Collectivism and Individualism (2)

集体主义与个人主义的比较英文版

ⅠIntroduction

We have heard such things: a student helped an old foreign woman cross the road but received rejection; on the contrary, he did the same thing for an old Chinese woman and got high praise. Also, we have such an experience that our foreign teachers will feel strange when we always remind them to take medicines because they have a cold. Additionally we all know that it is impolite to ask westerners’ age, salary, family and some privacy. So from these cases we know a fact that our Chinese advocate the collectivism, while westerners uphold the inpidualism, which are totally two different kinds of cultural values between China and western countries.

Inpidualism emphasize and respect inpidual right and ability, the inpidualists always pursuit personal honor, inpidual freedom, equality, pioneering spirit and try their best to protect their privacy and work hard to realize their own value. For the westerners, they tend to put the right and privacy in the first place, always more confident in themselves. They hold that everyone is reasonable so everyone should make reasonable choice and make responsibility for them. So westerns often release their hecceity, develop themselves freely, and approve their skills at any time by emphasizing their ability, intelligence, and personality. As we all known, foreigners are good at creating, they are proud of being different and striving to realize their personal value. However, Chinese people are completely different. In fact, the principle of collectivism is “harmony” that our Chinese people are striving for 5000 years. Chinese tend to attach importance to harmony and public responsibility. They are desire to underestimate their skills and contribution to group efforts. They always pursuit the way to be modest, sacrificing under the middle way and harmonious cooperation. And they are easy to obey the authority, respect the elder, unite peers, make promise and try their best to create a harmonious and ordered society. What’s more, for Chinese people, it is vital to obey collectivism and sacrifice inpidual interests to protect public interests when it is necessary. In a word, the first task for Chinese is to maintenance united county and harmonious society, avoid contradiction and consider others’ feelings all the time.

集体主义与个人主义的比较英文版

ⅡThe Different Manifestation of Inpidualism and Collectivism ⅰIn terms of thinking pattern

Inpidualism and collectivism lead to different thinking patterns between westerners and Chinese. For example, when donating, Chinese people consider it as a very glorious event because they think they make a contribution to the poor and country. While when westerners encounter the same situation, they will make a decision according to their facts. They will do if they have enough money, which they recon is beneficial for themselves. Thus they avoid being taxed by the high rate and help the poor at the same time. The first consideration is themselves, not others, which is different thinking pattern from that of Chinese.

ⅱIn terms of behavior pattern

Different values cause different actions between Chinese and westerners. When getting into troubles, Chinese people always obey the saying “look before you leap” and try to make a considerable and comprehensive way to solve it. And they are often told to be refined and courteous man no matter how emergent the situation is. However, westerners can make a quick decision independently that is always offensive. What they want to do is to get out of the troubles, whether the method is the best way is not so important.

ⅲ In terms of family pattern

The family pattern of China and western country is various. You’d better date with them in advance when you want to visit foreigners. Because home is a high private place, which is the most vital privacy for foreigners. Don’t wander away and look around in their rooms. For another aspect, in western family, the children can call their parents’ name directly, which is a distinct example of democracy and equality. But it is relatively relaxed in Chinese family. What’s more, Chinese people are well known for their hospitality and they are not so care about privacy. On the contrary, they are easy to share their happy and sorrow with each other. What’s more, there is little privacy between parents and children.

集体主义与个人主义的比较英文版

ⅳ In terms of interpersonal communication

The inpidualism and collectivism between China and western countries can be reflected in interpersonal communication. Few foreigners deal with official businesses involving personal emotions. “Everyone is equal” is their principle. They hold that they don’t need to consider others’ feelings that they can burden by themselves. However, Chinese people are striving for “guanxi” and “mianzi” at any moment. In Chinese culture, harmony is the first, “guanxi” and “mianzi” are crucial culture values among Chinese, so in China, “social connects” is much better than skills. We all have such experiences that we are upset to refuse others’ requirements, even though we have no ability to satisfy them. We are afraid of losing face and not giving others’ face.

Ⅲ The historical Reason of Inpidualism and Collectivism

The westerners’ inpidualism and Chinese collectivism can be traced back to their histories respectively. The unification of Qin dynasty had laid the foundation of the formation and consolidation of Huaxia culture and civilization. Since than, self-sufficient feudal natural economy had established the dominated status. Under this circumstance, people desired to develop the agricultural economy in a relatively peaceful environment and Confucianism became the dominated thought. Hence, there is more “harmony”, less “dispute” in Chinese culture. However, in western countries, at t …… 此处隐藏：5082字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……