中西方婚禮文化差異范文

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篇1

【關鍵詞】中西方婚姻觀 中西方傳統婚禮文化

【中圖分類號】G112 【文獻標識碼】A 【文章編號】1674－4810（2012）15－0071－01

一 引言

婚姻觀是價值觀的一種，從婚禮可以看出中西方人對于戀愛、婚姻的價值取向以及中西方文化在婚姻方面的差異。在的基礎上，中西方保持各自的婚姻文化特點。

二 中西方婚姻觀差異

1．擇偶方式不同

中國人傳統的擇偶方式是“父母之命，媒妁之言”；西方一向盛行自由戀愛，第三者無權干涉。當今社會，中國人以自由戀愛為開端，最后步入婚姻殿堂的也不少。

2．對結婚的看法不同

在中國古代，結婚主要是為了傳宗接代，侍奉公婆。在當代，這種情況也不少見。在西方，結婚是為了找個長久的異性生活伴侶，從而在生理上、心理上、社交上獲得滿足。

3．對離婚的看法不同

在中國，有時夫妻雙方即使出現感情問題也不會立即離婚，他們會顧慮對子女、家庭等的責任，不輕易離婚。而在西方，婚姻不屬于道德問題。一個人有權選擇和他/她最喜歡的人生活在一起，一旦發現現有的婚姻是一個錯誤，他/她會做第二次選擇。

4．婚姻關系不同

中國的婚姻關系在很大程度上受父母的影響，尤其是婆媳關系。西方的婚姻，父母很少干涉。

二 中西方婚禮文化對比

1．中式婚禮的傳統吉祥習俗

中西方在婚禮上有很大的差別，中國傳統習俗有“三書六禮”“三叩九拜”的禮節。六禮分別為：（1）納彩：這是議婚的第一階段，男方請媒人提親后，女方同意議婚，男方備禮去女方家求婚，禮物是雁，取象征順乎陰陽之意，后來又發展了新意，說雁失配偶，終生不再成雙，取其忠貞之意。（2）問名：是求婚后，托媒人請問女方出生年月日和姓名，準備合婚的儀式。（3）納吉：是把問名后占卜合婚的好消息再通知女方的禮儀，又叫“訂盟”。這是訂婚階段的主要禮儀。古俗，照例要用雁，作為婚事已定的信物。后發展到用戒指、首飾、彩綢、禮餅、禮香燭，甚至羊、豬等，故又稱送定或定聘。（4）納征：訂盟后，男家將聘禮送往女家，是成婚階段的禮儀。這項成婚禮又俗稱完聘或大聘、過大禮等。后來，這項儀式還采取了回禮的做法，將聘禮中食品的一部分或全部退還；或受聘后，女家將贈男方衣、帽、鞋、襪作為回禮。（5）請期：送完聘禮后，選擇結婚日期，備禮到女家，征得同意時的儀式。

2．西式婚禮也有傳統的吉祥習俗

（1）新娘拋花球：誰接到就象征她快要結婚了。（2）新郎拋襪圈：同樣誰接到就象征快要成新郎了。（3）新娘要戴手套：手套是愛的信物，在中古世紀，許多紳士送手套給意中人表示求婚。如果對方在星期日上教堂時戴著那副手套，就表示她已答應他的求婚。（4）婚戒要帶在左手無名指上。（5）新娘要戴面紗：新娘的面紗象征著青春和純潔。（6）新娘穿白色禮服。自羅馬時代開始，白色就象征著歡慶，白色也是富裕、快樂的象征。后來則加強了圣潔和忠貞的意義，形成了純白婚紗的崇高地位。而再婚的女性，可以用白色以外的其他顏色，如粉紅或湖藍等，以示與初婚區別。（7）結婚典禮時新娘總是站在新郎的左邊。（8）結婚蛋糕特別定制。（9）蜜月旅行：一般西方在舉行完結婚儀式后，就會與親朋好友告別，去度一個只屬于新人的蜜月。

