Cultural Self-confidence in the Perspective of Cross-cultural Interaction

Liu Wenyuan

(Foreign Language institute Tianjin Normal University,Tianjin 300387)



Cultural Self-confidence in the Perspective of Cross-cultural Interaction

Liu Wenyuan

(Foreign Language institute Tianjin Normal University,Tianjin 300387)

In the process of economic development around the world,there are more and more cross-cultural interactions among people with different cultures.The key point is how to maintain our own excellent cultures and make communication effectively and successfully.The paper will focus on the topic.The first part of the essay introduces the present cross-cultural situations in international communication and its threat that Chinese culture has in the process of economical development.Several points to be mentioned are in the following parts,such as culture,cultural consciousness,cultural confidence and the tactics of keeping self-confidence in the cross-cultural interactions.All in all,a series of problems will be discussed in the perspective of culture.

culture;cross-cultural interaction;cultural self-confidence

Ⅰ.Self-confidence in cross-cultural interaction

It is a fact that language and culture are inseparable.Language is not just a set of signs,but also the means of cultural expression.The relation between language and culture has not been emphasized enough value in cross-cultural interaction for a long time.People always take it for granted in practice,they just master a foreign language itself very well,speak it fluently，and can communicate with the natives freely.It turns out that repeated mistakes will occur in communication among people from different backgrounds,which is just like a bull in a china shop during the interactions.Therefore,in the process of communication,culture plays a very important role.It is of importance to combine culture learning with the mastery of language itself.〔1〕The truth is that an unconsciousness of cultural behaviors is present at the bottom of the hidden behaviors.It is not difficult to find that people tend to regard their own culture as superior to others,because culture is ethnocentric.Ethnocentrism is a habitual disposition to judge foreign peoples or groups by standards and practice of an ethnic group.Like culture itself,ethnocentrism is not innate.It is learned.So learning more sort of a culture is the key to communicating with natives successfully.Only by doing so,people can know each other more,gaining more self-confidence to interact freely.

Apart from geographical locations,these two worlds have differences in their way of life in general.Have you ever wondered about the other differences between the Eastern and Western cultures?Philosophy as the most popular and widest mode of thoughts obviously can be said to be a science of conception.Basically,the Western philosophy is considered to be a school of thought from Greek philosophy that influences the greater part of Western civilization,which takes its roots from Rome and Christianity,specifically Judeo-Christianity.In contrary,the Eastern philosophy is based mainly in Asia,more specifically,the Chinese philosophy.Eastern philosophy is rooted in Confucianism,Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism.Actually,the Eastern is classical Chinese while the Western is more Latin in their roots.

Moreover,the distinct characteristics between the Eastern and Western philosophies are the West’s individualism and the East’s collectivism.The former is more individualistic in pursuit of finding out the meaning of life here and now with “self” in the center as it is already given and part of the divine.In contrast,the latter focuses more on group as one in order to find meaning in life as people try to get rid of the false “me” concept and find out the meaning of the true “me” in relation to everything around them.Let us take a deeper look into more aspects that these two philosophies make sense of.The main principle of the Eastern philosophy is unity.This cosmological unity is mainly in pursuit of a journey of life as it goes towards the eternal realities.Life is round,and the recurrence with everything around it is important.Ethics is based on behaviors,and dependence is from inside to outside.In order to be liberated,the inner “self” must be freed first in accordance to the world around it.The Western philosophy,on the other hand,is based on self-dedication to be of service to others.Life is service to God.Due to Christian influence,there has to be a beginning and an ending for meaning of life.Linear as it seems,the Western philosophy is logical,scientific and rational compared to eternal and recurring in the Eastern concepts.The Eastern philosophy is also more about spiritual while the Western philosophy is more of practical.

