Modern social etiquette and eloquence

Chapter 29 Etiquette and eloquence of Chinese and foreign nationalities (2)
Compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao attach great importance to words and customs that symbolize auspiciousness, and "facai" is indispensable for banquet guests, because it is a homonym for "facai".Hong Kong people like "6" and "8", but "4" is taboo, because "6" symbolizes success, "8" means getting rich, and "4" is homonymous with "death", which is considered unlucky.Every "4" is often replaced by "two pairs" and "two pairs".

3. Hong Kong language and color preference

Because Hong Kong people are accustomed to using English, they are called in the same way as in the West, and they are placed in front of their names; when communicating with Hong Kong people, they should always have business cards, preferably in both Chinese and English.

Hong Kong people also attach great importance to color. Gold, yellow, red, green and blue are often used for gift packaging.When visiting patients, avoid giving white and red things.When accepting gifts, generally do not open them face to face, but only express happiness and gratitude.

4. Taiwanese language habits
The main population of Taiwan is the Han nationality, accounting for 97% of the total population.Its customs and habits are basically the same as those of the Han people in the mainland.The ethnic minorities in Taiwan are mainly the Gaoshan nationality.Most Taiwan compatriots believe in Buddhism and Taoism, and some believe in Catholicism and Christianity.

Taiwanese generally speak "Mandarin" (Mandarin) or Hokkien when communicating.When talking with Taiwan compatriots, you must pay attention to respecting them, and do not talk about your own achievements; when expressing refusal, you generally cannot directly say "no", you can be silent or state difficulties; too frank and enthusiastic exchanges will make Taiwan compatriots very uncomfortable.

Since Taiwanese have the habit of judging the solemnity of a visit by the number of people, it is best to go to Taiwan with multiple people.Taiwanese business cards are also bilingual in Chinese and English, but the Chinese side should face up when exchanging.

5. Taiwanese taboos on gift giving
Taiwanese people pay more attention to practical gifts, such as pens, ties, imported wine or food are more popular.Taiwanese also have a lot of taboos about gift-giving: taboos on hand towels, fans, umbrellas, scissors, rice dumplings, and sweet fruits.Because Taiwanese only give hand towels when they have funerals, there is a saying that "send towels to cut off their roots"; fans can be discarded after summer, which means that they don't want to see each other again; There is a threat or the meaning of "one clean cut". Candies are often used to worship gods and should not be given as gifts. Zongzi is related to mourning and is very taboo.There is also a taboo to give ducks to confinement mothers, because ducks are cool and not conducive to mothers. In addition, there is a folk proverb in Taiwan that "ducklings in July and a half-the death date is unknown", which is an ominous omen.

At the same time, since Taiwan was ruled by Japan for decades, many Japanese cultural customs have been left behind.

[-]. Foreign folk festival etiquette and customs

There are many festivals with national characteristics in China, and there are also many festivals in foreign countries, including folk, religious, political and international festivals.With the reform and opening up and economic development, many young people in our country have developed a strong interest in these festivals.

1. New Year's Day
New Year's Day is also called New Year's Day.The alternation of each new and old year is a major event, and the calendars adopted by countries are different, and the dates are also different.Most places now start the new year on January 1 of the Gregorian calendar, and hold various lively celebrations to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

2. Valentine's Day

Every year, February 2th is Valentine's Day in Europe and the United States. Young people especially love this romantic festival.

Valentine's Day is also called "Valentine's Day". It is said that there was a devout Christian Valentine in ancient Rome who was arrested and imprisoned for taking the lead in rebelling against Roman rule.In prison, the warden's daughter took good care of him, and love blossomed between them. On February 2th, Valentine was sentenced to death, and he left his lover a letter expressing his love.To commemorate them, later generations set this day as Valentine's Day, and this day has become a day to express love to your lover.

On Valentine's Day, young people choose a variety of exquisite gifts, such as heart-shaped ornaments, chocolates, etc. to give to their lovers. They can also send bouquets of roses and tulips, or send valentine cards. Sign it and let the other party guess.

3. Carnival

From February to March every year, carnivals in Europe and the United States are popular with abnormal, strange actions and costumes.In particular, Brazil in Latin America is known as the "Hometown of Carnival", and it often has three consecutive days of carnival, while Germany, the birthplace of Carnival, celebrates the festival on the first Monday of February every year.