三 傳統中西式婚禮的大致特點

1．西式婚禮

穿潔白的婚紗、筆挺的西裝、蛋糕香檳、拋花球……簡潔神圣的西式婚禮，讓那些追求小資情調的，夢想成為公主、王子的新人們十分心動。

在西方的教義里，兩個人的結合是上帝的旨意，因此婚禮必須是圣潔的，代表純潔的白色是婚禮上獨一無二的主色調，白色的婚紗、白色的布置、白色的蛋糕、白色的婚車……一切白色的花卉都會成為西式婚禮上最受歡迎的裝飾物。

2．傳統中式婚禮

大紅花轎、浩浩蕩蕩的迎親儀仗隊、拜天地、掀蓋頭、鳳冠霞帔狀元服……中式婚禮上，傳統的喜慶與熱鬧，把吉祥和祝福以最熱烈的方式送給一對喜結連理的新人。雖說中式婚禮聽起來有些老套，可如今卻是個新鮮玩意兒。

中式婚禮講究“天地人和諧”的哲學，以及人們祈福迎祥的心理，在中國傳統意義上，婚姻不僅僅是兩個人的事，還是兩個家族以及社會關系的事。需要一系列儀式反映婚姻莊重，引起當事人以及相關人士的重視。所以，又叫“人前婚禮”。

以情動人，感謝父母、答謝親朋好友，是中式婚禮上的一大重點，喝“多子湯”、飲“和睦酒”、吃“團圓飯”、敬“父母茶”等情節，讓到場的每一位賓客都感動至深。而新人也會因此感受到婚姻的莊重和家庭的責任。

四 總結

改革開放后，中國打開國門，接受越來越多的西方文化，同樣，西方也被中國文化深深地吸引。隨著時代進步，人們的思想越來越包容異域文化，取其精華，去其糟粕。當今中國婚禮有舉辦西式的，進教堂宣誓交換戒指；有舉辦傳統中式的，上花轎，拜高堂；也有選擇中西合璧，如在婚宴上新娘會換好幾套禮服，既有婚紗也有旗袍。另外有些娶了中國女子的外國人會要求舉辦傳統中式婚禮，要求騎著白馬，迎親隊伍吹吹打打、熱熱鬧鬧地去迎接新娘。真可謂“海納百川，有容乃大”。隨著世界越來越趨同，中西方人的婚姻價值取向也在不斷地發生著變化。在的基礎上，中西方保持各自的文化特點，給全世界人民帶來全然不同的生活體驗和感受。

參考文獻

篇2

【關鍵詞】 婚禮；傳統；文化差異

1、Introduction

Although wedding is important and meaningful for people from any culture, there are a great number of differences about wedding between America and China because of many cultural factors. After the implement of the reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, more and more transnational marriages occurred. Chinese people who are living in America or communicating with people from America may feel puzzled sometimes about the culture in wedding in America. This thesis discusses about the main cultural differences in wedding, such as the wedding dressing, the wedding order, the wedding feast as well as wedding taboos, and then finds out reasons in culture that account for those differences. As well, we are able to have a better idea of wedding, which inspires us to think about the wedding deeply. Therefore it is necessary for us to see the cultural differences in wedding between America and China.

2、The Comparison of the Wedding between America and China

2.1、Differences in the Dressing in Wedding

Marriage marks the beginning of complete independence from the parents. According to the English law, no one was allowed to get married under the age of sixteen. Marriage between the age of sixteen and eighteen must have the parents’ consent. But when the girl was over eighteen, she was free to choose her love. Youths in Britain were relatively free. In Britain, church pointed out “agreement principle” which pointed out that the marriage was valid only when the two persons involved in marriage expressed freely and openly in front of at least two chief witness at wedding ceremony; the marriage was not valid when there existing misunderstanding or force in marriage.

