Table of ContentsChapter one Introduction (2)1.1 Reasons for the Differences (2)1.2 Significance of Good Table Manners (4)Chapter Two The Differences in Table and Seating Arrangement (6)2.1 Table Arrangement (6)2.2 Seating Arrangement (8)Chapter Three The Different Use of Tablewares (12)3.1 The Categories of Tablewares (12)3.2 The Placement of the tablewares (12)3.3 The Use of the Tablewares (13)Chapter Four The Different Orders of courses (18)4.1 The Orders of Courses in Chinese Cuisine (18)4.2 The Orders of Courses in Western Cuisine (18)Chapter Five Different Manners in Dinning (21)5.1 Manners in Staple foods (21)5.2. Drinking Etiquettes (25)Conclusion (28)Bibliography (29)Chapter one Introduction1.1 Reasons for the DifferencesBecause of Chinese and western natural environment and the different ways of labor, there are many differences in Chinese and western dining etiquette. Food culture of our country has a long history extensively and profoundly. According to the literature, at least in the Zhou Dynasty, diet etiquette has formed a set of fairly perfect system. And these etiquettes have become more mature and perfect gradually. Meanwhile, they have played an important role in the ancient society, and the influence on modern society is still going on. “While western table manners originated from MeiLuo Wenjia Dynasty. In the 20th century, Italian culture was introduced into France”. (Quoted in New West Journal) Therefore, table manners and the main language are becoming more elegant and delicate. Teaching etiquette books have also appeared. Today, table manners also continue in European countries. With western culture swarming into China, Chinese traditional etiquette has been impacted by the western etiquette culture. And the protection of traditional Chinese etiquette and western etiquette integrate effectively, which will be more conducive to us and the intercultural communication.There is a big difference in clothing, seating, drinking, tableware, etc, between Chinese and western table manners. Next, we will focus on the reasons of these differences in details, which concrete analysis of the situation is as follows:A. Different cultures of Chinese and western countries created the differences of table manners.Thousands of years of Chinese cultural tradition has been reflected in Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Traditional Confucian thought mainly emphasized "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trust "; Taoists advocated "nature" and "quietness". Buddhist advocates "mercy", "Purdue human beings". However, the western countries advocate “democracy, freedom, equality”,promote the rights of the individuals, value personal value, and pay attention to individualism. The main religion is Christianity, which has great influenceon the country of the people. In the specific use of tableware, for example, Chinese use chopsticks, while the westerners use knives and forks. As tableware, both are not too much difference, which are only a symbol of civilization. Nevertheless, the chopsticks originated from the nature. The process is simple and direct and cost is low. Even in a single family, the entire production process can also be implemented independently. From the process of using chopsticks we can also see that the whole process is the coordination of collective labor, which reflects the collectivism as the core in Chinese nation. Born in the modern industrial society, a knife and fork is the product of mass production and its main composition is metal. With the nature of modern society and the social function, the tools failed to get rid of aggression in the process of the socialization. Therefore, table manners are a reflection of a cultural identity of psychological.B.Different ways of thinking between Chinese and western peopleThe Chinese thought is more comprehensive and integrated. For the traditional perceptual intuition thinking, its essence of the idea is to coordinate or even cancel the radical solution to the problems. The Chinese psychology emphasizes summary, thus short of logical analysis. The Simply overall conception and unified way of thinking reflect our national macroscopic understanding and the ability to transform the world. On the contrary, the west emphasizes analytical and partial logic thinking. Meanwhile, with science as a standard of thought, they also emphasize the characteristics of things, itself. At the same time, in western countries, they always put the value of the individual in an important position, and trust the principle of the supremacy of individualism. Again, let’s take chopsticks and knife and fork as an example. In the process of several thousand years of Chinese cultural heritage, the chopsticks as a kind of culture has been preserved, thus becoming a symbol of Chinese civilization. By analysis, it is easy to find out that when using chopsticks, we use the middle finger joint as the fulcrum of the lever principle, and through the index finger controlling the operation of the chopsticks, we complete the whole process of eating in synergy. Obviously, this seemingly simple process embodies the unity of the Chinese nation's national psychology and collective concept. Whilewestern countries reflect the industrial society of modern civilization. Knives and forks, in the process of using reflect the analytical philosophy thinking. In the process of concrete use, first, use a knife to cut, then clamp