A Comparative Study of Chinese and Japanese Folk Culture

Abstract

China and Japan are close neighbors who belong to the same East Asian Chinese character culture system, and have many similarities in language and folk culture. This thesis takes folk culture as a research perspective, and compares the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese cultures in terms of food culture and taboo culture respectively. Firstly, the article explains the definition scope and classification criteria of folk culture; secondly, the two points of food culture and taboo culture are selected for comparison from material folklore and spiritual folklore. Food culture focuses on table manners, cooking standards and eating habits, and analyzes the reasons for the formation of food culture from three aspects: economic development, geographical environment and social culture. Finally, the scope of taboo culture is large, so this paper selects two representative differences in numerical taboos and color taboos for discussion, showing the preference of Chinese and Japanese folklore. Finally, a short summary of the significance of folk culture for cross-cultural communication is presented.

Full text

a dorialingling@163.com
* Corresponding author: b 479231169@qq.com
A Comparative Study of Chinese and Japanese Folk Culture
LingLi 1,a, CuiNa 2,b*
1 Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, Shaanxi, China
2 Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, Shaanxi, China
Abstract. China and Japan are close neighbors who belong to the same East Asian Chinese character culture
system, and have many similarities in language and folk culture. This thesis takes folk culture as a research
perspective, and compares the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese cultures in terms of
food culture and taboo culture respectively. Firstly, the article explains the definition scope and classification
criteria of folk culture; secondly, the two points of food culture and taboo culture are selected for comparison
from material folklore and spiritual folklore. Food culture focuses on table manners, cooking standards and
eating habits, and analyzes the reasons for the formation of food culture from three aspects: economic
development, geographical environment and social culture. Finally, the scope of taboo culture is large, so this
paper selects two representative differences in numerical taboos and color taboos for discussion, showing the
preference of Chinese and Japanese folklore. Finally, a short summary of the significance of folk culture for
cross-cultural communication is presented.
1. Introduction
China and Japan have had close cultural ties since ancient
times, and both countries belong to the Confucianism
cultural circle and the Chinese character culture circle.
When President Xi Jinping met with the Japanese
delegation to China, he said that the foundation of Sino-
Japanese friendship lies in the people, and it is necessary
to enhance civil exchanges. When meeting with Japanese
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, he proposed that the two
sides should continue to take advantage of the unique
advantages of geographical proximity and humanistic ties
to carry out exchanges. Therefore, this paper compares the
folk cultures of China and Japan as comparative countries.
Additionally, the exchange of folk culture is not only a
practical need for national development, but also a basic
need for cross-cultural communication, which is
conducive to reducing friction and conflict between the
two sides of communication. Not only that, culture is the
unique spiritual symbol of a country and nation, and the
teaching of culture class is essential in Chinese
international education. At the same time, folk culture, as
the cornerstone of the national cultural system, is good for
foreign students to know and understand Chinese culture
and heritage more rationally and objectively, and to feel
the charm of Chinese traditional culture. For teachers, the
teaching of folk culture is conducive to the complete and
accurate promotion and dissemination of the excellent
Chinese national culture, and truly realizes the practical
significance of teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
2. Definition and classification of folk
culture
The concept of folk culture in China has appeared as early
as the Western Zhou Dynasty, which is described in The
Book of Rites: “Therefore, the ruler of the people, the
chapter of good to show the people’s customs”; the Book
of History: “Chu folk customs, p refer to ride in a shor t car”;
the Book of Han: “Changing folkways, transforming folk
customs”. In 1846, the British scholar Thomas formally
introduced the concept of "folk" on the basis of Saxon, and
combined “folk” (people, folk) with “lore” (knowledge,
learning). Which is not only a summary of folk customs,
but also refers to the knowledge of the study of this
phenomenon. [1]
Folklore has developed rapidly in recent times, and
scholars from different countries have different
perceptions of folklore. Yanagida Kuni, the founder of
Japanese folklore, divided folklore into three major
categories: tangible culture, language arts and mindfulness
phenomena. In addition, by combining linguistics with the
knowledge structure of folklore, “olk culture is used as an
entry point to under-stand and grasp the language of a
country.” [2] Folklorist Zhong Jingwen points out that
folklore is the living culture created, enjoyed and inherited
by the masses of people, which is a collective, inherited
and patterned folk culture, and its promotion and
transmission are based on oral transmission, behavioral
demonstration and psychological influence. He divides
folk culture into four categories: material folklore, social
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
SHS Web of Conferences 167, 02008 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202316702008
CACC 2023