During the festival, men, women, old and young can wear exotic clothes at will, decorate themselves into various images, take to the streets, laugh wildly with bands and floats, people congratulate each other everywhere, and the floats often sprinkle candy and festive Gift.

4. Easter

The first Sunday after the spring equinox full moon is Easter, which is a religious festival to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus, which was agreed by the Holy See in 1 AD.Because people pray for the resurrection of Jesus, the customs of the festival are full of vitality. The most distinctive mascots are eggs and rabbits, which symbolize new life and the prosperity and prosperity of the family.Every family has to dye their eggs in colorful colors, the elders have to buy all kinds of rabbit-shaped chocolate candies for the younger ones, and ham is the main dish at family dinners.

On this day, people will wear new clothes to represent a new life, and take to the streets to join the grand parade.

5. April Fool's Day

April Fool's Day is a traditional folk festival with many years of history. It is dated on April 4 every year and originated in France.In ancient France, the New Year began on April 1st, and then changed to January 4st as New Year's Day in 1. After the calendar change, some people still celebrate the New Year on April 1564st, and visit friends and give gifts.People find it ridiculous, so they simply fool those old-fashioned people, and jokingly call the deceived "fish in April", which means that they are as easy to take the bait as small fish.Later, this peculiar festival prevailed in western countries. Anyone can fool others and make pranks on this day, and those who are deceived cannot get angry.

Jokes on April Fool's Day must be moderate, and must be well-intentioned jokes that do not cause harm to society or individuals.It is a convention in some areas that jokes can only last until 4 noon on April 1, after which normal life will resume.

Many official institutions will also participate in this festival. The United Kingdom once broadcast to the whole country, saying that the gravity of the earth is decreasing, and you can jump to test whether you can jump higher than before.As a result, tens of thousands of British people believed it to be true and tried it by themselves, and some people tried it repeatedly.

6. Mother's Day

Japan, the United States, Thailand, Indonesia, Spain, Peru, Panama, Egypt and other countries all celebrate Mother's Day, and the holiday date is the second Sunday in May.This is the legal date that a woman named Anna Jarvis in the United States has worked hard for for many years.

On Mother's Day, all family members should try their best to free their mothers from housework, and children can cook a breakfast for their mothers and give them a gift.Flowers are even more indispensable. You can use carnations and jasmine (Thai tradition) to express your gratitude and love to your mother.

7. Father's Day

日本、美国、巴西、秘鲁以及我国的台湾地区都过父亲节。一般是6月的第3个星期日，巴西规定在8月的第2个星期日，台湾则规定8月8日，取“爸爸”的谐音。

On the day of the festival, the sons and daughters have to rush home to bless their fathers, presenting gifts such as clothes and famous wines.Americans should wear red roses to pay tribute to their father, and if their father passed away, they would wear white roses to express their memory.

8. Thanksgiving

In 1620, 102 British Puritans dissatisfied with the persecution of the Church of England, traveled a long distance on the "Mayflower" wooden boat, and landed in Plymouth, the United States. Their life was extremely difficult, and nearly half of them died in one winter.The local Indians sympathized with them and helped them overcome the difficulties.After the harvest in the second year, in order to thank God and the friendship of the Indians, the immigrants held a feast with the fruits of their labor and held various activities to celebrate, thus forming Thanksgiving.

美国的感恩节是1863年林肯总统宣布的，日期为每年11月的第4个星期四。加拿大则定在10月的第2个星期一。

Thanksgiving is a day for family reunion. The American Congress has a three-day national holiday. The president and the governors of each state must deliver speeches, and parades of floats are held in cities.Every family holds a sumptuous dinner, among which roast turkey and pumpkin pie are indispensable delicacies, so Thanksgiving is also known as "Turkey Festival".

9.Christmas

Christmas on December 12 every year is the biggest festival in Europe and America.This is a festival established to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and its grand level is equivalent to the Spring Festival in our country.

According to the "Bible" records, Jesus was born at night, so Christmas often starts on Christmas Eve (Christmas Eve), that is, the night of December 12, and lasts for several days.On Christmas Eve, many people party all night long in nightclubs, dance halls, and bars.Generally, families will reunite at home, put up a Christmas tree, and hang it with colored lights and ribbons and various small gifts. Everyone congratulates and gives each other gifts, sings Christmas carols, and has dinner together until midnight.

Before children go to bed, they wash socks, pillowcases and other things and hang them on the bed, because it is said that Santa Claus will come in from the chimney in the middle of the night and bring children their favorite toys and candies.Of course, Santa Claus is just a legend, and the gifts are already prepared by the parents.

