没有指指点点。
西方有一些好的，也有一些不那么好的。我们(社会)经常争论哪个是哪个。
在我生命的晚期，我无法在东方和西方之间做出判断或选择。
谢谢你的提问，很抱歉我帮不上忙。
Steven Williams, former English Teacher at Shane English Schools
There isn't such a thing as ‘Western Culture’. I wouldn't really call Chinese culture a thing either.
没有所谓的“西方文化”。我也不认为中国文化是一回事。
Let me explain why.
The West, as you put it, is made up of numerous different countries that speak many languages, have many customs and ways of life that often conflict with one another.
China also has this. A ginormous country that has 57 recognised ethnic groups is going to have a lot of cultural diversity. Going into a Uyghur household in Xinjiang is going to be a totally different experience from entering a Han household in Beijing or a Mongal household in Inner Mongolia.
让我来解释一下原因。
正如你所说的，西方是由许多不同的国家组成的，他们说着不同的语言，有着不同的风俗习惯和生活方式，经常互相冲突。
中国也有。一个拥有57个民族的巨大国家将会有很多文化多样性。去到新疆的维吾尔族家庭与北京的汉族家庭或内蒙古的蒙古族家庭将是完全不同的体验。
Charles Bender
The Chinese culture is the same of 4000 years ago, the “Western culture” is a chameleon changes color every century or less than this.
The “Western culture” was born in the Eastern Mediterranean, but people who today are callled “western” had a totally different culture at this time. So the first change happened in the 5 century in the Period of Barbarian Invasion, when the Germanic tribes appropriated the Mediterranean culture. After this happened several changes in their culture, but I believe that one of the biggest ones is when they copied the own Chinese culture giving origin to several changes including the enlightenment.
Then this question is very vague, you need to better specify what "Western culture" you mean.
中国文化与4000年前一样，“西方文化”是一个变色龙，每过一个世纪或更短时间就会变色。
“西方文化”诞生于地中海东部，但今天被称为“西方文化”的人在那个时候有着完全不同的文化。第一次变化发生在5世纪野蛮人入侵时期，当时日耳曼部落侵占了地中海文化。在这之后，他们的文化发生了一些变化，但我认为最大的变化之一是，他们复制了自己的中国文化，从而引发了包括启蒙运动在内的一些变化。
那么这个问题就很模糊了，你需要更好地说明你所说的“西方文化”是什么意思。
转自西诺网
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