The Differences Between Chinese and WesternFood Dietetic Culture中西饮食生活及文化差异This thesis explores the differences between Chinese and Western food dietetic culture. The food dietetic culture plays an important role in the world culture. The differences between Chinese and Western culture created the differences between Chinese and Western food dietetic culture. Different countries have their own food dietetic cultural. In different cultural contexts, both in concept, objects, manner, tableware, etiquette and nature, these differences are obvious.The diet is the first need for human’s survival and development; also it is the one of the basic form of social life. However under the different cultural background, having different diet idea and diet custom, then finally form the different diet culture. Food culture is an important part in the intercultural communication.China is one of the most ancient countries on the world, it has the long history of 5000 years, and created innumerable splendid civilization. In this culture, it makes China contain more expansive and profound diet. It has experienced several thousand years of history development, and has become one of the most important Chinese traditional cultures of department.Because of the district difference in our land, it gradually formed four major cuisines that is Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine, Shandong cuisine and Chaozhou cuisine. This four major cuisine have different features, but in common is with making complex fastidious, the product methods are very complex, and have a great diversity of taste and dishes, this is amazing. Because of our vast land, there are differences in climate, products and custom in every place. For a long time, on food was formed many flavor. Our country has been have the saying of ― south rice north noodles‖, in the taste, it has the differences that ―sour in east, hot in west, sweet in south and salty in north", it mainly have four flavor about Bashu, Qilu, Haiyangn and Yuemin. ( Zou Guangwen, 1998) On the other hand, all the year round, according toseason for eat is a feature in China’s cooking. Since ancient times, our country has been according to season changes to taste, and dishes. Winter taste strong, summer flavor cleaner; in the winter more braised stews, summer more cold.In the long-term development, evolution and accumulation process, Chinese people gradually formed its own unique food folk from many aspects, such as diet structure, food production, food utensils, nutrition healthy and diet aesthetic, this created a diet with unique flavor of the Chinese food culture, become a pearl of the world food culture.Rational westerners pay more attention to the nutrition and survival. Due to the different philosophical thoughts of Chinese and western, westerners in diet takes the science, takes the science about nutrition, so the nutrition is the supreme principle in the western diet.Eating like a biological machine add fuel, especially about the food's nutrition composition, protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and all kinds of inorganic element content,( Dang Binghua, 2010) whether calorie supply properly, and whether these nutrients can be fully absorbed, and presence of other side effects, and dishes color, fragrance and taste is the second requirement. Even in the west’s leading power –France, even though in many aspects the diet culture is similar with our diet, but a contact to nutrition, both sides will the gap. While French cook also pursued delicious, but also adhere to the ―nutrition‖ this one major premise, they don’t agree with pieces of nutrition and beg delicious.In the culture of diet, westerners have the culture descent of nomads and sailing nationality, they hunting, breeding, aided by acquisition and planting, they eat more meet, the eating, wearing and using are took of animals, even the western medicine are made from animals to take. Pay more attention to animal protein and fat intake, in the structure of diet, also with animal figurines in the majority, it is mainly dishes, beef, chicken, pork, mutton and fish. So the meat diet has been very high in proportion. In modern times, planting proportion is increasing, but the proportion in meat still higher than Chinese.Chinese people are thinking highly of eat. ―Bread is the staff of life‖, this old adageexplained that we see eating as important as days. Because our national for thousands of years are in the low level of productivity, people always do not have enough to eat, so they would have a unique food culture that eating is very important. I think this is probably from a survival to needs. Li Xiaohong pointed out: ―I f a culture put ate as primary, so it will appear two phenomena: on one hand will put the food function to acme, not only survive, but also use it to maintain healthy, this is also the culture basis that ― diet cures more than the doctors‖. On the other hand, the excessive attention to eat, it can make the person praise highly of delicious pursuit.