folklore, spiritual folklore, and linguistic folklore.
Material folklore includes production folklore, food
folklore, clothing folklore, housing folklore and
architectural folklore, which occupy an important position
in the material and spiritual life of each nationality and can
satisfy people’s physical needs as well as higher-level
needs, including security, belonging, self-esteem and self-
fulfillment. Spiritual folklore is a kind of folklore about
ideology developed from material and institutional culture.
It consists of beliefs, taboos and rituals, and is a
psychological experience generated by people in the
process of understanding and transforming nature and
society. Once this experience becomes a collective
psychological habit and is passed down from generation
to generation in the form of specific behaviors, it be-comes
one of spiritual folklore. Since folk culture involves a lot
of contents, this paper selects two branches of food and
taboos for detailed discussion to compare the differences
between Chinese and Japanese folk cultures. [3]
3. Chinese and Japanese folk food
culture
3.1. Manifestation of food culture differences
3.1.1. Table manners.
Table manners are the essence of food culture, and
familiarity with table manners is a necessary quality for a
mature cross-cultural communicator. In terms of
chopsticks, Japanese chopsticks are much shorter than
Chinese chopsticks. Because of the meal sharing system,
each person has his or her own dish to eat without helping
others. Chopsticks are placed horizontally before eating,
and the heads of chopsticks are pointed because Japanese
people love to eat fish, so it is easier to separate the fish
from the spines by using chopsticks with pointed heads. [5]
Also, the owners of chopsticks in Japanese households are
fixed and cannot be mixed. Ryozo Sugimoto once
mentioned, “The usage of Japanese tableware shows that
Japan is a country of individualism.” In China, chopsticks
are placed vertically and long chop-sticks are used to hold
dishes between each other, representing hospitality. And in
families chopsticks are communal and do not need to be
distinguished. [6] When ordering a meal, Japanese people
usually finish all the food on the table as a courtesy, which
is also the source of Japanese frugality. The Japanese also
allow “wolf and tiger” eating [7] to show their enjoyment
of food and praise to the chef. The Chinese, on the other
hand, do not want their guests to finish their meals, as it is
considered rude to run out of food. At the Chinese family
dinner table, “Eat without saying anything, sleep without
speaking.” has been the practice of parents in raising their
children.
3.1.2. Cooking standards.
In Chinese food culture, the standard of cuisine is to
pursue the full range of Aroma, color and taste, and it is
believed that food needs to be cooked carefully to truly
realize its value, so more than 20 different cooking
methods such as “frying, pan-frying, deep-frying and
steaming” have been produced. People in different regions
have also developed local food characteristics in different
environments, resulting in the eight major cuisines in
China. In the Analects of Confucius, the saying “The more
delicate the grain is, the better, and the thinner the fish is
cut, the better.” is a high summary of our food culture. It
means to describe a very careful diet. In Japanese food
concept, cooking will destroy the original nutritional value
and flavor of food, so there are five ways of Japanese
cuisine: raw, boiled, grilled, fried, and steamed. Among
them, the most widely used method is “boiling”, which
forms one of the characteristics of Japanese food:
lightness. [4] In order to pursue the original taste of food,
Japanese people also use limited seasonings, mostly soy
sauce, and according to the geographic location of Japan,
it extends in an arc from the northeast to the southwest,
forming two major culinary systems, Kanto cuisine and
Kansai cuisine, both of which prefer soy sauce as the main
ingredient.
3.1.3. Eating habits.
The Chinese have long been influenced by the five
elements of yin and yang and Traditional Chinese
Medicine, and believe that the five internal organs and six
internal organs of the human body are interconnected.
[8]Therefore, our body need to be supplemented with warm
food, i.e., “eating the five grains does not make you sick”.
The staple food in the traditional Chinese diet is rice and
wheat, and the side dishes are mainly vegetables and meat.
Through production, the staple food also consists of
steamed buns and noodles. Japan likes raw food and cold
food, and its diet structure and content is mainly fast. The
main food is mainly rice, such as sushi and rice balls, and
the side dishes are mainly vegetables and fish, with less
meat. The most famous sashimi in Japanese cuisine
highlights the raw and cold nature of the Japanese diet, and
its most common ingredient is tuna. [9]
3.2. Reasons for the difference in food culture
3.2.1. Economic development.
Food culture can, to some extent, reflect the level of
development of a country's productivity, with a material
basis for the existence of food culture. Beijing Ape Man
began to fire roasting stone baking in history, as the source
of Chinese cooked food culture; the cavemen caught fish
and shrimp; the Hemudu People planted grains; the Han
Dynasty introduced cooking methods; the Tang, Song and
Ming and Qing dynasties food culture flourished. Chinese
food culture has lasted for more than 1.7 million years and
continued to mature with the development of the ancient
economy. Japan was less civilized in the primitive society
period, and was in the tribal stage in the 3rd century A.D.
In the 7th century A.D., Chinese food culture was
introduced by Japanese envoys and foreign students, and
its food culture began to develop gradually. In addition,
the Japanese Emperor Tenmu issued a "meat ban" in 676
2
SHS Web of Conferences 167, 02008 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202316702008
CACC 2023