it with a fork and the last is to send it to the mouth. Through such an analysis of process, we can see that western thinking builds their logical starting point in the whole structure, and on the basis of the analysis, their own conclusions can be figured out.C.The Different Values of Chinese and Western CountryValues, as the deepest level and the core of culture , are that the social members use it to assess behavior, as well as in various kinds of possible targets to choose their own things, which they think of them as the most appropriate standard. Values are the reflection of social existence, and in the same natural environment and social environment, people usually produce the same values essentially. Therefore, each society and country is using their accepted values. The behavior of people shown in the table manners is a microcosm of the values of each country. In a country like China, it emphasizes "filial piety", "loyalty", reflecting the values of collectivism. However, the individual values dominate in the west. Because people tend to focus on individualism, personality development and self-expression in the western philosophy. So they think that values are their own values, embodying each person's individual rights. They think if they don’t reach their own purposes, and that's not destiny but their laziness and lack of the spirit of struggle. We may see that through the process of the meal, each of them eats their own food in their own table wares, and everyone chooses their favorite things.Therefore, with the deeper and deeper integration between countries, the etiquettes between people are more and more taken seriously. And especially the importance of table manners stands out. By table manners, we can see that the politeness is the ideological content, and the ritual is the form. (politeness “礼”and ritual “仪”make up the etiquette. Cultural connotation is different, and different angles of thinking and values are the main reasons for the difference of Chinese and western table manners.1.2 Significance of Good Table MannersGood table manners give us confidence by providing guidelines on what to do during thisvery public and rather gross activity. So in a business situation, we can grasp a good timing to talk about the business and find out when will be appropriate for both. And the ultimate purpose of the table manners is to put all your attention on the social or business activities. That means you need to pay attention to the dialogues between people. Therefore, it’s necessary to find a suitable time to have a good conversation with people around you.Good table manners are critical for another related reason as well: The reality is, people judge other people by their table manners. In a business situation, table manners may well be the key factor that differentiates you from your competition. This article is designed to help us know as much as possible how to deal with dinning situations in the different culture of table manners between China and western countries.Chapter Two The Differences in Table and Seating Arrangement 2.1 Table ArrangementChinese cuisine in the table and seat arrangement is related to the identity of the guests and the hosts who give the other person's courtesy. So it is a very important content in Chinese etiquette.At the dinner table, the principle for table arrangement is that after the main table is scheduled, the rest of the tables are arranged according to the distance from the main tables. Nearly are the high tables for the distinguished guests, relatively far are for the ordinary guests; Parallel with the main tables, the identity of the guests who are in the right are higher than the left.In a formal banquet hall, table arrangement needs to obey the following rules:Supremacy for the right: if each table stands side by side, table arrangement will depend on the banquet hall’s main entrance. So guests in the right side, at table, are higher than the left side.Supremacy for being far: if the tables are arranged lengthwise, according to the distance from the banquet hall’s front door, the farther, the higher of guests at tables.Supremacy for the center: if each table encircles together, the tables in the middle should be the main tables.Supremacy for being near the platform: if there is a dedicated platform in the banquet hall, the main tables should be back on the platform. If there is no special stage in the banquet hall, sometimes we will give priority to the guests, which are back in the main format.The common arrangement methods of the tables’ diagrams are as follows. The figures in the circle are the sequences of tables for different positions of guests.①②①①Door②②③Door Door(a) (b) (c)①④⑤②③②①③②①③④⑤⑤④⑥⑥⑦Door Door Door(d) (e) (f)In order to ensure that the participants find their tables timely and accurately, we can label the numbers on the invitation cards and arrange some persons to guide the guests to their tables, or we can put table cards on each table. (Written in Arabic Numbers)However, Position arrangement of the western cuisine is quite different from Chinese Cuisine. Chinese food often takes advantage of the round tables, while western food generally uses the long tables.Like Chinese food, the main tables are extremely important. Western-style Cuisines’ table placement methods can be based on the numbers of guests and venue sizes. Sometimes table placement can make up all sorts of designs .As shown in the diagram below. Table arrangement bases on the main table, near or far. But the guests in the right side are higher than the left side. When there are a variety of tables, we should put table numbers.