2.1.1、The Wedding Dressing in America

The dressings of people who attend the wedding are very formal, showing the solemn seriousness of the wedding. It is a custom that the color of the bride’s dressing is always white, while the dressing of the bridegroom is usually black. The female guest usually wears the cocktail formal party clothes? while the male guest normally wears black suit.

2.1.2、The Wedding Dressing in China

Traditionally, the main color of Chinese wedding is the red, which stands for festivity in Chinese culture. The bridegroom wears red long gown mandarin jacket and a red cap, while the bride wears red clothes and a red scarf. It is believed that the red symbolizes the happiness in Chinese culture for more than thousands of years. Before the bridegroom arrives at the bride’s home, the bride’s face is covered by a red head-kerchief. And the guests in the wedding always dress themselves with formal or beautiful clothes that suit the atmosphere of the wedding. The wedding is almost filled with the color of red. The Chinese usually and traditionally admires that the clothes that the bride and the bridegroom wear in the wedding are the most beautiful.

2.2、Differences in the Order of Wedding

2.2.1、The Order of the Wedding in America

The wedding is usually held at the church in the daytime, presided by the priest, since the majority of people in America are Christians. The relatives and friends, invited as the witnesses of the marriage, gather at the church to celebrate the new couple’s wedding. And a Best man and the groomsmen always appear in the wedding. In most cases, the Best man is selected from the close friends of the bridegroom, while the groomsmen are some other close friends.

2.2.2、The Order of Wedding Traditionally in China

Traditionally, the wedding process consists of several sections: fetch the bride, perform the ceremony, have the feast and finally disturb the nuptial.

2.3、Differences in the Wedding Feast

2.3.1、The Wedding Feast in America

In America, the wedding feast is very magnificent, and during that, people have delicious traditional western food and then dance. Dancing is an important activity as well. Everyone has the opportunity to dance, enjoying the food and music. The bride and the bridegroom dance together first to celebrate that they have become a couple. Guests then dance in pairs to show happiness as well as their congratulations to the new couple. The host prepares a lot of delicious food for guests. Food varies from fruits to seafood, and the new couple usually employs a famous cook from a restaurant with a good reputation to prepare for the wedding feast.

2.3.2、The Wedding Feast in China

In China, the wedding feast is an extremely important section in a wedding. People usually start preparing for the wedding feast several weeks before the wedding. The host always provides guests with the best food. During the wedding feast, the new couple needs to propose toasts to guests attending the wedding. The bridegroom always gets drunk at the end of the wedding feast. Relatives and friends talk with each other, drink, and laugh loudly, which makes the wedding noisy.

2.4、Differences in the Taboos of Wedding

2.4.1、Taboos in Wedding in America

In America, there are many taboos in wedding. Firstly, in wedding ceremony, the bridegroom should always stand on the right side of the bride to protect the bride from being grabbed away by other men. Secondly, white dress that the bride wears should not be matched with red shoes, since in English culture red shoes means jumping into the fire pit. Similarly, red belt, red flowers as well as other red things should be avoided. Usually, the white dress should match shoes which are golden, white or silver. Thirdly, the bride’s face should be covered with a veil unless the bridegroom uncovers it in the wedding ceremony.

2.4.2、Taboos in Chinese Wedding

Traditionally, a lot of taboos exist in Chinese wedding. Firstly, lucky words are especially important in wedding. People should not say bad words on the day of wedding, because in Chinese culture good words will bring good luck to the new couple. Some of taboos are related with religious beliefs. Actually, in big events, people always avoid saying bad words, according to Chinese traditions. Secondly, some people are not welcomed to attend the wedding ceremony. For example, the woman who loses her husband recently cannot attend the wedding, because some people hold that the wedding is a happy event in which one man and one woman will become a couple, and somebody or something that may destroy such an atmosphere would better get avoided.

