中南大学中西文化答案.doc

711《中西文化专题》课程复习材料 定义题 （20）4小题 Concepts of culture, individualism, and collectivism 1) culture Culture is the way of life of a group of people. Tylor conceived culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. 2) individualism, An individualist culture tends to emphasize the needs of individuals. In general, Western culture tends to be individualist 3) collectivism A collectivist is one in which people tend to view themselves as members of groups and consider the needs of the group to be more important. Most Asian cultures, including China’s, tend to be collectivist Confucianism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, and social effects of religions 1) Confucianism, Confucianism takes the teachings of Confucius as its core of thought and regards the words and deeds of Confucius as its highest code (准则) of behavior. It advocates the benevolence、 justice and rituals, allegiance and forbearance (仁、义、礼、忠、恕), the doctrine of the golden mean (中庸) and values the ethical relations of men. Ren (仁) and li (礼) are the two core concepts of Confucius’ doctrine about people 2) Christianity Christianity is the worlds largest religion, with approximately 2.2 billion adherents, known as Christians. Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and oral teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament (《新约全书》). 3) Buddhism Buddhism originated in India in the 6th century B.C. Sakyamuni is said to be the founder of Buddhism Buddhism was first introduced into China in the first century. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhism entered its golden age. During its development in China, it has a profound influence on traditional Chinese culture and thoughts, and has become one of the most important religions in China. The theory of Buddhism is based on the theory of samsara (轮回)，meaning that living beings orbit around the six spheres of heaven, hell an