Both the Western and Eastern philosophies brought about during the process of people’s production and lives.Although the Western philosophy is distinct from the Eastern Philosophy,it is sure to say that one culture is equal to the other instead of one “superior” to the other,simply that they are the peculiar modes of living that grew up based on different cultures.A unique culture is part of life;people should never forget or give up their own culture,because it is the sign of one’s nation.〔2〕If its culture is neglected or looked down,even totally lost,the nation will disappear,so is the nation.〔3〕Therefore,it is very important for Chinese people to understand different cultures correctly,establish their own cultural confidence and achieve equal communication in cross-cultural interactions based on respecting for each other’s cultures.

Ⅱ.Strategies of strengthening self-confidence

1.Correcting understanding of Chinese culture to establish the national pride and cultural self-confidence

It is necessary for us to know the traditional culture and cultural achievements to inspire our national pride and cultural self-confidence.As is known,China is one of ancient countries in the world with splendid civilization,and it has gained great achievements in culture and made a great contribution to the global civilization.The classical philosophy called Yi King (The Book of Changes) implies the basic modern computer binary and modern mathematical logic.Analytical philosophy in Lao Tzu is applied to modern philosophy,which has a great effect on South Korea,Korea,Japan and many Asian countries in philosophy.Even in Europe,Voltaire’s philosophy of the Enlightenment Movement is deeply influenced by Confucian political theory,ethics,concepts of human nature and social laws in constructing a comprehensive and philosophical society.Moreover,China’s imperial examination system has great influence on the formation of western official selection system.〔4〕

In addition,in terms of science and technology,China’s four great ancient inventions greatly promoted the progress of the world.In literature and arts,China’s calligraphy,painting and poetry with unprecedented prosperity have far-reaching influence on many countries.As for transportation,the Silk Road,connecting Asia to Europe,opened to promote the exchanges in the countries along the road.The skill of weaving silk was an important invention at the moment.Moreover,the great inventions except gunpowder were spread through the Silk Road.According to agriculture,China is the first in the world to plant rice,millet and other 136 kinds of crops,accounting for more than 20%,ranking first in the world.And also China is the origin of tea,which has been becoming a more global trend as one of the world’s three major healthy drinks.From the above mentioned,to be frank,Chinese culture has been at the forefront of the world,which has made an outstanding contribution to the development of the world.

However,our cultural development has been ruined partly since the Opium War,because China has suffered from feudal rule and foreign aggression;meanwhile,it is affected by the rise of the Western culture.But this is not the reason of ignorance and neglect to our culture,as culture is part of a nation,once lost,never regained.Inheritance and protection of the traditional culture should be our duty-bound responsibility.〔5〕Therefore,fully understanding Chinese traditional culture is a right policy,for each culture has its traditional foundation and inheriting elements,from which the spiritual lifeline of a nation is.So everyone should take a strong pride in his own national culture and respect for the traditional culture.In the multicultural communication,we should be neither indulged in self-admiration nor extremely arrogant to our culture.Getting into a situation of self-cultural inferiority is typically lack of self-confidence,showing an attitude of disappointment and negative inferiority towards our traditional culture,meanwhile,manifesting excessive recognition of Western culture and negation of Chinese culture.In the background of globalization,competition and cross-cultural interaction easily breed cultural inferiority in the context of multicultural coexistence.For example,some people tend to worship foreign cultures blindly,even to transplant the Western culture completely,which is incorrect.More reflection should be done,lack of confidence in Chinese culture.〔6〕And also it is helpful to learn the two kinds of cultures comparatively.Cross-cultural understanding is a recognition of the ways in which two cultures resemble one another as well as those in which they differ.〔7〕Resemblances usually surface through an examination of the differences.General discussions and theories regarding cultural differences are necessary to consider something specific in the target culture,and the one without the other is like a river without a current.〔8〕

2.Establishing a platform for intercultural communication equality by a two-way cultural transmission

“Import-Oriented” is actually an introduction of the Western culture to China.We should have some criteria and principles when communicating with different cultures instead of our accepting them totally.We must analyze them logically and rationally to specify the advantages and disadvantages of these cultures,and then learn something useful.It is critical that we should combine theirs with ours to transform and innovate for further consolidation and refreshment of our culture.In addition,equal cultural interactions will make some understand our own culture,meanwhile,eliminate the blind worship of foreign cultures caused by cultural inferiority.

