英语专业毕业论文The-Differences-of-the-Marriage.doc

西华大学毕业论文

毕 业 论 文

题 目: The Differences of the Marriage
Concept Between China and America

Contents
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………...…ii
1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….....…1
2. Definition of marriage and love value………………………………………………………2
3. Differences of marriage between China and America………………………………………3
3.1 Wedding cost……………………………………………………………………...……..3
3.2 Wedding dress……………………………………………………………………..…….4
3.3 Wedding ceremony…………………………………………………………...………….6
4. Views on Divorce………………………………………………………………….………...7
4.1 Chinese views on divorce……………………………………………………………….7
4.2 American views on divorce…………………………………………...……...….………8
5. Reasons of these differences……………………………………………………...….….......9
5.1 Social values…………………………………………………………...………...….......9
5.2 Living conditions……………………………………………………...…….…...….....10

5.3 Economy……………………………………………………………...………......……10
5.4 Religion……………………………………………………………...……….......…….12
6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………....……12
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….….……14
Summary of Writing This Thesis………………………………………………………..……15
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….......16

The Differences of the Marriage Concept Between China and America

Abstract: Marriage exists as a human custom in various countries. Marriage is a socially or formally recognized union or legal contract between couples. For the differences of concepts and culture, marriage’s definition is primarily an institution in which human relations, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged. American think highly of interests and freedom while Chinese value ethics and the dependence relationship between people. There are many differences of marriage concept between China and America. This thesis analyses the reasons of these differences by studying the differences of love value, wedding cost, ceremony, wedding dress and views on divorce between China and America. China and America have its own characteristics as a result of the differences of living conditions, social value, history background, economy and religion. The mode of life differs from person to person. With the development of the society and cultural integration, people’s marriage concepts have changed a lot. There are many things in common among the form and detail of Chinese and American marriage, but their roots have not been changed. Only by maintaining its own culture, fundamental and social characteristics, can a nation live long.
Key words: China; America; difference; marriage; cultural integration

摘要：婚姻作为一种人文风俗存在于许多国家。婚姻是一种人们获得亲属关系的法律制约或社会结合。依照观念和文化的差别，结婚，普遍以一种亲密或性的表现形式被认可。美国人重视个人的权利和自由，而中国社会重视伦理道德和人与人之间的相互依存关系。中美两国在婚姻观方面有许多差异，本文通过研究中美两国在爱情观，婚礼的花销，服饰，结婚典礼以及对离婚看法的差异分析产生这些差异的原因。由于地理环境，社会价值观，历史背景，经济发展，宗教信仰不同, 各个民族又各有其特性，每个人有自己的生活方式。随着时代的进步和中西文化的交融, 人们对中美婚姻的看法也产生了变化。婚姻的形式和细节产生许多共同之处,但主要的观念未变。一个国家要想长久存在, 更重要的是坚持自己文化的根本,保持社会的特色。
关键词: 中国;美国;差异;婚姻;文化融合