‖(Li Xiaohong, 2010: 33) In China, the pursuit of delicious reached almost acme, Chinese living overseas to open restaurants for industry in the world, it has become our settlement fundamental.Unfortunately, when we put the pursuit of delicious as the first requirement, we are neglecting the most fundamental nutritional value of food. Many of our traditional foods are through hot fried and long time boil, cover the dish nutrients to sabotage, many nutrients are loss in the machining process. As a result of nutrition problem, in fact touched on the Chinese culinary culture to the greatest weakness. Folk have saying, ―It is of great importance of eating and whether the food is delicious or not depends on taste‖, this is the pursuit of delicious make us ignore the real meaning of dinner.European is represented the western, also, his culture has a long history. In the middle ages, the European culture has very perfect, during this period; the old western food culture has been formed. Its main features are: most food with flour primarily, raw material also more abundant, its production method is simple, but also in China pays much attention to taste.China's five mixed cookery aims to pursue delicious, its processing process ofhot fried and long time of fire, this can make dishes nutrients were damaged. (Lin Lirui, 2009) In western countries, especially in 1960s, appearing the emergence of modern cooking thought, with particular emphasis on health care, reduce weight, thus less oil, emphasize the pursuit of light by fresh materials, emphasizing the cooking process of nutrients and maintain the original taste, so the vegetables are basically raw. So says the heavy nutrition in western diet is universal.Westerners believe that cuisine is the longing, so only eat of meat, chicken this "hard food"; While Chinese cuisine is "taste". So the Chinese cooking with makings also show great randomness, many westerners as something is the outcast, this in China are excellent raw material, foreign chefs can't handle this things, but to a Chinese chef hands, this can turn decayed for magical. It serves to show the Chinese diet in the wide randomness of materials.According to the survey of western plant scholars, Chinese eat vegetables have more than 600 specious, it is six times more than the west. In fact, in the Chinese dishes, vegetarian dishes are common food, only in holidays or volunteers at the higher living standards, it can enters the usual diet, so since ancient times, we will have saying of "food feed", food feed is the dominant statement in our usual diet. The Chinese make plant as the main dish, and has a lot of contact with the advocacy of Buddhism. Their think the animal is "the life", but plants the laws of nature "not to work", therefore, advocates the vegetarianism. (Yang Naiji, 1993)Westerners in introducing the food characteristic of their own country, they feel more attention about reasonable collocation of nutrition than China. They have more developed food industry, such as canned, fast food. Although the taste is common, saving time and the nutrition is good. So in common, human body of their country is stronger than Chinese: tall, long legs, broad shoulders and developed muscle; But Chinese appears narrow skinny, short legs and the color is yellow. Someone according to the obvious differences in characteristic of western diet object, the Chinese character known as the plants, the Western character known as animals.Chinese and Western food is quite different from the way that such differences also have an impact on the national character. In China, any of the feast, whatever the purpose, there will be only one form, that is, we were sitting around, sharing one seat. The banquet must use the round table; this formally has created one kind of unity, politeness, altogether the interest atmosphere. The delicacy delicacies put on table of people's centers, it not only is the object which table of people appreciates, tastes, also is a table of people sentiments exchange intermedium. People propose a toast of each other for food, vegetables, in the face of good things, reflects the mutual respectbetween people, the virtues of comity. Duo Xiaoping said that: ―A lthough from the health perspective, this kind of food have obvious deficiency, it meets the general mind of happy in our national, reflects the influence thoughts to offspring about Chinese classical philosophy, facilitate the emotional communicated of collective, and yet difficult to reform‖.