(a) (b) (c)2.2 Seating ArrangementIn China, seating arrangement actually has principles. During Banquets, each table for specific places also has primary, secondary, and junior sequences respectively. In different situations, the arrangement of seating arrangement has some differences, which generally follows the following several principles:Supremacy for the person alongside the door: it mainly refers to that on each table; we should give priority to the person whose seats face the front hall door accurately. Usually we should invite the masters to sit at the main tables. If banquet hall has no front door, the main table generally is in the face of screen. This point is similar to Chinese arrangement of tables.Each table in the same direction: it refers to that if there are many tables in a large banquet, each table should have a representative here. Position arrangement in each table in general is in the same direction with the masters, and sometimes it can also be geared to the needs of masters in the main table.Supremacy for being near: the position of seating arrangement depends on the distance from the distance of the host. The more nearly, the more honorable. Otherwise, they are humble in position.Supremacy for the right: it means that on each table, in accordance with the same distance from the masters, people who face the banquet hall front door shall prevail. That’s to say, people in the right of the seating arrangement is higher than the left side of the minor. In general situations, the distinguished guests are arranged at the hosts’right hand, and the wife of the distinguished guests comes in their left hand. Master's wife tends to be on the right side of the honorable guests.For the methods of the seating arrangement, according to the arrangement of the above principles, if the number of masters at each table is different, the specific arrangement of the round tables’ seating arrangement can be divided into two kinds of specific situation: The first kind of circumstance: there is only one master at table for the seating arrangement. Characterized by that each table only has one host, guests sit at the master’s righthand, and each table only has one conversation center, which is shown in the left below.The second case: there are two main hosts in each table. This characteristic is that the couple of the masters sit at the same table. And the man host is the first host, while the woman hostess is the second hostess. For the first important guest and his wife, they will take the right seat beside the host and hostess respectively. Therefore, each table forms two conversation centers objectively, such as the following shown picture on the right.(a) (b)If guests ’ identity is higher than the masters, in order to show respect for them, we can also arrange the main guests to sit at the hosts ’ places. So the hosts will sit at the guests ’ places.In order to facilitate the guests to take a seat, besides the reception staff and hosts trying to guide timely instructions, there should be also seat cards marked personal names in advance for the guests to find their places in front of the tables. In the foreign-related banquets, seat cards should be written in both English and Chinese. According to the Chinese customs, Chinese names should be above, while English names are under them. If necessary, both sides of the seat card can write the names of the diners.Nevertheless, there are still slight differences between Chinese seating arrangement and Western seating arrangement. But there is still one similar point. In western and Chinese seating arrangement, for example, the sequence is that the right sides are higher than the left. However, Main seat1 2 3 45 67 89 Main seat 1 2 5 6 87 43 Main seatin western tables, men and women alternate seats at a table. “For same-sex events with only a host or hostess, a better balance of rank may be achieved by designating a co-host and having the host and co-host seated opposite of each other at the center of the table ”. (Quoted from Jeanette S. Marin, 2006:116)Let ’s take another different example, which is as follows:Seating arrangement is for eight persons.("W" -- a woman guest; "M" -- a man guest.)If an unequal number of men and women (or individuals of more than one nationality) are Host W1 M2 W2 M3 W3M1 Hostessin attendance, alternate both the sexes as well as the nationalities. One possibility is to seat the host (ess) and the guest of honor opposite each other in the middle of the long sides of the dining table and then alternate from there.When many high-ranking officials are expected to attend the event, if possible, seat them in a manner such that many hold a seat of honor. An excellent way of doing this is to use round tables.If guests are served in sequence, the woman on the host's right is served first. The man to her right is served next, and service proceeds counter clockwise so that the host is served last.As the host, you are the one who decides when to start discussing business in a background of business. That will depend on a number of factors such as the time of day and how well you know your clients. At breakfast, time is short so get down to business quickly. At lunch, wait until you have ordered so you won't be interrupted. Dinner, the