中国茶文化与美国咖啡文化对比研究论.doc

分类号 单位代码 11395 密 级 学 号0803210118学生毕业论文题目 中国茶文化与美国咖啡文化对比研究 作者：朱旭明指 导 教 师 李 洁 专业技术职称 讲 师 学科（专业） 英 语 答 辩 日 期 2012年5月 2012年5月A Contrastive Study on Chinese Tea Culture and American Coffee CultureA Thesis Presented to theFaculty of Foreign Language DepartmentYulin UniversityIn Partial Fulfillmentof the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsbyZhu Xuming May,2012Acknowledgements In the English Department of Yulin University, there are many who deserve my sincere thanks.First, I wish to express my gratitude to Li Jie, my thesis supervisor, and this thesis would not have been completed without her assistance. She is so kind and willing to spare her precious time on my drafts, and never do I see such a patient teacher. She would never lose her temper, though my drafts were in a disorder. She analyzed every part of my thesis that was illogical or existing grammar and spelling mistakes. So here I would like to express my deep gratitude to her. Thank her from the bottom of my heart for her patient instruction and support.Second, I would like to thank all the teachers in the English Department of Yulin University for their wonderful and inspiring lectures.Finally, I want to appreciate my parents, classmates, roommates, and girlfriend. I know it is impossible for me to complete this thesis all by myself. Without their care and help, I could not have finished this thesis on time. So, thanks again. Abstract: Tea and coffee, the representatives of the east and the west, are not just two kinds of drinks, but symbols of two different cultures. Chinese tea culture is extensive and profound. After thousands of years development it has become a great material and spiritual wealth of Chinese. Similarly, American coffee also has cultivated its culture in the long history. The importance of tea to Chinese is what the importance of coffee to Americans. From the perspective of intercultural communication, the thesis makes a contrastive study on Chinese tea culture and American coffee culture. First, it briefly introduces Chinese tea culture and American coffee culture respectively. Then it mainly centers on analyzing the similarities and differences of Chinese tea culture and American coffee culture. It takes further steps to probe into the causes of their similarities and differences. Finally it comes to the conclusion that with the development of globalization, Chinese tea will be more popular in America, so is American coffee in China. Key words: Chinese tea culture; American coffee culture; intercultural communication 摘要：茶和咖啡作为东方和西方的代表，它们不仅仅是两种饮料，更是两种不同文化的象征。中国茶文化博大精深。经过几千年的发展，它已成为中国人民一笔巨大的物质和精神财富。同样，美国咖啡也在漫长的历史中培养了自己的文化。茶对中国人的重要性正如咖啡对美国人的重要性一样。本文从跨文化交际角度，对中国茶文化和美国咖啡文化进行了对比研究。首先，分别简单地介绍了中国茶文化和美国咖啡文化。接着，分析了中国茶文化和美国咖啡文化的异同，并进一步探讨了导致其不同的原因。最后，得出结论，随着全球化的发展，中国茶在美国将更受欢迎，美国咖啡也将在中国更受欢迎。关键词：中国茶文化 美国咖啡文化 跨文化交际Table of ContentsAcknowledgements iAbstract in EnglishiiAbstract in Chinese.iii1 Introduction.11.1 Brief introduction of Chinese tea culture.11.2 Brief introduction of American coffee culture.22 A Contrastive Study of Chinese Tea Culture and American Coffee Culture32.1 Similarities.32.1.1 Common social functions.32.1.2 Common economic functions.52.2 Differences.5 2.2.1 Origin and development.52.2.2 Efficacy. .72.2.3 Drinking art.83 Causes of Similarities and Differences between Chinese Tea Culture and American Coffee Culture 12 3.1 Geographic and cultural reasons.12 3.2 Historical and philosophic reasons.13 4Conclusion.14References.16A Contrastive Study on Chinese Tea Culture and American Coffee Culture1 Introduction1.1 Brief introduction of Chinese tea cultureTea is a kind of drink made by pouring boiling water into the processed tea leaves. In the everyday life of Chinese people, tea is a common drink. Chinese originally called tea “Kia”. As far as is known, it was during the course of the 6th century AD that the name evolved into “Cha”.China is the hometown of tea, and it is also the earliest country that discovered the tea trees, the use of tea and the transplant of tea. Tea is Chinas national drink, originated from Shen Nong, famous in Zhou, beginning in Tang, prospering in Song, and complete in Ming Qing. In China there is a common saying: “a firewood, rice, oil salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day”. Though tea is last on the list, people still can see the importance of tea in Chinese daily life. After thousands of years development, tea gradually formed its own culture and custom during the practice process of social history, and then became a great material and spiritual wealth of Chinese people.Chinese tea culture is a component of Chinas traditional outstanding culture. It mainly refers to the methods of preparing tea, the equipment being used to