Around Christmas, the custom of sending exquisite Christmas cards is generally popular in the West.The believers organize activities of reporting good news and singing hymns, and various "mass" are held in the church.

10. Other festivals
各国还有许多民族传统节日，如缅甸4月的“泼水节”；日本3月15日至4月15日的“樱花节”；德国慕尼黑9月末至10月初的“啤酒节”；瑞典、芬兰6月20~26日之间的星期五、星期六举行的仲夏节；加拿大3月的“枫糖节”等等。

In addition, "March [-]th Women's Day", "May [-]st Labor Day" and "[-]st Children's Day" are all major international festivals.

[-]. Japanese etiquette and customs
Due to the frequent and in-depth cultural exchanges between China and Japan in history, Japan still retains the etiquette and customs of my country's Han and Tang Dynasties in many aspects until today.

What are the main aspects of Japanese etiquette and customs?

1. Religion
Most Japanese believe in Shintoism and Buddhism.There are also a small number of Japanese who believe in Christianity or Catholicism.

2. Festival celebration
There are many festivals in Japan, among which the more important ones are New Year’s Day on January 1st, which is celebrated in a similar way to China; Adult’s Day on January 1th, which can be celebrated by young people over the age of 1; Japanese Children’s Day is divided into two parts: One is the Boys' Day, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival. The celebration method is similar to the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. The only difference is that every Dragon Boat Festival, carp banners of different colors and sizes are hung outside the doors of families with boys. The big carp flags represent big boys, and the small carp flags represent little boys. There are several flags to be hung when there are boys in the family; From March 15th to April 20th is the most prestigious cherry blossom festival in Japan; there is also a cultural festival on November 3rd.

3. Eating habits
The eating habits of the Japanese are different, and can be roughly divided into three forms: one is traditional Japanese food, that is, Japanese food; the other is Chinese food, also known as Chinese food; past.

The Japanese breakfast is mainly porridge, and sometimes they also drink milk and eat bread.The staple food for lunch and dinner is mainly rice, and the non-staple food is mainly fish and vegetables.Because Japan is an island country with rich seafood, Japanese people like to eat fish very much, and there are many ways to eat it, such as steaming, grilling, frying, deep-frying, stewing fish soup and eating raw fish fillets.

The taste of the Japanese is relatively light, and greasy food is their taboo.Foods that Japanese like to eat include slightly sweet vegetables, beef, eggs, crabs in clear water, kelp, refined pork, tofu, etc. Japanese people seldom eat sheep and pig offal.

The wines that the Japanese like to drink include local sake, British whiskey, French brandy, and Chinese "Moutai" and other famous wines.

4. Etiquette for dealing with people
(1) Speech etiquette.Japanese people often use honorifics and humble words when dealing with people. They often say that they cannot accept gifts, and they often say that the gifts they give are not good when they give gifts. Please forgive me.The Japanese have a very strong sense of hierarchy, and the boundaries between superiors and subordinates, and between elders and younger generations are clearly defined.This is one of the reasons why they like to use honorifics when they speak.

(2) Clothing etiquette.The Japanese pay great attention to appearance, and they think it is impolite to dress disheveledly.Generally speaking, the Japanese prefer to wear suits, and only wear their national costume - kimono - when attending major festivals or grand occasions.

(3) Physical etiquette.The Japanese are good at bowing, and they think bowing is a good etiquette, neither derogatory to themselves nor flattering.When bowing to someone you meet for the first time, the bowing angle should be around [-] degrees.Of course, the etiquette of "handshake" and "hug" is sometimes used by the Japanese, but not often.

The Chinese like to offer cigarettes to others, but the Japanese are just the opposite. Not only do they not take the initiative to offer cigarettes to each other, but they also ask for their opinions when they want to smoke, and then smoke after the other party agrees.

It is a Japanese custom to serve guests with wine and tea.When entertaining guests with wine, it is impolite for the Japanese to let the guests drink by themselves. The work of pouring wine should be done by the host or the waiter, and there is also a certain degree of attention to the movement of pouring wine: the waiter should hold the wine in his right hand when pouring wine. For the pot, hold the bottom with your left hand so that the spout cannot touch the mouth of the cup.When receiving service from the waiter, guests should hold the cup with their right hand and hold the bottom of the cup with their left hand.Chinese people are used to drinking three glasses in a row to show their sincerity, but there is no such saying in Japan. After a guest accepts the first glass of wine, he does not need to accept the second glass. This is not impolite behavior.If the guest is a good drinker and drinks all the cups, the host will be happy and encourage him to drink more, but the host and other guests will not accompany him to drink.In China, putting the wine glass on the wine table is to tell everyone that you have finished drinking, but it is not appropriate to do this in Japan, because the Japanese regard this behavior as a faux pas and wait until everyone has finished drinking Only then can they be buckled together.