A.D. [10], so the range of ingredients was somewhat
restricted.
3.2.2. Geographical environment.
Folklore has strong selectivity and adaptability to the
natural geographic environment. There are differences in
geography and environment, and naturally there are
differences in food and folklore. China’s vast territory and
diverse climate are suitable for the growth of different
plants and animals, making the variety of source
ingredients diverse. Chinese people take advantage of the
excellent conditions, “rely on mountains to eat mountains,
rely on water to eat water”, according to local conditions,
there are different types of local cuisine, for example:
Sichuan cui-sine, Cantonese cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine,
etc.. Japan is an island country, consisting of more than
4,000 islands, so it has abundant fishery resources and
relies on water to eat, and its diet is rich in seafood. The
scarcity of resources has led to a strong sense of crisis and
the formation of a custom that favors lightness and
freshness.
3.2.3. Social culture.
Social culture is also an important reason for the
difference in diet. In traditional Chinese culture, emphasis
is placed on the five elements of yin and yang, the doctrine
of Chinese medicine and health, and attention is paid to
the “harmony” in cooking. During the Spring and Autumn
Period, Yan Ying took cooking as an example: “Harmony
is like making a meat soup, cooking fish and meat with
water, fire, vinegar, sauce, salt and plum, and cooking
them over a wood fire. The cook mixes the flavors so that
the various flavors are just right; if the flavors are not
enough, the seasonings are added, and if the flavors are
too heavy, the seasonings are reduced. The gentleman eats
this kind of meat soup, used to calm his mind” Because of
the diversity of the social environment, the Chinese food
culture is determined by “harmony”. Whether stir-fried,
fried, steamed, or boiled, the ultimate goal is to bring out
the best in Aroma, color and taste. To the Heian Period in
Japan, Japanese food culture was gradually formed on the
basis of Chinese food civilization. After the Meiji
Restoration, Western culture was introduced to Japan,
which improved the overall quality of Japanese food
culture, combining the beauty of both Eastern and Western
cultures. Later on, the Japanese revered the habit of
frugality and rarely expanded on food culture. Therefore
the development of the cuisine was limited.
3.3. Taboo Culture
3.3.1. Definition of taboo.
Taboo, known as “tabu” in the fields of ethnography,
folklore and anthropology. The specific meaning of “tabu”
is the prohibition and restraint of thought and action in
order to prevent the incurring of blame and calamity
through thought and action. The scholar Wan Jianzhong,
in his book Taboos and Chinese Culture, once mentioned
that there are three interconnected key points in the
understanding of the basic characteristics of taboos,
namely, that they belong to negative behavioral norms,
that is, they are irresistible to the punishment of national
beliefs and taboos at the psycho-social level [11]. This paper
focuses on the differences between Chinese and Japanese
folk cultures with a focus on numerical taboos and color
taboos.
3.3.2. Number taboos.
In China, “four” is an inauspicious number because of its
harmonic sound of “death”; “seven” is also disfavored
because of its harmonic sound of “qi”. “Six” and “eight”
are both very popular because “six” is a sign of success
and “eight” is a sign of wealth. On special days, the
Chinese usually choose even numbers to avoid suffering
from widowhood. The cultural connotation of “two” is
richer, and is regarded by Han Chinese as the meaning of
pairs, while Manchu and Korean people taboo the funeral
on even days to avoid bad things in pairs; Guangzhou
people taboo “three”, because its harmonic sound is
“scattered ”, the locals will replace three points with two
sixty points.
In Japan, the appearance of “four” and “nine”, will
make the public very sensitive because of the resonance of
“death” and “suffering”. Therefore, there is no number
four, nine, fourteen, twenty four in Japanese hospitals.
And there is no number four in parking lots and hotels, but
there is a number nine room in prisons, not a number four
room, in order to punish prisoners for their pain but not for
their death. When giving gifts, Japanese people prefer odd
numbers, especially “three” and “seven”. The legend of
the seven gods of good fortune has been passed down in
Japanese folklore, and its origins come from various
religious sects, including Shintoism, Buddhism, and
Taoism. The number “three” is both an auspicious
Christian number and a number considered by Pythagoras
to have reached a new unity beyond one and two. In the
Japanese Chronicle of Ancient Matters and the Japanese
Book of Records, it is written that the three generations of
Amaterasu Omikami’s royal grandson came to Japan with
three divine weapons, the most frequent of which is
number “three”.
3.3.3. Color taboos.
Chinese people like red, red symbolizes joy, good luck,
folk marriages revered red, the bride wears red wedding
clothes. Red can drive away evil spirits and attract good
fortune, and in the year of birth, wear more red clothes to
avoid disaster. Red symbolizes the development of smooth,
“red people” “red list” “red luck” and so on all indicate
positive development. Chinese people do not like white,
white represents the color of evil funeral, after the death
of a loved one to do “White Ceremony” for it, wearing
mourning. White symbolizes failure and shallow
knowledge. There are white flags for losing wars, “white
papers” in exams, and white faces in operas. Nowadays,
due to the influence of Western culture, white elements are
3
SHS Web of Conferences 167, 02008 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202316702008
CACC 2023