3、Reasons of Differences in Wedding between America and China

3.1、Different Characteristics and Viewpoints

3.1.1、Characteristics and Viewpoints of People in America

In general, the wedding ceremony in America is much simpler than that in China. People have not lots of complicated things to prepare. People may endow their wedding with many of their own characteristics. It seems that people in America are comparatively open-minded to the wedding. Nowadays many couples are more creative to design their own wedding in order to make it distinguishable from others’. At the same time, traditions are not very important elements in wedding ceremony. People have more choices and make their own decision on the process of wedding. The bride and the bridegroom are more independent in each family.

3.1.2、Chinese Characteristics and Viewpoints

Generally speaking, Chinese people are more conservative than people in America. It is not easy for Chinese people to accept new things in a short time. In the opinions of the majority of Chinese, traditions are so extremely important that everyone needs to behave according to traditions. As a consequence, even though thousands of years have passed, the customs in wedding haven’t changed a lot, which shows that Chinese culture is comparatively stable. Nowadays people’s life is influenced a lot by western culture, but traditions always exist in every aspect of people’s life, which has illustrated the power of culture for Chinese people. People like to gather together to celebrate a big event.

3.2、Different Religious Influences

3.2.1、Religious Influences in America

In America, the majority of people are Christians, and people pay serious attention to their behaviors according to the Bible. Marriage should follow the principle of monogamy for Christians. Christians should take monogamy and they reject divorce traditionally. Thus the bride and the bridegroom need to make promises to each other to live together forever, by exchanging a ring with each other. However, nowadays it seems that a great number of people in America consider the divorce as a not very serious matter.

3.2.2、Religious Influences in China

In China, the most popular religion is Buddhism, which influences the traditional customs a lot. In the wedding customs, people always prepare a good number of items which are symbols of luck and goodness, as the Buddhism tells people that they need to be good to others. For example, people usually decorate the ceremony with red items to create the happy and exciting atmosphere, and show the goodness of them. Chinese people stress a lot on the etiquettes in wedding, therefore there are many taboos. As well, the Buddhism tells people to respect the heaven, the earth, their parents as well as other elder people. Therefore, the new couple needs to bow down before them in wedding to show respects.

3.3、Different Consumption Concepts

3.3.1、Consumption Concepts in America

As is known to everyone, America is a developed country with a high living standard, and the middle class occupies the majority of the whole society. Undoubtedly, people from the upper class in the society in America, will spend more money on the wedding, compared with people from the middle class. However, the cost of wedding is not a big burden for the new couple from lower classes, since the cost of the wedding is not very high for average people in America.

3.3.2、The Consumption Concepts in China

Traditionally, Chinese people pay much attention to the wedding ceremony. In order to hold a big wedding, a lot people prepare for the wedding for a rather long time. Parents may accumulate the money needed for such a big event little by little to make the wedding as great as possible. Many people usually make comparisons between one wedding and another they ever attended. Some people even borrow much money from others to hold the wedding to avoid “losing face”, which in Chinese means the embarrassment, always related to money and brought by unsatisfactory performances compared with better performances of other people. In order to avoid such an embarrassment, many people spend generously on the wedding ceremony. Actually, the wedding hasn’t been a simple process or ceremony. The wedding has involved a lot of elements, in terms of emotions and economic considerations. However, the initial thought of the new couple is to try their best to entertain guests attending the wedding, which shows that guests are welcomed and important for the new couple.

4、Conclusion

Through observing the cultural differences in wedding, especially those differences in aspects of the wedding dress, the wedding order, the wedding feast and the taboos in wedding between China and America, this thesis has explored reasons in culture which can well account for these differences. China and America differ from each other in personalities and viewpoints of people, religions as well as consumption concepts.

In a word, there are a lot of cultural differences in wedding customs between America and China. Viewpoints, religions as well as consumption concepts have great effects on the wedding. The wedding customs can well reflect the differences in culture between America and China. We need to understand those differences, so that in the communication with people from America, we are able to recognize the cultural differences in wedding. People from different cultures need to respect each other so that we can get the biggest benefit through communication with people from different cultures for the mutual understanding.

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