The tea ceremony of the Japanese is famous all over the world, and they regard drinking tea as the highest courtesy to entertain distinguished guests from afar.

(4) The etiquette of receiving and delivering business cards.In Japan, it is indispensable to exchange business cards when meeting for the first time, which has become one of the important etiquettes when interacting with people, so certain methods and procedures must be paid attention to.When delivering the business card, firstly, the host, the person with lower status or the young person will deliver it to the guest, the person with high status or the elderly. Pay attention to holding the business card with both hands when delivering it, so that the front of the business card faces the other party for the convenience of the other party to read.After receiving the business card, you can't throw it casually, let alone put it in the business card holder immediately. You should read it carefully. If you don't understand, you can ask the other party for advice. The other party will be happy to answer for you.When dealing with the Japanese, you must pay attention to the etiquette of handing over business cards, and prepare your own business cards in advance so that you can exchange them with the other party in due course to show courtesy.

In the process of doing business, the Japanese like to give gifts to others.However, for those who first come to a Japanese home as a guest, the Japanese do not expect them to bring any gifts, but they think that they should give gifts to each other.

5. Japanese life taboos
Green symbolizes peace and hope in our country, and it is a symbol of beauty, but in the eyes of the Japanese, green is their most taboo color, and they think green represents ominous; for numbers, the Japanese also have certain taboos, they do not like to be associated with " Nine and four" are the same numbers, because "nine" is pronounced the same as "bitterness" in Japanese, and "four" is the same as "death".Therefore, you should pay attention to this when dealing with the Japanese. When arranging their accommodation, it is best not to have "nine or four" in the room and table numbers.

The months that the Japanese hate the most are February and August, because these two months are the off-season for marketing.The Japanese don't like group photos of 2 people, because the middle person is sandwiched, which is a bad omen.The Japanese people's favorite animals are cranes and turtles, because both are symbols of longevity. The animals they hate the most are blue-eyed Persian cats. They think that seeing a Persian cat will cause unlucky things to happen.

When giving gifts to the Japanese, you should pay attention to the pattern of the wrapping paper. Do not use the wrapping paper printed with foxes and badgers, because the Japanese hate these two patterns. They think that the fox symbolizes cunning, and the badger symbolizes cunning; Chrysanthemum patterns cannot be given to others as gifts, because this is a symbol of the royal family, and most Japanese people dare not accept it.

[-]. Korean etiquette and customs
Koreans are known for their hard work and enthusiasm, their strong character and the spirit of never admitting defeat.Therefore, in the process of dealing with Koreans, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of Koreans' personality traits and etiquette customs.

Korean etiquette and customs generally include the following aspects.

1. Religion
In South Korea, Buddhists account for about 1/3 of the country's total population.

2. Festival celebration
South Korea's festivals are similar to those of our country. They also celebrate Spring Festival, Ching Ming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. The form of celebration is also very similar to that of our country.

3. Eating habits
Koreans take rice as the staple food, and they eat rice for three meals a day, and they rarely eat porridge.Koreans like to eat spicy food. They like to use chili, pepper, and garlic as condiments whether they eat kimchi or stir-fried dishes. They don't like hot-fried dishes with sweet and sour taste.

Soup is a must for Koreans and it consists mostly of chili paste, tofu, fish fillets, kimchi or other meat and vegetables simmered in water.

Koreans have a lot of etiquette. It is very rude to make noises or talk casually while eating.

Drinking alcohol is essential when dining with Koreans. Koreans generally like to persuade you to drink. If you don’t drink, they will think you don’t understand etiquette. So, always drink a little.

During the meal, if there is a gift exchange between the two parties, the gift giver should stand up and present the gift in front of the other party with both hands, while the receiver should support the right arm or right wrist with the left hand to show respect for the other party.

4. Etiquette and customs
South Korea, like China, is a country of etiquette and is very particular about politeness. No matter what the occasion, Koreans will show a good image in front of everyone.

(End of this chapter)