make tea, the art of drinking tea and the tea ceremony being used etc. The emergence of Chinese tea does a great favor to enhance the spirit and wisdom of human beings to a higher level. It not only has the embodiment of Chinese spiritual civilization, but also the extension of the ideological form. Accordingly, it is beneficial in enhancing the cultural accomplishments and aesthetic appreciations of people. Broadly speaking, tea culture is the occurrence of culture and the development of society, the lineage and accumulation of culture and the essence and character of culture. All the elementary tea knowledge is the foundation of studying tea culture.Tea culture in China is profound and extensive, different from that of Europe, Japan and Korea in such things as preparation methods, tasting methods and the occasions for which it is consumed. Even now, in both casual and formal Chinese occasions, tea is consumed regularly. Teas character is flexible in different environment. For example, as tea goes in a different direction, a different tea culture is formed. Today tea culture is an important carrier of Chinese leisure culture. Tea has had a great influence on the development of Chinese culture. Chinese traditional culture is closely connected with Chinese tea in literature, arts, religion, medicine and philosophy. Tea culture should raise cultural atmosphere standards. The elegance of tea culture highlights the world. Chinese tea culture will have more extensive influence on other parts of the world in the future.1.2 Brief introduction of American coffee cultureJust like tea in the east, coffee has long been a part of daily life in the United States. People can see coffee houses scattered on the streets of US cities like teahouses in the east. It is no secret that US people have a particularly special relationship with coffee. In the west, people always say “If Im not in the coffee house, I must be on the way to the coffee house”. Though it is a simple joke, it reflects the importance of coffee in western countries. In the United States, September 29th is celebrated as “National Coffee Day”, from which people can know how important coffee is in their life. Coffee has a history dating back to at least the 9th century and has been a catalyst for social interaction across cultures and eras. Coffee was first grown and traded in the fifteenth century. Most coffee came from what is now Yemen. Soon, coffee was in high demand all over the Middle East. By the seventeenth century coffee had been introduced to Europe. European traders started bringing coffee plants to other parts of the world. The Dutch brought coffee to the islands of Indonesia. And by the twentieth century, most of the worlds production came from Central and South America. Today, Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world.Coffee plays a large role in history and literature because of the large effects on cultures where it is produced or consumed. Coffee culture describes a social atmosphere or series of associated social behaviors that depends heavily upon coffee, particularly as a social lubricant. The term also refers to the diffusion and adoption of coffee as a widely consumed stimulant by a culture. The formation of culture around coffee and coffeehouses can be dated back to 14th century in Turkey. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, coffeehouses in London became popular meeting places for artists, writers, and socialites and were also the center for many political and commercial activities. Elements of todays coffeehouses have their origins in early coffeehouses, and continue to form part of the concept of coffee culture.Tea and coffee, as two important beverages, play a very significant role in peoples daily life. With the development of the society, China and America have formed their own distinctive tea culture and coffee culture. In the following parts, the thesis centers on analyzing the similarities and differences of Chinese tea culture and American coffee culture, aiming to give people more insights into Chinese tea culture and American coffee culture. 