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On Differences of Taboos between Chinese and
Western Cultures
Chapter I Introduction
With the globalization and China’s wider opening to the outside world, a multiple Chinese people begin to learn English. They have a good command of English pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. However, when contacting westerners, they still find it difficult to communicate smoothly and effectively. In fact, learning a language is inseparable from knowing about its culture. Learning a culture means that we should make it clear what things we may do or not and which words we can say or not under the specific circumstance. As for those we mustn’t do or say definitely, we call them taboos—a self-restriction on our behaviors, a phenomenon which occurs in almost all cultures.
According to sociology, there are differences among cultures in different countries, so it is with taboos. Because of the differences of cultural taboos, misunderstanding may rise, though language used in communication may be flawless. Because of differences of cultural taboos, friction may increase to affect the relationships with others. In order to be successful in cross-cultural communication as well as to promote frequent exchanges between China and the West, it is necessary for us to know the differences of taboos between Chinese and western cultures.
Chapter II General Views on Taboos
2.1 The Definition of Culture
Culture has been studied and defined in many ways by scholars representing various disciplines.
In 1871, E.B.Taylor, a famous British anthropologist, defined culture as “the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, customs and many other capabilities and habits acquired by members of society.” Britannica Concise Encyclopedia gives such an explanation of culture “It refers to the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that is both a result of and integral to the human capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2002)
Culture has played a crucial role in human evolution, allowing human beings to adapt the environment to their own purposes rather than depend solely on natural selections to achieve adaptive success. Every human society has its own particular culture, or social cultural system. Cultural differences distinguish one society from another. As one of the integrated parts of culture, taboos can distinguish different countries as well.
2.2 The Definition and Origin of Taboos
Taboos, which is also written as tabu or tapu, is of Polynesian origin and was first noted by Capital James Cook during his 1771 visit to Tonga. In his account of visit, Cook wrote, “Not one of them would sit down or eat a bit of anything…On expressing my surprise at this, they were all taboos, as they said.” After he introduced it into English, this word has traveled as widely as Cook himself and is now used throughout the English-speaking world, meaning ban or prohibition on something that is regarded for religious or other reasons as not to be done, touched, used, etc. (Wan Jianzhong, 2001)
It was said that a taboo could be placed on an object, a person, a place, or a word that was believed to have inherent power above the ordinary. This power was called mana, which could only be approached by special priests. Often the mana of a taboo is so great that the offender will suffer punishment, even death, merely through fear of its power.
In fact, taboos derived from fear of mysterious power, from the experience that human beings struggle against the nature and also from the social customs that people develop in their communications in the long run.
2.3 Characteristics of Taboos
2.3.1 Primitiveness
In primitive society, low level of social productive forces led to people’s limitations on cognition. With regard to taboos, the theme of primitive culture, people’s cognition upon it was characterized by subjectivity, backwardness and blindness. When facing the great and mysterious nature, people had no choices but plunged into the primitive, blind nature worship.
2.3.2 Mystery
This characteristic of taboos stemmed from people’s confusion over various natural phenomena. They used their own imaginations to intensify the mystery and sanctity. Actually, there is no need for people to ask what essence of taboo is because talking about taboos has become a taboo. The mystery of taboo made itself exert great restrictive influence on human society.
2.3.3 Restraint
Taboos, like laws, have built an insurmountable obstacle in people’s heart and command people’s behaviors as a silent order. Initially, the breaking of a taboo usually required extermination of the offender or some sorts of ceremonial purification. Later, groups or teams shouldered the responsibility of the punishment. Modern taboos, to some extent, have become the social psychology to restrict people’ behavior. This restraint is beyond the reach of power from religion, moral and laws.
2.3.4 Inheritability
Taboos have been passed on from generation to generation. Although being considered as a kind of culture without elegance, they widely exist in social psychology and people’s spirits. The blindness and mystery of taboos provided the premise and foundation for its inheritability.
Chapter III Specific Differences of Taboos between Chinese and Western Cultures
3.1 Taboos on Food and Drinks
Taboo food and drinks are food and drinks which people abstain from consuming for religious or cultural reasons.