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The Differences of the Marriage Concept Between China and America
1. Introduction
Marriage exists as a human custom in various countries. John Gottman (1999:45) advocates that custom is the great guide of human life. Knowing the customs of a country is the guide to know the soul of the country and its people. People should know the culture of their target language as a foreign language learner. People can really learn the language well only in this way. No matter which area of the country you are in, the engagement ceremony is a process for lovers to go through. American think highly of interests and freedom while Chinese value ethics and the dependence relationship between people. There are many differences of marriage concept between China and America. This paper analyses the reasons of these differences by studying the differences of love value, wedding dress, ceremony wedding cost and views on divorce between China and America. China and America have its own characteristics of marriage as a result of the differences of living conditions, social value, history background, economy and religion.
The mythical origin of Chinese marriage can date to the story about Fu Xi and Nu Wa  who invented proper marriage procedures after getting married. People having same surname should consult with their family members to reduce the potential risk of unintentional incest in ancient Chinese society. Marrying one’s maternal relatives was generally not thought of as incest, so families sometimes intermarried from one generation to another. As time went by, Chinese people became more geographically mobile. When a spouse died, the husband and the wife were buried separately in the respective clans’ graveyard. A male would become a son-in-law who lived in the wife’s home in a maternal marriage. The New Marriage Law of 1950 thoroughly changed Chinese marriage traditions, enforcing monogamy, choice in marriage and equality of men and women; arranged marriages were the most common type of marriage in China until then. Starting October 2003, it became legal to marry or divorce without recognition from the couple’s work units. Although people with infectious diseases such as HBV may now marry, marriage is still illegal for the mental patients. Chinese culture is significantly influenced by Confucianism while American culture is significantly impacted by western ideas. With the development of the reform and opening-up policy, the communication between China and America has become more and more frequent. Marriage is a normal and necessary social phenomenon. America is a cross-cultural society. American pursue freedom and independence while Chinese people’s psychology is concern and sympathy. Therefore, their understanding of the marriage concept is different from America. In China, young people have to visit each other’s parents before getting married. When visiting the girl’s parents. During the wedding, instead of using the typical white color that in western cultures signifies purity, Chinese and even Russian bridal attire has been traditionally red. The prominent use of red is evident in Chinese culture for any joyful festivities while white is used in memorials and funerals denoting death. Xi Xiao(2008:35) proposes there were rare divorce in ancient China, but in America, evangelicals who attend church regularly divorce at a rate of 36% lower than secular couples for the religion. The aim of the present thesis is to discuss the cultural differences in various aspects between Chinese and American festivals, such as in their origin, celebration, food, feast manners, and dressing, and finally find the reasons.
In this thesis, the aim of knowing the differences of the marriage concept between China and America is to make different nations communicate with each other more often. The thesis will involve the wedding dress, wedding cost, ceremony and views on divorce to study in order to have a preliminary research on their different marriage concepts. People can know the differences of marriage concept between China and America from many aspects. From the study, I can understand the history and culture of China and America better.

2. Definition of marriage and love value
Marriage exists as a human custom in various countries. Marriage is a socially or formally legal contract or recognized union between couples that establishes rights and responsibilities between husband and wife, and between parents and their children. Marriage is the foundation of families and the society. Marriage’s definition varies according to various cultures, but it is mainly an institution in which human relations, usually familiar and sexual, are acknowledged. According to Norman Wright(2005:47), marriage is considered to be compulsory before pursuing any sexual activity in some countries. Marriage is considered cultural and universal when defined widely. A broad definition of marriage includes those who are monogamous, provisional, polygamous, and same-sex. People marry for many reasons, including: juristical, social, sexual, emotional, religious, mental, economical and so on. Stephanie Coontz(2005:36) advocates whom they marry may be influenced by socially determined rules of incest, individual desire, prescriptive marriage rules and parental choice. Marriages are arranged in many areas of the world. Shotgun weddings are unlawful in some jurisdictions.
Love is the most beautiful and noble thing in the world, and people have praised it for thousands of years. The key points of marriage are loving each other, living a wonderful life and prolonging our life. In developing parts of the world, arranged marriage, polygamy, child marriage and sometimes forced marriage may be practiced as a cultural tradition. On the contrary, such practices may be outlawed and penalized in many parts of the world. In the developed regions of the world, there has been a general trend towards ensuring equal rights within marriage for women and legally recognizing the marriages of interfaith, same-gender and interracial couples. Oftentimes, these trends have been motivated by a desire to uphold human rights and establish equality.

