On The Differences Of Family Concept Between Chinese And Western Cultures In Terms Of Cultural Dimensions

In the process of the communication between China and West, an issue we can’tignore is the differences between Chinese and Western culture. Cultural differences greatlyhamper cultural exchanges bringing people tremendous inconveniences. To solve theproblems aroused by cultural differences and know where those differences lie are of greatsignificance. Do they exist in customs, communicative customs, thinking modes or values?The differences of family concept to a great extent are due to the differences of values.Geert Hofstede, an organizational anthropologist from the Netherlands made hisresearch on cultural values in IBM. Based on statistical analysis five dimensions could beused to describe the important differences among the cultures in the study: Power Distance,Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long—Term Orientation/Short—Term Orientation.In the beginning, the thesis analyses the current research status on Hofstede’scultural dimensions and the differences of family concepts, pointing out that comparedwith the pure theoretical studies, the applying of this theory is relatively paid littleattention. Studies of differences of family concept mainly focus on family education andfamily ethics lack of theoretical support. After that, four of the dimensions includingPower Distance, Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity and UncertaintyAvoidance, are used to analyze the differences of family concept in Ang Lee’s The FamilyTrilogy guided by cultural dimensions. This thesis further expounds the rationality ofHofstede’s theory. In addition, the fifth dimension put forward on the basis ofConfucianism applied to demonstrate the differences of Chinese and Western cultures isproved to be circumscribed.It is hoped that the thesis can open up a new perspective from the culturaldimensions to study the differences of family concept and provide beneficial references forresearching on Ang Lee and family concept between Chinese and Western cultures andpromoting cultural communication and integration.