( Duo Xiaoping, 2005: 12)Freedom westerner is individual serving when they eating, the first is the point of all the food, they can eat what something, and it also showed respect for the West on the personality. After serving up, people eat the entire various one and their random add spices, the second course dish to eat after eating, before and after the two never mixed vegetables to eat. The most popular form of buffet in western is individual eating, incompatible interference, and lack of the emotional appeal for chat with each other.In the western-style banquets, food and wine are very important, but in fact it is setoff.Therefore, in the final analysis is differences between perceptual and rationality. However, the difference seems to be with the development of science and become blurred. More and more Chinese no longer only paying attention to food color, fragrance and taste, they pay more attention to its health and nutrition. Especially after the experience of SARS. Also, because of people are more and more busy with job, they think when doing the Chinese food is too much trouble, not equal convenient to come a hamburger and so on. So in dietary the differences were not too clear.In the space of diet tableware, the differences are more obvious. As we know, Chinese people including some Asian countries, use chopsticks, spoon, when they have a meal also use bowl to fill. But how about westerners? They are fill food use plate, to use a knife and fork to eat, there are specialized spoon to drink soup. Chopsticks and knife, fork as two kinds of representative tableware for the east and west, they affected the different lifestyle of eastern and western, representing two kinds of different wisdom.As we know the emergence of a knife and fork is much later than chopsticks, it was originally the ancient nomadic origin and the European lifestyle; they carry knives for live, and often cooked the meat, then cut off to eat. After settle the city,the knives and forks into the family kitchen, at this time, people just do not have to carry them. However, only about the 18th century, there was found the fork for four fork. Therefore, western people using a knife and fork, just four or five hundred years of history. Compared with the simple chopsticks, the type of knife and fork much more, knife and fork belong to the special tools, but because of this "special" often show "great wisdom appears stupid", so they are often ignored by their people.Different people have different views, it is difficult to draw the conclusions that the relationship of thinking method between chopsticks and knife and fork. However, there is scientific basis of use of chopsticks is better training your thinking ability. From a physiological point of view, Hu Wenzhong has made a study of chopsticks, he found that when you eating with chopsticks, it affect the human body of thirty joints and fifty muscles, there by stimulating the activity of brain systems,it brings agility and quick thinking.(Hu Wenzhong, 1999)And there is no doubt that the chopsticks have the scientific principles.In etiquette, both in the west and Chinese are even more different. In ancient China, during people have the dinner, they have a set of unnecessary and over elaborate formalities. When people eat together, not just eat their own interests. If you eat with others, you must check the hands clean. Do not put extra food into the pot, and do not post occupied food. After dinner, guests should pack up and move the dishes on the table, take them to the master, then the master get off, you should request them do not work, then the guests sit down again. Some of this ritual is essential in modern manners. In the west banquet, the master generally folder the dish only once for the guests, and the remaining self-consumption by the guests, if guests do not eat, you should not let them to eat, according to the habit of Chinese, people are not frequently provide guests to drink and take the food. When people eating, do not make the noise, but the guests should pay attention to appreciate the food by the master. If talking to people, only overstated with your neighbors, do not talk to people with the distance.From the different concepts, the western diet tends to scientific and rational,Chinese food tends to artistic and emotional. After cooking the delicious food, diet was originally designed to supply a life-sustaining nutrition.Li Mingying said: ―the focus of the western diet custom raw diet is just an extension of utility, and customs of the Chinese diet's emphasis on flavor, put the food into the art. We can see the point from two different diet concepts, the western diet is increasing normalization, and the Chinese diet is more randomness. ( Li Mingying, 1997: 03)The differences between Chinese and Western food dietetic culture is obvious, and they have their own strengths. Followed the economic globalization and the accelerated flow of information changes, Chinese and western food culture will be continued integration in the collision, complement each other in the fusion. Chinese food now has begun focus on food, nutrition, health, the science of cooking, western food al so begun to develop from the realm of Chinese food’s color, smell, taste and meaning. Chinese and western food culture will be developed in common communicate. This will play a significant role to promote the communication of culture in the world.BibliographyLeslie ,White. 1949. The science of culture. New York: Random.Peter, Koslowski. 1999. Post-modernism culture. Ludwig Maximilian Muenchen University.卞浩宇,2004, <<论中西饮食文化的差异>>。