In China, there is hardly taboo food except some special food of minority ethnic groups; for example, Hui ethnic group don’t eat pork for the religious reason. While in the West, it is forbidden to eat some food made of animals’ heads, feet and viscera. The meat of some special animals is also forbidden to eat, for example, the meat of dogs, cats and snakes. Dogs and cats are pets and sincere companions in the eyes of westerners, but dogs’ meat is very common in China. Consumption of snakes also has a long history in China where it is seen as a special culinary dish while snake symbolizes evil things originating from the Bible in the West.
When we talk about taboos on drinks, we should mention wine and alcohol. Chinese people like drinking spirits in the party even till they are drunk. There’s a saying goes“酒逢知己千杯少”which means the more you drink, the more excitement you and friends will get. In the West, being drunk in the party is a taboo because drunken people usually have disgraceful behavior and do shameful things. In addition, what kind of wine or alcohol westerners drink depends on the occasions and dishes: cocktails or aperitif before dinner, wine during dinner, brandy or whiskey after dinner. During a brand feast, they will change a kind of wine with every dish, and people drink champagne to celebrate victory or success.
As for the ways of eating and drinking, there are also different taboos. In China, it’s impolite to dump or tap bowls and plates with chopsticks especially when you are a guest, because people believe that is the humble behavior of beggars. It’s improper to insert chopsticks upright onto the vessels since this will be viewed as an evil presage and unique way to show esteem and care for the dead. It isn’t polite to pass food with your chopsticks directly to somebody else’s chopsticks. Only at funerals are the bones of the cremated body given in that way from person to person. In the West, it’s a taboo to make sounds by knocking the fork against the knife, especially by knocking the fork or knife against the water glass for it is believed that this behavior will bring about misfortunes. Spilling the salt on the table is also a taboo because it’s a sign that evil spirits are trying to take away the household’s salt. To avoid them, it is wise to throw a pinch of salt over your left shoulder since that is the side where the spirits live. (Harry Collis, 2004)
Knowing about taboos on food and drinks can help us avoid embarrassments when dining and the basic principles of catering etiquette can help us perform better with foreigners in the future.
3.2 Taboos on Language
Some words and expressions must be avoided because traditions or social custom strongly frowns on their use. These are verbal taboos. Violating a verbal taboo is offensive and would cause strong disapproval. Cross-cultural communications necessitate us to know about these different taboos.
3.2.1 Taboos on Salutations
Chinese people have the custom of showing respect to elders. Calling these people’s first names is a great taboo. One can imagine the reaction of an adult if a child were to call grandparents by his or her first name or a student to do the same in calling a teacher. A quick reprimand and possible even a spanking for the child would be sure to follow. However, English-speaking people usually address others by using the first name no matter the person is of roughly the same age or of different ages. It’s very common to hear a child calling a much older person his name directly and people of different social status do the same as well. In the eyes of westerners, it is not a sign of disrespect but equality. We can infer from the above that the Chinese custom of addressing members of one’s family relatives or close neighbors as“大叔” 、“二哥” 、“三姑”.It’s unbearable to call their names directly. In English, the name alone, whether it be for a man or a woman, would ordinarily be enough. Addressing older relatives Uncle Tom or Aunt Lucy is of exception, but usually the given name not the family name is used. It should be mentioned that in English, Brother Joseph or Sister Mary would commonly be understood as referring to a person belonging to a Catholic group or a religious society.
Another taboo in Chinese culture is to call a person’s name rather than his title (if he has one). An employee would be fired if he calls his manager’s full name. Common Chinese form of address is the use of people’s position or occupations, such as“赵校长” 、“李院长” 、“尚老师”. But one seldom hears English speakers addressing others as “Chancellor Green”, “Minister Smith” or “Teacher Lee”. In English, only a few occupations or titles would be used: “Doctor” is common for those who are qualified in medical profession, and “Judge” for those authorized to try cases in law courts. “Governor” and “President” may be used for those who hold such offices.
