Cultural Differences Between Chinese and American Father—son Culture

馬海萌

【Abstract】： As a kind of family culture， father-son culture is the epitome of the society culture and moral culture. Also， the cultural background which shows the difference of culture development and connotations can have an influence on father-son culture. In this thesis， we analyze the characters and feelings from the perspective of culture and deeply understand the differences between China and America. In this way， the thesis can provide some enlightenment for the study of the different connotations of father-son culture between China and America. And it also reminds us that in contemporary family education， attention should be paid to strengthening the role of fathers on condition that the children can have enough space to develop their personalities.

【Key words】： Chinese and American culture； family；education

As a kind of family culture， father-son culture is the epitome of the society culture and moral culture. In contemporary China， to set up a new fathers-son culture， we need to critically inherit the traditional culture. As we know， the traditional ethics plays an indispensable role in shaping the national character and national self-confidence. It inherits the reasonable elements in Chinese traditional culture， especially the father-son culture. The traditional Confucian ethics may also provide some enlightenment for the moral construction.

To a certain extent， eastern civilization and western civilization are parallel with each other. China is a country focusing on ethics and affection since its social life and social structure are characterized by patriarchal values and small-scale agricultural family. While America is a typically western country，which focusing on law and ration. It is also influenced by its traditions. Its known that western societys production model was fishing and hunting in the old time. In the intercultural perspectives， there are many consistencies and differences between Chinese father-son culture and American father-son culture. By emphasizing on the family affection and advocating religious ethics， Confucius attempts to construct a harmonious society through coordinating the relationship between family and the society. Since China and America have different culture background， the concepts of their family education vary from each other. Also， there are many differences in their father-son culture， such as the way to express emotion， to communicate and so on. Since different ideological roots cause differences， there are many differences between Chinese father-son culture and American father-son culture， such as peoples characteristics， thinking ways and so on. So we should change the way of traditional family education， which is not conducive to childrens growth and create a more reasonable and suitable one.

In western countries， focusing on human rights makes westerners form the individualism. Namely， they don't depend on others even their families. They are independent. Formed on the basis of individualism， American family ethics pay more attention to independence， freedom and equality. Children in western countries have their own independent thinking. Fathers and sons all have equal status in the family. The equality and democracy thoughts in America make the dominant position of the father reversed. There are more emotional communications between fathers and sons in the West. For sons， they trust and feel close to their fathers. “Individualism” constitutes the basic characteristics of American culture patterns and main content， which pays more attention to the importance of personal freedom and personal development. Individualism emphasizes that people have independent personality， thoughts， rights， and freedom. It pays more attention to individual interests and advocates peoples independent development and self-realization.

Family ethics， which advocates by Confucian culture， it is a part of Chinese traditional culture. For a long time， “FuWeiZiGang” is always the guiding ideology of the Chinese traditional family. Chinese social family ethics is centered on male parents. China has had a wording "nature and humanity" since ancient times， it emphasis the harmony between human being and nature， and pays more attention to favorable climatic， geographical and human conditions， they obeys the law of nature to do everything. The main Chinese traditional education concepts are Confucianism， Taoism， and Buddhism. These three concepts are consistent， and there is an overall understanding in the process of cognition. So the Chinese people seem to grasp the overall， good at inducting and thinking. Performance in the language behavior， they are modesty， inside collect， implicate， circuitous. Chinese people have an overall interest supreme values view. We all emphasize that the collective interest is more important than personal interests. During period of education， parents regard their children as a continuation of themselves value.

Conclusion：It is necessary for parents to influence the development of their childrens characters. Education experts believe that self-confidence is a very important character for children. It is helpful for the growth of children. We need to respect children and have a democratic teaching for children. Parents should regard their kids as equal members at home and respect the children's personality and dignity. And then let the children have independent thinking and freedom choices. Next， we need to respect the childrens voice. Parents should be good friends of children.

In ones lifetime， family is the first school. It is the earliest education and also the longest and most profound one for a person. With the development of the world， many countries have realized the importance of family education. To find a good way to educate Chinese children， we should focus on strengthening fathers function in family life.

作者簡介：馬海萌（1995.04—），女，吉林四平人，就讀于延邊大學馬克思主義學院，研究方向：馬克思主義政黨理論與實踐研究。