2 A Contrastive Study of Chinese Tea Culture and American Coffee Culture2.1 Similarities2.1.1 Common social functions Tea and coffee are the world two important beverages. They grow in different places, but they share almost the same social functions. China is a country with honored civilization and a land of ceremony and decorum. Chinese people like to use tea to treat guests to show their welcome and respect to the guests. They are all very modest. Even though they treat the guests the best tea, they would say they have no good tea to treat the guests.There are also several special circumstances in which tea is prepared and consumed. For example, the younger generations always show their respect to the older generations by offering a cup of tea, the busy family members always gather in teahouses or restaurants for a family reunion, and the one who in the wrong often make serious apologies to others by pouring tea for them. In addition, children serving tea to their parents is a sign of regret and submission. In the traditional Chinese marriage ceremony, both the bride and groom kneel in front of their parents and serve them tea to express their gratitude. The tea ceremony during a wedding also serves as a means for both parties to meet with each other.Whats more, Chinese scholars always use teahouses for places of sharing ideas. Teahouse is the by-product of Chinese tea culture, but it also the historical evidence of Chinese tea history. Currently, people can also feel such a kind of humanistic atmosphere in Beijing like “Lao She Teahouse”. The same is to coffee. Coffee houses have traditionally served as centers for social interaction, places where people can come to relax, chat, and exchange ideas. It also focuses on the relaxation of life and the reception of guests. Nowadays the life pace is so fast, and peoples nerve is always as tight as a rope, so they want to find places where they can enjoy the beautiful food and the relaxed environment, and drinking coffee is also not a bad choice. If a few friends sit together drinking and laughing, not to think about the annoying work, the danger and cautions of society. Take a small sip of coffee and recall the happy things happened in the past. Just taste the life and then taste the coffee, and people will find they have something in common, bitter and fragrant; strong and sweet. Maybe that's the shadow of life.In a word, drinking tea and coffee plays a significant role in strengthening friendship, maintaining personal relationship, stimulating ones inspiration and relaxing oneself.2.1.2 Common economic valuesBoth tea and coffee, because of its great value of health, their economic values begin to unfold before peoples eyes.In recent years, tea industry in China is developing by leaps and bounds, and the tea export quantity amount repeatedly hit the records in 2010 and 2011. The tea export is about 322,600 tons, the prices rising by 6.66% year by year. It continues to display a prosperous development of the positive results because China is the only one in global tea countries that produces all kinds of tea. So tea with its great economic values really makes more contribution to the economic development of China. Coffee is often mentioned as one of the main economic goods used in imperial control of trade. Coffee in culture or trade is a central theme and prominently referred in much poetry, fiction, and regional history. Behind petroleum, coffee is the second most traded product in the world, and 6.7 million metric tons of coffee was produced annually in 19982000, and the forecast is a rise to seven million metric tons annually by 2010. According to the consumption website M, an American worker pays more than 20 dollars on coffee per week, and the average spending for the whole year is about 1,092 dollars. In recent years, even though the economic growth of the USA slows down, the demand for coffee is not reduced, and it still keeps its stable and powerful posture of consumption according to China financial and economic report in 2009.Tea and coffee, two kinds of beverages, have created great GDP to China and America respectively. As time goes by, the business of coffee and tea will be more popular due to the change of life style and growth of living standard of the America and Chinese, which will further boost their economy in the future.2.2 Differences 2.2.1 Origin and development Tea and coffee are cultivated in different lands for thousands of years, and they have different origins and developing roads. The story of tea begins in ancient China over 5,000 years ago. According to legend, it was Shen Nong, an early emperor, who discovered tea leaves and invented the concept of sipping the drink. He was also famous for his intelligence and great strength, which enabled him to try hundreds of plants in search of effective medicine for people. The story goes that one summer day, while visiting a distant region under his realm, Shen Nong stopped to rest. As some servants began to boil water for the emperor to drink, dried leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling pot, making a brown liquid. Curious about it, the emperor drank some and found it very refreshing. This is considered the first sip of tea by most people, and latter it become the national drink of China and formed its own culture. Chinese tea culture mashed up the traditional theories of Buddha