Finally, in China, it’s impolite to attract a stranger’s attention by saying like “Hi, you!” We have “同志” and the now fashionable“师傅”. Then what do people do in English if such a need arises? Depending on the situation, English custom might suggest using some expressions as “Excuse me”, “Pardon me”. Often they simply clear their throats loudly or make some noises or gestures to attract others’ attention. (Deng Yanchang and Liu Runqing, 2003)
3.2.2 Taboos on Topics of Conversations
There are rare taboo topics in Chinese daily conversations. Chinese people value the intimacy, amiability and close relationships among friends, relatives and colleagues. It is free to talk about anything from age, income, marriage to politics. However, westerners have a strict rule of asking age, salary and marital status. It’s forbidden to ask someone if they are married, have children or whether they are involved in a relationship. Because in the earlier history of America, people were evaluated by the number of children they had, by their marital status and by the amount of salary they made. In order to make everyone feel equal, it has become a taboo to mention these topics in conversations with strangers. The reason why age is not discussed is that old age means less value. So some either refuse to divulge their ages or they will lie and shave several years off their real ages and say they’re younger than what they are.
In the West, it’s a taboo to ask questions about personal matters as we often do in China even though you’re friends because westerners place a high value on privacy. In English there is a saying “A man’s house is his castle.” No one should come in without permission. So it is with his life and personal affairs. To ask questions about these would be considered invading an individual’s personal life. As non-native speakers, we should be aware of some expressions from westerners to stop further questions. For example, if a person says, “I am going out”, one should not ask “where”. If he says, “I have an appointment”, it would be improper to ask “with whom” or “what kind of appointment it is.”
3.2.3 Taboos on Body Language
People communicate not only through verbal language, but also through non-verbal language which includes gestures, eye contact, facial expressions and physical touches. Taboos exist in that aspect varying from country to country. In China, people intend to stand closer than westerners when conversing. Even acquaintances have physical contact, not to mention good friends. They may pat one’s arm to convey a kind of encouragement or intimacy. In the West, the most important thing to remember is that most people don’t like conversing in a close distance which will make them feel uncomfortable. Physical contact is also avoided in conversations among ordinary friends. Merely touching someone may cause an unpleasant reaction. If one touches another person accidentally, she usually apologizes in this way “Sorry, excuse me.” Physical contact between members of the same sex in the West is a delicate one. Once past childhood, the holding of hands, or walking with an arm around another’s shoulder is not considered proper. The implication is homosexuality, and homosexuality generally arouses strong social disapproval in western countries. On the contrary, there are so many people of same sex, especially girls and women, holding hands and walking arm in arm in China. Therefore, it’s little wonder that many foreigners are surprised to say there’re many homosexuals in China. (Jia Yuxin, 1997)
Gestures can be particularly troublesome, for a slight difference in making gesture itself can mean something different from that intended. Here are examples: Stamping one’s foot means anger, irritation and frustration in China while impatience in the West; staring at someone refers to curiosity or sometimes surprise but that will make westerners embarrassed. Performer clapping at the same time audience applauds signifies appreciation from the speaker and mutual positive feelings together with audience in Chinese people’s opinion while being immodest in the eyes of English-speakers.
From the salutations, topics of conversations to body language, we have the better idea of what to do and what not to do upon taboo language. Properly conversing with westerners while avoiding taboos is a good start in cross-cultural communications.
3.3 Taboos on Colors
People live in a colorful world. They give colors different meanings, such as the positive meaning and passive meaning, among which the passive meaning is a taboo. Knowing about taboos on colors is useful for us to avoid misunderstandings in cross-cultural communications.
Red is usually associated with celebrations and joyful occasions in China. It symbolizes joy, auspiciousness, harvest, luck, and progress. There is an example of“红双喜”—double happiness written in red which is the traditional symbol for an event of special happiness, such as a wedding. Similarly, in“开门红” the color red is symbolic of good fortune. This expression shouldn’t be translated literally but explained as meaning to make a good start. But in the West, red doesn’t enjoy popularity because it is thought to make people annoyed and remind people of violence, danger and blood, such as, “seeing red” (anger), “red rag” (a bull fighter use it to irritate the bull), “red light district” (place where prostitutes flock together), “red revenge” and “red terror” (misunderstanding and hatred to Communist in the past). Therefore, different taboos emerge because of different connotations of colors.
