A Comparative Study Of Chinese Chivalrymanhood And Western Knightship

The thesis makes a comparative study of Chinese chivalrymanhood and western knightship from the perspective of intercultural communication. The aim is to compare the two spirits, study the inner cultural roots and discuss whether modern Chinese and westerners should learn from them.Firstly, the thesis discusses the similarities between Chinese chivalrymanhood and western knightship. It concludes that both chivalrymanhood and knightship show their respect for bravery, generosity and defence for women and children. Secondly, the thesis makes a comparative study of the differences between the two spirits. It concludes that chivalrymanhood takes faithfulness first while knightship values loyalty very much; chivalrymanhood pays attention to reputation, while knightship highly values personal honor; chivalrymanhood believes in justice, while knightship believes in Christianity; besides, chivalrymanhood values friendship with other men very much while knightship takes courtly love seriously. Then, the thesis concludes that the two spirits are important components of Chinese and western cultures and have great influence on Chinese and westerners' thinking patterns, which in turn affect the intercultural communication.The thesis uses Hofstede's three culture dimensions, collectivism-individualism, power distance and masculinity-femininity, to analyze the two spirits. It suggests that collectivism is the reason for the altruism of Chinese chivalrymanhood while individualism is the reason for the personal honor of western knightship. Power distance can be divided into two levels: high- power- distance and low- power- distance. Compared with western society, Chinese society belongs to the high- power- distance society, which is the reason why Chinese chivalrymanhood is called the spirit of common people. On the other hand, western society belongs to the low- power- distance society, which is the deep cultural reason why western knightship is the spirit of the upper class. Compared with western societies, masculinity takes the dominant position in Chinese society, which leads to man's despise of women and their strong value of friendship with other men, while in western society, femininity becomes stronger and knights all pursue courtly love.Meantime, the thesis also has a discussion about modern Chinese chivalrymanhood and western knightship. It suggests that both Chinese chivalrymanhood and western knightship have already been a part of Chinese and western culture, and the two spirits are also influencing Chinese and westerners. As a result, both of modern Chinese and westerners should learn more about the two spirits and respect each other's culture, customs, religion, living styles and thinking patterns. And only by doing this, people in China and western countries could avoid misunderstanding and conflicts, and finally promote the intercultural communication.