2009年6月12日星期五

The Different Dietary Culture between East and West




what is the main culture difference between east and west? What makes the difference between east and west? Western culture is based on individualism rather than on mass (collectivism). For instance, in the west, you always talk about individual rights, instead of placing the whole society above your own self. This is clearly different in China where a country, society or family are placed above your own self. we can also see the difference from their diet.


 


Western culture (in particular, modern American culture) can be said to be male and female culture. But the Chinese culture can be said to be a dietary culture. "As the reason of the cultural traditions, the western lives tend to men and women, but because of the narrow gender relations, Chinese people are dumping guidance on life in the restaurants. Thus the diet is rich in culture. Food culture in the west is not developed enough, but this underdevelopment itself is the result of the development of a culture.


 


The ways people eat, that is, the table manner, really distinguish a lot. The reason for this is probably because of the different dining tools and menus. Easterners use chopsticks, or sometimes even grasp rice straightly with hands as Indians do. The thin and long chopsticks cannot be used to cut food, so we usually use our teeth to act as knives. We hold our food, meat or vegetable, with the chopsticks, send them to the mouths, bite off a part of it and remain the other part on the chopsticks. That's the usual way we eat. We are also used to hold up our bowls when having rice or soup. Japanese hold bowls to have miso soup without spoons. But all these habits are considered rude in the Western countries. The etiquette in the West requests that when eating, bowls and plates cannot leave the tables. Food should be cut by knives to fit into the mouths. Of course your mouth cannot touch the plates or bowls. So the regular process is like this. You cut your steak on the plate with fork and knife, send the meat cube into the mouth with fork and nothing will be returned back but the fork alone.


 


Diet is absolutely necessary in the life of mankind, and even in the existence or development. Because of the differences between eastern and western cultural traditions, the Chinese and western dietary cultures are different in concept, target and pattern.



Orignal From: The Different Dietary Culture between East and West

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