becoming popular in China.
The Japanese like white, which is light and elegant,
symbolizing purity. White appears most frequently in
Masamune Atsuo's Manyeki. The aesthetic sense of
ancient Japan centered on snow, moon and flowers. In the
traditional Japanese wedding ceremony, the bride must
wear a white dress and the guests must wear a white tie.
White is a symbol of good luck, and it is written in The
Chronicle of Japanese Books that Emperor Takatoku and
Emperor Gwangin renamed their years “Hakusei” and
“Hakugame”. [12] In Japanese, the word “bare or loyal” is
generally used to represent the color red, which represents
a mysterious color and has more of a negative meaning. In
traditional Japanese songs and dances, white represents
decency, red represents villainy, and the opposite is true
for Chinese face painting. In summary, China reveres the
color red, which symbolizes positive meaning. White
represents a more negative meaning. The Japanese attach
more importance to white, symbolizing purity and
innocence, while red mainly represents mystical ritual
colors and festivity, but to a lesser extent than in China.
4. Conclusions
Folk culture is an important part of a country's culture, and
different countries have formed their own unique folk
culture. The accelerating process of globalization requires
us to be aware of the cultural similarities and differences
of other countries, to respect the differences and
understand their folk culture in the process of foreign
communication. This paper selects two East Asian
countries, China and Japan, and explores them mainly in
terms of food and taboos. Through the comparison, we
have a clear understanding of the basic characteristics of
the folk cultures of the two countries, which provides
some reference for people's daily interactions in cross-
cultural communication situations. In teaching Chinese as
a foreign language, Chinese teachers can better grasp the
strength of cultural export, respect the differences and
avoid cultural conflicts.
Acknowledgments
Project Name: Research on the Foreign Translation of
Chinese Medicine Texts in the Perspective of Cultural
Confidence (Project No.:2019M038).
References
1.
Luo Bo. (2007) Interpreting Chinese culture from
the history of the evolution of the concept of
vulgarity to folklore [J]. Journal of Guangxi
Socialist College. (01):53-55.
2.
Ke Ling. (2006) Thinking about Folk Culture in
Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language [J].
Journal of Yunnan Normal University. (04):5-11.
3.
Ruan Jing. (2012) On the Application of Folk
Culture in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language
[J]. Shandong Social Science, No.205 (09):43-47.
4.
Jiang Y. (2022) The differences and causes of
Chinese and Japanese food culture--a review of
Chinese Food Culture [J]. Journal of Food Safety
and Quality Inspection, 13(20):6787.
5.
Wang Yiming, Lv Ruquan. (2017) The differences
between Chinese and Japanese food culture from
the perspective of table manners [J]. Food Science,
No.378(10):74-75.
6.
Chen Zhen. (2018)An examination on table
manners in China and Japan [J]. Scenic spots,
No.354 (11):194+230.
7.
Xu Shunying. (2009) An introduction to Japanese
table manners [J]. Chinese Out-of-School
Education,(S5):191+216.
8.
Gao Cong. (2018) Cultural differences between
China and Japan from the perspective of eating
habits [J]. Northern Light, No.252 (10):71-73.
9.
Zhang, O.,Yu, A. N.. (2017) Experimental
investigation of the differences between Chinese
and Japanese food culture from the subtleties [J].
Food Science, (22):135-136.
10.
Hou Qiaohong. (2011)An analysis of the
differences between Chinese and Japanese food
customs and the reasons for their formation [J].
Journal of Chifeng College (Chinese version of
philosophy and social science), 32(10):113-116.
11.
Wang Man. (2011) A comparative study of taboo
culture in Chinese and Japanese folklore [D].
Heilongjiang University.
12.
Wang Shengbo. (2017) A comparison of the
cultural symbolism of Chinese and Japanese color
words "red" and "white"[J]. Journal of Qiqihar
University (Philosophy and Social Science
Edition), No.239(01):136-139.
4
SHS Web of Conferences 167, 02008 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202316702008
CACC 2023