Conflicts and differences in cultural exchanges between China and the West

First, the West attaches importance to rationality and thinking, while China attaches importance to experience and intuition.

Greek philosophy is the source of western philosophy, and ancient Greece has a strong interest in nature. They care about the origin of the world, the relationship between subject and object, and how things develop and change. Although their observation and practice under simple instruments lack logical coherence and rational methods are not systematic, people's direct observation is always filled with the color of rational thinking, and abstract thinking is the characteristic of western thinking. As a typical representative of the oriental nation, China's traditional way of thinking is characterized by intuition and experience. Various categories of China's ancient science and philosophy were obtained through inward thinking, and concepts were put forward by brewing various experiences and phenomena. The understanding of these concepts is different from the logical deduction of western extroverted thinking. Understanding can only be understood but difficult to express, such as the understanding of Chinese medicine and Qigong, and the appreciation of a calligraphy work and a Chinese painting can only be understood inward to appreciate the ups and downs of the author's charm.

Second, the detailed analysis of the West and the overall synthesis of China.

Western cultural structure is good at detail analysis, while eastern cultural structure is good at overall synthesis. For example, in the arrangement of surnames, Chinese surnames first come from clan names and generations, followed by their own names, and the clan as a whole stands out. Western countries put their names first, then their fathers' names, and then their surnames, with themselves being the most prominent. For another example, in the order of writing and expressing time and address, China people are used to taking year, month and day as the order from the largest to the smallest, while the address is sorted by province, city and county to the house number, which highlights the separation relationship from the whole to the individual, while westerners and China people express it in the opposite order, highlighting the synthetic relationship from the individual to the whole. It can be seen that in the spiritual culture and ideological structure of the Chinese nation, the comprehensive view from the whole occupies a prominent position, and this comprehensive holistic view usually ignores the details and component analysis when examining things, and often provides a vague overall picture of the object.

Second, China and the West have different emphases and persistence in the relationship between man and nature.

Professor Du Weimin believes that "the object of China culture is people". The relationship between people is the core of China culture. People are based on real life, so political ethics is quite developed. Western culture pays more attention to nature, and the relationship between man and nature is the central topic of ancient Greece, from which rationality and technology are derived. China's philosophy is a philosophy of life regardless of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Confucianism seeks action, Taoism seeks longevity and Buddhism seeks enlightenment. Confucianism is based on Confucius' thought, and the core of Confucius' thought is "benevolence". What is "benevolence"? Confucius said, "The benevolent loves others!" It can be seen that it is the knowledge of how to be a man. The interest lies in expounding a set of ethical relations between people, such as monarch, minister, father and son. The purpose of self-cultivation is to realize one's political ambition-governing the country and leveling the world. Pure scientific research and all natural sciences have become behaviors and interests that most people disdain to choose.

China culture also has its own insistence on the relationship between man and nature. An important feature of China's culture is "harmony between man and nature", which personifies nature, pursues the melting of human spirit in nature and the harmonious state of breathing between man and nature. China's culture is deeply rooted in the earth, and China's culture has attached importance to agriculture from the beginning, which is why "among the four people, scholars are the lower peasants" and "food is the sky for the people". Taoist thought is a masterpiece that makes people miss life and seek comfort in nature.

Ancient western science lies in the exploration of nature, so famous professional scientists such as Pythagoras and Archimedes appeared in the west very early. On the relationship between man and nature, western culture thinks that man and nature are in a state of opposition, which leads to a different attitude towards nature from China culture, that is, man should conquer and control nature, emphasize the opposition between man and nature, and regard nature as a hostile force. Homer's epic is purely about overseas distress and conquering nature, and their games are all characters growing up in the storm of nature. West Renye Fang talked about the relationship between people, but the first concern was not ethics but competition, so the law of "survival of the fittest" appeared.

Third, the differences between Chinese and Western values and life pursuit.

The differences between Chinese and western values and life pursuits are manifested in all levels of social life.

First, China and the West have different life values.

With the support of feudal autocracy, the values provided by Confucianism to China people have gradually become a deep-rooted belief in life. As the spiritual pillar of China's culture for more than two thousand years, this belief in life holds that the value of life lies in secular achievements. The more a person has achieved in society, the more meaningful his life will be. In an authoritarian society, power is everything. Therefore, the greatest thing a person can do is to realize his ambition politically. The grand ideal of ruling the country and leveling the world with the family rules the lives of millions of China literati. Influenced by this unified outlook on life, most people are unwilling to care about natural science, which leads to science being trapped in the bud. In addition, people's wisdom and talents are concentrated on politics, creating a unique unpredictable, substantial and ultra-stable political and cultural model in the world. In this special mode, a unique historical phenomenon in China has emerged: being an official is unsuccessful and seeking to be a saint; If you can't serve your country, you will retire, or you will sing poetry and drink, so Taoism and Buddhism will rise. Greedy people must go to monasticism, while world-weary people might as well read Buddhism. However, in western culture, the value of life is diversified. Politics is also the realization of the value of life, and business is also considered to be quite valuable. The best occupations in the eyes of westerners are lawyers and doctors.

Second, the western individual standard and China's family standard.

Modern western humanism was born on the theological background, and the concept of original sin is deeply rooted in the west. Therefore, the moral orientation of westerners is that individuals are responsible for themselves and atone for God through personal struggle, which leads to a Christian meaning, that is, "everyone is equal before God." When God was denied, the concept of social atom came into being in the west: the individual is an atom, and exists without relying on anyone. No one can infringe on individual rights and believe in individual standard and egocentrism. This idea of individual standard has influenced all aspects of life. There is a clear line between relatives. Young and old pay separately for meals, and they respect children very much. When you enter the children's room, you should first ask, "Can I come in?" Emphasize that children are proud of their struggle to live independently from their parents and are willing to talk about their own views. China is family-oriented. In the eyes of China people, home is the universe of life, the harbor of life, with supreme cohesion. Being away from home is a "wanderer", emphasizing that "parents are there and don't travel far". There is a relationship between the elderly and husband and wife in the family. We should live in harmony and do our duty, that is, "do our best"! Mencius believes that saints are "human beings", and the core of human relations is "absolute obedience". The youngest son serves the dragon and the wife serves the husband. One of the reasons why family has become so important is "filial piety", which is the root and quintessence of China. China has a culture of filial piety since ancient times. It is said that filial piety governs the world. Family and filial piety originally had great rational significance, but due to excessive emphasis, they eventually became an excessive family consciousness, ignoring the development of individual freedom, "preserving righteousness and destroying human desires" and taking individuals as their life purpose.

Third, the West stresses utility and timeliness, while China stresses ethics.

Due to the development of natural science, western culture pays more attention to utility and effect, and is good at calculating economic accounts. For example, in a big company, if everyone saves a few seconds, it will save several people's time, hire fewer employees and reduce how much expenses. Another example: when a person is writing, it is more time-saving to put the pen tip outward or inward, and how to put it is the most effective state.

Because China culture has been in a feudal agricultural society for a long time, its natural science is underdeveloped, and it pays attention to the adjustment of interpersonal relationship. Ritual norms are above everything else, and the dispute between "righteousness" and "benefit" leads to the deviation of values. It is advocated that people sacrifice their own interests in order to conform to certain etiquette norms, and "valuing righteousness over profit" is regarded as noble morality and noble character. What's more, during the "Cultural Revolution", "only the grass of socialism and no seedlings of capitalism" was considered as a political account, not an economic account. Foreign China only considers political influence, not economic interests.