Differences on concepts between Chinese&Western food cultures

Every culture has concepts of desirability that serve as the broad guideline for social living.What is of importance for one group may be virtually meaningless to another. Therefore, China and Western countries have different concepts about food. The differences focus on many aspects, such as Chinese sensibility vs.Western practicality, Chinese extravagance vs. Western simplicity,Chinese collectivism vs. Western individualism,and so on.

In China, eating has developed to a very important role in people''s life. It is almost beyond any other material and spiritual forms, and this has been apparently reflected in people’s daily life. The seven so-called basic daily needs: fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy, vinegar and tea, all have deep relations to eating. Eating goes through a man''s whole life. When a person was born, his parents would hold a birth celebration. Later the family would get together and hold a party again when the child was one month old or one year old. When growing up, he would have birthday parties, wedding party and even when he passed away, his offspring would hold a funeral dinner for him. When a visitor comes, a formal dinner which is also called welcome dinner, would be prepared for the guest. When he moves into a new house, is promoted in his company or has solved a serious problem, he would invite his friends to have dinner together. All these show that people in China like eating with much emotions, for dinners have provided them a great many chances to show their love for friends, and exchange information. Even some emotional conflict would be calmed down during the dinner time. Behind the form of diet, there are a profound psychological and cultural significance, as well as people’s recognition and understanding of society, which reflect a greater social meaning. Not only does eating have some original communication function, but also has already transformed into an adjustment of social life and psychology.

In Britain, U.S.A. and other English countries, eating is considered to be a way of communication and an essential survival means. American psychologist Abraham Maslow divides human’s needs into five levels in his famous theory Law of Demand. Eating is classified into the first level, which is the lowest level of human needs. Lin Yutang, a famous Chinese anthropological scholar, once said:

The diet concepts of people from English countries are different from those of the Chinese. They think that eating is just an act giving your body nutrients, like injecting fuel to a machine, to ensure its normal operation. As long as they are healthy enough to resist diseases, they care little about other problems.