Study on Origin of English and Chinese Proverb

Abstract

Proverbs are the summary of class struggle, working practice and life experience of human beings. Proverbs represent the unique characteristics and cultural features of a nation. People of various cultural backgrounds communicate with each other. Cross-cultural communication has been the focus of the present era. Only through communication can we learn from each other and come to know each other better. Only through communication can we give full play to human wisdom and enjoy the common fruits of civilization. The achievements brought about by cultural communication can never be over-estimated. Therefore, in order to gain a better cross-cultural communication with English speaking countries, it’s not only important but also necessary to understand the English and Chinese proverbs and their origins from a cultural perspective. This thesis analyzes and compares the cultural differences between English and Chinese proverbs from four aspects---Human experiences, Literary works, Religions and Social discrimination.