more social occasion, is a time for rapport building. Limit the business talk and do it after the main course is completed.With all your attention to detail, things can still go wrong. So you need to handle any disasters with grace. The food may not be up to your standards, the waiter might be rude or the people at the next table boisterous and out of control. Whatever happens, make sure you are not the one to lose control. Excuse yourself to discuss any problems with the staff. Your guests will feel uncomfortable if you complain in front of or to them.Chapter Three The Different Use of Tablewares3.1 The Categories of TablewaresThe Chinese tablewares are mainly cups, dishes, bowls, chopsticks, spoons, etc. Besides these tools, it also contains something else, such as napkins, wipes and toothpicks.However, in western countries, in general, the tablewares are knives, forks, spoons, plates, cups, napkins and so on. Among them, the dishes include food dishes, milk pudding trays, plates, etc; and glass types are various. In a formal dinner, each wine has its special glass. But in a relatively narrow meaning, the western tablewares only contain three kinds: knives, forks, and spoons. Among them, knives are divided into meat knife (blade serrate is used to cut the steak, pork, etc.), fish knife, and fruit knife for desserts. And fork is divided into meat fork, fish fork, the dessert fork, and the salad fork. But spoons have soup spoon, dessert spoon and tea spoon.3.2 The Placement of the tablewaresIn China, in a formal banquet, water glasses should be on the top of the dishes. And wine glasses should be on the right top of the table. Meanwhile chopsticks and spoons should be on the special places.But in western countries, the types and quantities of the western-style tablewares are quite a few, which gives us a dazzling sense to see them for the first time. Eating different food needs to use different knives and forks; Different drinks use different glasses. Methods of placing tablewares before each seat commonly are: pad plate on the table is in the center, in the left side of the pad plate, they put the forks, and fork teeth are upward; The knives are put on the right side, and the blade is towards the mat plate; The right side of the knife is the spoon, and the center of the spoon is up; Eventually, knives, forks, and spoons are aligned in parallel lines.At front of the pad plate they put the dessert spoon and fork, and put the bread plate onthe top left. On the plate, there is a butter knife and the blade faces you yourself, used to get cream and jam. At the top right-hand corner, all kinds of wine glasses and cups are put there. From the right side in the order, there are the wine glass, champagne glass and water glass (cup), etc. Meanwhile, the napkin is folded on the pad plate or inserted in the cup. Concrete methods are the following figure.3.3 The Use of the TablewaresIn China, the use of the tablewares is as follows:1. The ChopsticksChopsticks are the main tablewares in Chinese food, but the use of the chopsticks should follow the basic rules and etiquettes:When you take food with chopsticks, you cannot put the chopsticks in a dish plate swinging around the plates; When you meet other guests to fetch the vegetables, please noticeto give way; And meanwhile, food should not be taken too much each time; During the way to fetch the food, we should be without dripping constantly and you cannot criticize others. No matter whether remnants of food are on the chopsticks, please be careful not to go to lick them.During the dinner conversations, you should put chopsticks down temporarily, and cannot flurry at the dinner table using the chopsticks.If you need to leave the dinner table in the banquet, you can put chopsticks directly on the plate or a spoon.Don't insert chopsticks in food vertically .Because this kind of interpolation is used to refer to the shrine of the dead.Chopsticks are only used to pick up the food, not used to pick teeth, itch, or used to pick up something else except food.In the process of waiting for the meal, please don’t beat causally with chopsticks in one hand, or use chopsticks to knock bowls or cups.After finishing eating, chopsticks should be neatly put the right side of the bowl on the table, and after all of the persons put down their chopsticks and when the host sends signals that the meal is over, you can leave. Do not leave alone after only you, yourself have finished eating.When you take food for others, you should take care to use the public chopsticks. After using them, you should put them back to their original positions.)2. The SpoonThe main function of soup spoon is to scoop food, or when taking food with chopsticks, we can use a spoon to assist them.When getting food with a spoon, you had better be careful not to be too full, lest it overflows on the table, thus perhaps soiling others’ clothes. After ladling food, you can stop for a while, and when the liquid does not drop, you can take it back.After taking food with a spoon, you should eat it or put it in your own dishes immediately. Please don't pour it back. And if the food is too hot, you can put it in your bowls and after it cools down, you can eat it. Please do not swing in the dishes or use your mouth to blow.When drinking the soup with a spoon, you should not put the whole spoon in the mouth.Do not put the spoon into the mouth, or repeatedly suck and lick.You should put