In Chinese traditional culture, white color has the opposite connotation against red. It stands for death, knell, failure, corruption, lacking vitality, etc. For instance,“白事”(people wearing white clothes to hold or attend funerals),“白痴”(idiot),“白脸” (an evil role played in Peking Opera),“白搭” (doing effortless things). On the contrary, to most westerners, white means purity, elegance and innocence. Some expressions prove this fact: “white wedding” (bride and bridegroom wear white ceremonial dress during wedding ceremony), “a white spirit” (straightforward spirit), “a white day” (the lucky day in one’s life). Many buildings are white such as the White Hall in London and the White House in Washington D. C. (陈卫斌，2005 (4) )
In ancient China, the color yellow was the most respectable color. It was monopolized by emperor and represented sacredness. In the West, this color is a taboo color. In Bible story, Judas who betrayed Jesus Christ wore yellow clothes. It’s worth mentioning that yellow has also negative meaning in China, referring to pornographic, trashy, obscene, filthy or vulgar things. For example,“黄色电影”(pornographic movies), and“黄书刊”(trashy books). In English, the connotation of blue color is similar to yellow in Chinese, such as “blue jokes” (filthy jokes) and “blue revolution” (sex emancipation).
Other colors carry certain connotations as well and may be taboos in different cultures, but will not be mentioned here any more. But we’d better pay special attention to the colors as well as their internal meanings to prevent delicate taboos.
3.4 Taboos on Animals
Animals have close connection with human beings, so different cultures endow them with different connotations which can reflect various taboos.
In China, from ancient time, people consider owl unlucky. A folk story told us that one day when a man saw an owl in the tree; he shot it down with an arrow. He was happy then, but two years later, he died. So the mere sight of an owl or the sound of the creature’s hooting is enough to cause people to draw back in fear. However, the western saying “as wise as an owl” indicates that English-speaking people associate wisdom with this bird. In children’s books and cartoons, the owl is usually solemn and wise. In dispute among birds and beats, it is the owl that acts as a judge. In moment of crisis, it is the owl that they go to for advice.
The petrel in Chinese culture is a bird to be emulated. The mental image that the term evokes is a small lonely bird winging over the vast ocean, braving storms and flying with stamina and courage. Many young people in their moment of fantasy compare themselves to the petrel, struggling to get ahead in the vast world of humanity, braving hardship and adversity, advancing with perseverance and courage. What a blow it is to discover how little respect westerners have for the bird! A stormy petrel is “a person regarded as a herald of trouble, strife or violence or someone who delights in such trouble, etc.”
To Chinese people, the bat is a symbol of good fortune, well-being, and happiness—all positive qualities, because the pronunciation of bat in Chinese is similar to the word“福”.Thus the popularity of traditional design that shows the bat and the deer together,“蝙鹿”, pronounced the same as“福禄”—good fortune, happiness, wealth and position. The bat is usually associated with negative qualities in the West. “As blind as a bat”, “crazy as a bat”, “he’s a bit batty” are typical expressions of negative associations. They may be even worse. Mention of the bat often evokes the image of an ugly, sinister and bloody-sucking creature. This may possibly be because of the vampire bat. The emotions aroused in English-speaking people are similar to those that the dreaded owl arouses among Chinese people: fright and revulsion.
Chinese symbolism that goes with the tortoise or turtle is twofold. On one hand, it is longevity. Stone tortoises are symbolic of venerable old age. They can be seen in front of ancient halls, temples and palaces. On the other hand, the creature is also the symbol of the cuckold. To call a person a turtle or a turtle egg is highly insulting and highly profane. In western culture, there is no such association; the turtle is just a slow-moving and not very attractive creature.
Dragon is the totem of Chinese nation, and occasionally appears in traditional Chinese designs. As an auspicious creature that supposedly brings good luck, the dragon gives rise to the saying that parents“望子成龙”—longing to see one’s son become a dragon, that is, be successful. To westerners, however, the dragon is often a symbol of evil, a fierce monster that destroys and therefore must be destroyed. Several stories of saints or heroes deal with struggles against the monsters, which in most cases are slain in the end. (Deng Yanchang and Liu Runqing, 2003)
It’s obvious that we often connect certain qualities with certain creatures or objects. These qualities often arouse taboos. Realizing the differences of connotations of animals between China and the West will help us lower the tension level in intercultural communications.
3.5 Taboos on Numbers and Dates
In daily life, people prefer some numbers or dates, thinking that they could bring happiness or good fortune, while dislike others which could bring about bad lucks. Thus some numbers and dates gradually become taboos.
