Cultural differences between China and Japan

The first is the writing of China and Japan. Chinese writing originated from ancient oracle bone inscriptions. After the development of the Xia, Shang, Zhou and Warring States periods, and the Han and Tang dynasties, the economy and culture have experienced unprecedented development. Chinese civilization has entered a glorious period and is in a leading position in the world. At that time, Japan came into contact with China's advanced culture through the Korean Peninsula. By sending envoys and other methods, Japan eagerly learned and absorbed Chinese culture. Japanese kana and kanji came from Chinese characters. However, many Chinese characters in China and Japan have different meanings. Chinese people generally know that ancient Japan learned Chinese characters from China and brought them back to Japan as their mother tongue, but few people know that some words in modern Chinese were imported back to China from Japan in modern times. Nowadays, the craze for Chinese language is gradually heating up around the world. If you use the inherent Chinese thinking to understand the Japanese modified Chinese characters, you will make a lot of jokes. For example, the two words pig and dolphin have basically the same meaning in modern Chinese, but they are qualitatively different in Japanese. Pig refers to wild boar in Japanese. Wild boar is a respected animal in Japan and a symbol of bravery and advancement. In Japanese, pigs are praised for their rapid advancement. Dolphin refers to a general meat pig, a domestic pig, and its image is always associated with fatness, laziness, stupidity, and filth. The Chinese word for pig was introduced to Japan and turned into wild boar. This was Japan's active transformation of Chinese characters.

The second is the etiquette culture of China and Japan. Chinese etiquette mainly comes from Confucianism. Confucianism has a huge influence on China's politics, economy and other aspects. The essence of Confucianism does not lie in its theory of governing the country, but in its social ethics. It is the feudal social ethics that starts from the high expectations of the country's ruling class and puts people's behavioral norms in real life into popular language - moral consciousness. Standardize it. The Japanese emphasize harmony. The essence of this thought is consistent with Chinese Confucianism. The saying that everyone should keep their duties is directly derived from Chinese Confucianism. The Chinese talk about objective facts, so using objective declarative sentences, these are the differences expressed between China and Japan. Understanding these will make it easier for us to understand the slogan of the Renaissance we advocate, re-understand Chinese culture, and make Chinese culture more ingrained in our hearts.

The third is the different eating habits of China and Japan. Japan is currently known as the country with the longest life expectancy in the world. Nutrition experts from various countries believe that the longevity of the Japanese is closely related to their traditional diet and cooking methods. As we all know, Japan is an island country. The clear and abundant water has given birth to Japan’s food culture. Japanese cuisine is also called water cuisine. On the Japanese dining table, the snow-white rice, green lettuce, red fish fillets, and orange carrots are all refreshing and delicious, and they all maintain the original taste of the food to the maximum extent. Mr. Wadaka, the person in charge of the Health Medicine Center of Tokyo Jie Medical University, once said that the traditional Japanese diet is centered on fish and vegetables, with low oil intake, which can prevent excessive absorption of energy. The staple food of the Japanese is rice. Rice, which looks very ordinary, contains sugar, high-quality protein, various vitamins and minerals, etc., and is nutritionally balanced. Compared with pasta, eating rice causes insulin secretion to be much slower. In this way, people's stomach will be relatively comfortable and their mood will be relatively stable. Japanese people are accustomed to eating Washi, which has a history of thousands of years. In essence, there are only three daily foods: rice, Japanese miso soup, and seasonal vegetables.

When it comes to Chinese food culture, many people will praise Chinese recipes and the color, aroma, taste and shape of Chinese food. Chinese people love to eat whole grains, which contain more nutrients than fine grains. Chinese people love to eat vegetable oil. There is a lot of fried and fried food on the Chinese dining table, so it is inevitable that all the food has been processed with vegetable oil. Chinese people like to drink a cup of tea before and after meals. Drinking tea can lower the cholesterol content in the blood. It can make up for the misunderstanding of eating too much oil. Chinese people like to add onions, garlic, salt, sauce, vinegar, pepper and other condiments when cooking, which can sterilize, eliminate fat, increase appetite, and help digestion. Although the eating habits of the two countries are very different, each has its own benefits.