“Export-Oriented” is one of the strategies of our current cultural development,which is one of the most prominent in China.At present,the development of our cultural industry is to carry out the depth of participation in the international competition and division of international cultural market.It is an extension of China’s “Export-Oriented” in the field of cultural industry with opening China’s cultural market.With the inevitable result of reform and opening up,along with the development of economic and cultural exchanges,China enhances its overall national power and promotes the development of our culture.The value of Chinese culture has become more and more obvious,and the international influence of Chinese culture is increasing.As we all know that Confucius and Confucian culture as part of Chinese culture are widely accepted.For instance,dozens of Nobel laureates gathered in January of 1988 in Paris,declared,“If humanity are to survive in the twenty-first century,they must trace back to 2540 to absorb the wisdom of Confucius.” Besides,over 100 Confucius schools in the world are founded with the rising of Chinese learning.Chinese as a foreign curriculum language is taught in more than 40 countries.

In intercultural communication,we must take the initiative to take on this mission to export our culture.The government and social groups should strive to build a platform for cultural interaction so as to make culture exchanges of “Import-Oriented” and “Export-Oriented” happen.The revival of Chinese Renaissance is waiting for each of us to take the responsibilities,which reflects our cultural consciousness,the self-confidence and the self-reliance of a nation.That is,we should take an objective attitude to our excellent culture,affirming and sticking to it with an open mind.We are sure that our culture will be promoted during the process of interaction.

3.Emphasizing cultural innovation and advocating cultural renaissance

Culture is of importance for a nation.The most terrible thing is a nation without culture,which is doomed to die forever.But how to deal with the relationship between inheritance and innovation?Tolstoy said that it is the right way of getting the experience that your elder has got,and then moving forward,which indicates their philosophical relationship.They are complementary and indispensable.Inheritance is fundamental,and innovation is critical in the development of traditional culture.On the other side,innovation is to promote the development of traditional culture.The inheritance of culture is to absorb and accept and different cultures.Inheritance is a means of cultural development,whereas innovation is the objective.Therefore,when inheriting Chinese five-thousand-year cultural heritage,we should pay more attention to respecting for our history and tradition,taking into account China’s present situations and geographical characteristics of different regions in order to make the culture full of new vitality,thus maintaining the excellent qualities of traditional culture and the historical continuity with the innovation of new styles of times.

Finally,school education is the most important stage of basic education.It is necessary for all schools to help the students build solid foundation of Chinese traditional culture for their future international communication.〔9〕Traditional culture education should be integrated into normal teaching education to cultivate students’ cultural consciousness and develop their cultural self-confidence,which is one of the keys to successful cross-cultural communication in the future.

Ⅲ.Conclusion and further discussion

Chinese traditional culture is profound and unique formed in its long history full of endless wisdom and unremitting spirit in pursuit of Chinese freedom from generation to generation.However,nowadays,some Chinese people are blindly accepting foreign cultures,especially the Western culture due to lack of understanding of our traditional culture and rational thinking in intercultural communication,getting into loss of Chinese culture.It indicates that they are short of cultural self-confidence.So it is necessary for them to strengthen knowledge of excellent Chinese traditional culture and cultural consciousness in values of culture,values of life and values of the world to cultivate cultural self-confidence by means of Marx’s doctrine with the dialectical method to deal with some multicultural issues and cope with a couple of relations properly,such as traditional and modern,local and foreign and inherited and innovative.We should neither be self-conceited nor improperly belittle ourselves in the cross-cultural interactions.Instead,we should enhance cultural self-confidence in the process of recognizing and reflecting our cultural status to develop our culture.

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About the author：Liu Wenyuan,master degree,an English teacher at Foreign Language institute,Tianjin Normal University,research interests: English language and culture,teaching methodology.