Chinese people believe that picking the right number can affect one’s fortune. As a result, most of us deliberately avoid hotel room number or telephone number like “4” because it sound similar to“死”(death) in Chinese. Consequently, Thursday is also disliked as a taboo date. “6”, “8” are lucky numbers to Chinese people for “6” is associated with“顺”(advancing smoothly) and “8” with“发”(prosperity). Numbers such as “3”, “9” are also considered good numbers that, when combined appropriately with “6”, “8” or other numbers can contribute to Chinese people’s fortunes and destiny. A combination of good numbers include “1388” (sounds similar to prosperity in one’s lifetime in Chinese), “168” (sounds similar to prosperity all the way) and “998” (sounds similar to prosperity for a long time).
In western countries, most people consider the number “13” unlucky. Therefore, things connected with “13” are too avoided such as the 13th day of the month, especially if it is a Friday, the 13th floor, 13 dinner guests and so on. The negativity of the number “13” is predominantly thought to have been derived from the Biblical narration of the Last Super where Juda was the thirteenth apostle who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver; so Jesus was nailed death on Friday 13th. That’s why thirteen is a frightening and annoying number. It was said that Adam was created on a Friday and it was on Friday that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and on a Friday they died. Friday became a taboo and it was also the common day in England for executing criminals, for which it was sometimes known as “Hanging Day”. (姜志伟,李啸,罗得喜, 2004)
“666” is another unlucky number in the West because it was a terrible savage number and a code name of devil. Westerners like “3” and “7”. Three parts—land, ocean and sky constitute the whole world in their opinions; Christianity advocates The Trinity—Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy Spirit. But it’s improper to light three cigarettes with one match. The belief comes from soldiers who thought that the light of the match would show the enemy where they were. As for “7”, it’s also connected with religion. In the Bible, God spent seven days creating the world; the Virgin Mary has seven happy things and seven sad things. However, seven is a taboo in some parts of China. According to Buddhism, people after death engage in Buddhist activities every seven days till the forty-ninth day. Therefore, seven, being related with death, becomes a taboo number in those places.
Numbers themselves just stand for figures. However, under cultural background, they may be accepted or rejected because of superstitions and complex taboos. Remember taboo numbers and do in Rome as Romans do.
3.6 Taboos on Festivals
Every country in the world has its own traditional festivals. On these specific occasions, people celebrate with best wishes. In order to create harmonious and delightful atmosphere rather than destroy it or bring about bad fortune, people have to impose restraint on their own words and behaviors. Consequently, taboos on festivals come into being.
Chinese Spring Festival is the grandest holiday. As for house cleaning in this period, there are many taboos. The entire house should be cleaned before New Year’s Day. Sweeping or dusting is forbidden to be done on New Year’s Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year’s Day, the floor may be swept. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family members. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it is always being swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow.
On the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, every door in the house and even windows have to be open to allow the old years to go out. On New Year’s Day, nothing should be lent on this day since anyone who does so will be lending all the year. Everyone refrains from using foul language and bad or unlucky words. Negative terms and the word “four” which sounds like the word death are not to be uttered. Death and dying are never mentioned and ghost stories are total taboos. References to the past year are also avoided as everything should be turned towards the New Year and a new beginning. If you cry on New Year’s Day, you’ll cry through the year. Therefore, children are tolerated and are not spanked, even they are mischievous.
As to personal appearance and cleanliness, on New Year’s Day, one is not supposed to wash his hair because he would wash away good lucks. Red clothing is preferred during this festive occasion. Red is considered a bright, happy color mentioned before, which could bring the wearer a sunny and bright future. It’s believed that appearance and attitude during New Year’s Day set the tone for the rest of the year.
It’s believed to be unlucky to greet anyone in their bedroom so that is why everyone, even the sick, should get dressed and sit in the living room. It’s forbidden to use knives or scissors on New Year’s Day as this may cut off fortune. While many Chinese people today may not believe in these do’s and don’ts, these traditions and customs are still practiced. These traditions and customs are kept because most families realize that it is these very traditions whether believed or not that provide continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.