3. Differences of marriage between China and America
3.1 Wedding cost
In China bridegrooms pay most wedding costs. People thought a couple should share all responsibilities together in the west. The average age of American buying houses is 36 years old. They buy houses for kids, not for marriage. Most of young American rent houses when get married. Many Chinese admire the open-minded family relationship of American, but they can’t get rid of the traditional concept.
According to American tradition, it took one year from engagement to wedding. It wastes energy and time to prepare the wedding. The bride’s side prepares for the wedding. The report suggests that the average cost of an American marriage is 22000 dollars. All costs of American marriage are 72 billion every year. The average cost of a Chinese marriage is 13000 yuan. The average cost of wedding venue, wedding company and wedding dress are higher than last year. But the costs of wedding photos and jewelries go down. The cost of main wedding projects is about 131768 yuan, up 6.8 percent of than last year. The average cost of marriage is 560000 yuan in towns in our country. The cost includes wedding photography, wedding services, wedding banquets, wedding dresses, jewelry, honeymoon travel, buying a house, buying a car, home decoration, furnitures and so on. Couples spend about 330000 yuan on buying house. The report shows that 81 percent of young people need financial support from parents when getting married. Affected by traditional concepts, Chinese will buy new houses and even new cars generally when they get married. Although the price of house is higher and higher, many parents still spend all their savings and buy houses for children.
Honeymoon is originated from the west, where 99 percent of couples will go on their honeymoon. The average cost of going on honeymoon is 4000 dollars in America. Honeymoon is a pleasure for married couples. Many people will go to travel on their honeymoon. How to spend money depends on personal economic situation. Many American don’t save face and compare unrealistically when they get married.

3.2 Wedding dress
In China, the traditional wedding dress is usually red. Many decorations are red. How did red become the color Chinese love? Red is the color of the fire, blood and sun. So most Chinese people believe that red is the color of wealth and good fortune. Decorating the wedding with red color also stands for their expectations of wealth and good fortune. Chinese marriages emphasize wealth and celebration. And many brides wear cheongsams in marriage. In Chinese traditional marriage, brides wear red clothes and phoenix coronets with a red scarf. Grooms wear robes and mandarin jackets. Brides sit in bright red sedans and grooms ride horses in advance. Although Chinese people are influenced by western customs and also wear white bridal veils nowadays, most Chinese still keep the traditional culture. They may wear white bridal veils during the ceremony or banquet, and then they will wear the red cheongsams or any other traditional wedding clothes.
But in America, the color is different. The white color means holiness in the west. In Greek mythology, Zeus was the incarnation of a white bull. In Christianity, the Holy Spirit was manifested as a white dove, so Jesus Christ was called the white lamb, and the symbol of the virgin Mary was a white unicorn Later, white became the color of priests’ clothes. The priest wore a white robe in the Catholic liturgy. White also means innocence. Just as Luo Xiu (1999:35) pointed out, in Roman times, white represented celebration. Between 1850 and 1990, white also symbolized affluence. In the early 20th century, white stood for purity. So white has been the first choice of the wedding dress’s color. It symbolizes the beauty and holiness of brides. The ancient American ladies wear a wreath of flowers in the marriageable age to be distinguished from married women. It symbolizes virginity. Brides wearing veils is the symbol of youth and virginity in the beginning, later it stands for purity in Catholicism. It was said that a beautiful noble girl stood behind the white gauze curtain, and her fiance was amazed at her beauty and praised her greatly. It inspired her to wear a wedding dress at the wedding Her behavior pioneered a fashion. It’s the origin of brides wearing wedding dresses. The dressing of American brides is grave and elegant. American wedding is a more romantic style, so the whole wedding from start to finish full of romance. And the wedding tradition of “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” has been kept for many years. Many brides have been asked on their wedding days if they have gathered something old, new, borrowed and blue to carry with them when they walk to the marriage hall. The meaning of that is to bring luck and fortune to the newly married couple. 

3.3 Wedding ceremony
Chinese marriages are quite different from American marriages. Traditionally, there were many things people should prepare for the wedding. Such as requesting for marring the bride, requesting for bride and groom’s birth dates, engagement, formal gifts for the bride’s family and selecting the wedding date. Young people need to visit to each other’s parents before getting married. The boy has to bring betrothal presents with him to express sincerity when visiting the girl’s parents. And while the girl visits the boy’s parents, the parents should prepare a formal gift for the future daughter-in-law. The procedure of the wedding ceremony was complex. First, relatives should go to the bride’s home to escort her back to the wedding, and then the bridegroom kicked the curtain of the sedan chair. Next, the bride strode the fire pan. The bride and the groom