the spoon in your own dishes when you do not use it temporarily. Do not put it directly on the table, or put it in the food.3. Bowl and DishDo not take the bowls or pour food out of the bowl into your mouth. Do not put sundry into the bowls when you do not use them temporarily.The main purpose of the bone plate (a kind of plate) is used to temporarily put food from the public places for guests to enjoy the dishes. When using bone plate, you should know that you shall not pile too much food at a time. Do not put the variety of dishes stacked together in order to avoid changing the taste of the food because of the mixing for the different food.Don't spit the scraps, bones and fishbone on the table or ground. On the contrary, you should put them in the bone plate gently. If bone plate filled with the scraps, you can tell the waiter to change another one.4. The GlassThey are mainly used for water, juice, soda, coke and other soft drinks.Do not use water-glass for wine. Do not put water cup down, either. In addition, anything that has been drunk cannot spit back into the water.5. Wipes (Wet Napkins)Each person who has dinner has a wipe on the table before the dinner. It can only be used to clean hands. After cleaning hands, the wet napkin should be back on the plate so that the waiter can take it away. Sometimes, before the end of the formal banquet, there will be another piece of wet napkin. This piece of wet napkin can be used to wipe your mouth, but cannot wipe face or the sweats.6. The NapkinIt should be paved on the thighs but it cannot be around the neck, or the collar or the belt. However, it can be used to wipe your mouth and hands, but it cannot be used to wipe tablewares or sweats.7. ToothpicksTry not to pick teeth in public. If you require doing this, you should cover the mouth with one hand. For the things that you have picked out, do not watch it in public. Do not hold toothpicks in your mouth for a long time.In western countries, the types and use of western-style tablewares should obey the following rules:1. The Use of NapkinsThe purpose of preparing napkins is to prevent contaminating the clothes during the process of the meal. In a restaurant, usually after the main course is presented, then the napkin will be opened. In general, the napkins are folded into diagonal triangle shape or into rectangularity and then place it on the knees after folding. Meanwhile the napkins will be opened outwards. The purpose of folding the napkins in half is to prevent to take the napkin carelessly, and it is convenient of opening napkins outwards to pick them up for wiping your mouth.When wiping your mouth, you should hold the end of the napkin to press the lips gently. For the dirty part that you don’t want others to see, you can roll it up inwards. All the stain shall be wiped inside, and it looks still neat from the appearance.Except for wiping mouth, hands, fingers, the napkins can also be used to cover your mouth when you spit out fish bones or fruit seeds. After covering the mouth, you can take the things out with your fingers or spit on the fork and then place it on the plate again.When leaving the seat, even if leaving temporarily, you should also put the napkin down and optionally fold it into a square or triangle on the side of the plate or at the corner of the table. You’d better put it on your seat, but you should not put the napkin on the back of the chair or knead it into a ball on the table.After having finished the meal, the napkin can be put in front of the table, which means that this dish is run out.2. The use of the knife, fork and spoonWhen eating western-style food, you must pay attention to the orders and placement of tablewares on the table. As Zhang Yu and Ai Tianzi (2010) has mentioned, "During the formal dinner party, each dish needs a set of correspondingly matched cutlery (knife, fork, and spoon) and according to the order of serving the courses, they should be placed form inside to outside”. (75) Generally from the outside to the inside, we should take knife and fork, fork in the left hand, the knife in the right hand. The fork in the left hand is used to hold down the food when cutting things and the knife in the right hand is to cut it into small pieces, and then take it into your mouth with a fork. For the knife, fork and spoon, they have their own use, and can not replace other tools or mixed them together.The pose of holding the knife: index finger is put on the knife back to press hard, and the rest of the fingers are to hold the knife. Be careful that the blade can not be outwards.For the pose of the holding the fork: take the fork with your thumb, index finger and middle finger in your left hand. When you are sending the food to the mouth with the fork, the movement should be gentle. Guarantee that the food is appropriate each time and then put it into your mouth. Do not cut it into a too large one. Let alone bite it and then put it down again. When fetching the food into the mouth with the fork, you should pay attention to that the teeth only encounter food. Do not bite the fork, and do not make a sound on the teeth when eating something with the knife and fork or make sounds when putting them down on the plates.On the formal occasions, there are many spoons. Small ones are used for coffee and desserts; the flat ones are for butter-taking and cake-dividing; the relatively larger are used to drink soup or scrawl food. Do not make a mistake.。