New Year is also celebrated in western countries. People put stress on it for it is the beginning of a new year and use the most proper way to start with it. They believe the first visitor sets the pattern for the rest of the year. The most auspicious person should be a male stranger or friend with black hair. One with red hair or a female with light yellow hair is regarded as unpropitious one. Obviously, westerners avoid meeting visitors who bring about bad fortune on the first day of New Year. In order to prevent such things from happening, they usually make some arrangements, for example, inviting a male friend to guest at home. This first visitor will bring some symbolic presents such as coal (meaning warmth) or coin and salt (symbolizing wealth and fortune) to hosts. (朱光，2003, (6) )
Holidays are celebrated among different countries in various ways. People always associate taboos with them. In order not to destroy joyful atmosphere due to breaking taboos, the only thing we do is to obey the rules set by different social customs.
3.7 Taboos on Sending Gifts
Sending gifts is a time-honored way to express gratitude or congratulation to someone. Thanks to cultural sensitivity which plays a great role in sending gifts, avoiding taboos ensures you send the right messages. Nice choices in gifts evoke goodwill for the recipient, but naughty, unsuitable gifts can destroy the important relationships.
In China, giving clock to people, especially old people, as a gift is a great taboo because “sending clock” sounds like“送终”in Mandarin which means “sending someone off to the nether world”. Gifts like knives and scissors actually symbolize the severing of relationships and therefore they are not appropriate. On the occasion of wedding ceremony, it’s improper to send umbrellas or pears as gifts to the bride and bridegroom. Because umbrella“伞”and pear“梨”sound similar to“散” (breaking apart) and“离”(separating apart) respectively, denoting the love of couples wouldn’t last long and eternally. Although there’s a saying in China says that“千里送鹅毛，礼轻人意重”which means when you send gifts to others , goodwill and wishes outweigh the gift itself, if the gift is worthless, you may be thought as a miser. It’s important to strike a balance between giving something that is appropriate both from the nature of the gift and from the price point. (朱光，2003, (6) )
In western countries, especially to Americans, however, extravagant and lavish presents are out. They lay emphasis on independence and don’t anticipate to shoulder some burdens or responsibilities just because of accepting expensive gifts. Instead, small gifts or DIY gifts can delight them. Here are some significant taboos: it is improper to send alcohol or cigars to westerners unless you know the recipient will appreciate this gift. Many people have religious or personal issues with alcohol and tobacco. The communicator is supposed to avoid sending gifts in business communications in case of offering bribe to others. Sending too personal presents would be misunderstood, such as perfume, jewelry or sexual undergarment, particularly when crossing gender lines.
Sending gifts to others is a happy thing but embarrassment and annoyance would be aroused as a result of the emergence of different taboos. Therefore, it is wise to evoke feelings of pleasure but not guilt or suspicion by sending presents.
From what have been discussed in the previous several parts, we can infer that a large vocabulary and a high proficiency in the grammar of a language alone can not guarantee appropriate use of the language and successful communication because human communication is constrained by cultural rules to a large extent. Taboos in different cultures exit in fields of food, language, festivals and colors, etc. Such knowledge upon different cultural taboos is of great help for communicators to promote the effectiveness of communications greatly. To sum up, keeping these in mind in intercultural communication, we will get more success.
Chapter IV Conclusion
Successful cross-cultural communication requires people to pay much attention to one sensitive area in human society- taboos, which are deeply rooted in the cultures of different countries. They exist everywhere in the world and differ in form. They exist in the fields of catering culture, linguistic communication, festive celebration and social etiquette. Taboos can help us know more about a people and a country. Since from the moment of a person’s birth the custom into which he is born shapes his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the creature of his culture in his country. In a word, cultural differences and taboos disparity are reflected in every aspect from speech to behaviors of communicators. Ignoring them may lead to failure and even hatred in intercultural communication. In reality, we must admit it that people from different cultures tend to judge the factors of the same context and respond to them according to their respective cultures. They take it for granted that people from other cultures abide by the same communicative rules as they do. These thoughts and behaviors are dangerous. To know sensitive taboos and put oneself in other’s shoe are very important in cross-cultural communications with others. We can study other languages and learn to expect differences in nonverbal forms and other cultural aspects. We can train ourselves to meet intercultural encounters with more attention to cultural taboos. We can gradually expose ourselves to differences so that they become less threatening. We can even learn to lower our tension level when needed to avoid triggering defensive reactions. The overall goal should be to achieve intercultural communication competence. (Dai Weidong and Xu Lisheng, 2006)
The author hopes this thesis will help intercultural communicators to deal with taboos, to reduce friction and to improve the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication.
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