从利玛窦易僧袍为儒服看跨文化交流中的非语言传播

Mathieu Ricci's Costumes and Non-verbal Communication

非语言传播无论在人际传播还是跨文化传播中都有其独特的、不可替代的作用。明清之际,以利玛窦为代表的数以千计的耶稣会士来华传播基督教。他们固然以语言传播作为传教的基本方式,但也非常重视非语言传播的重要性。在中国古代,服饰是非语言传播的一个重要的符号,服饰的不同体现了身份的不同。明清间来华的耶稣会士首先从外表做起,利用非语言传播的种种优势,以适应、认同中国文化与习俗;他们起初身着僧袍进入中国,后来又易僧袍为儒服;同时,他们对士大夫们的生存方式也颇为接受,像士大夫们那样,著书立说,互赠诗文。为了更好地融入中国文化,他们也都为自己取了中国姓名。这当中无不包含着非语言传播的哲理。

Non-verbal communication plays an important role not only in personal communication but also in intercultural communication as well. During Ming and Qing Dynasties, thousands of Jesuits came to China to preach Christianity. Although they chose verbal communication as their basic method, they thought highly of the importance of non-verbal communication. In ancient China, an individual's identity or position in a society was manifested through clothing. In order to blend into the Chinese society, the Jesuits employed the various advantages of non-verbal communication. When they first came to China, they just wore gowns for Buddhists, but they soon changed them into Chinese intellectuals' costumes. Not only were they conscious of the garments they wore, the Jesuits were also sensitive to their appearance in general. They made efforts to conform to the habits of the Chinese intellectuals' communication style, writing books and presenting one another with poems. Besides, they even changed their European names into Chinese ones. All that tells much about philosophy of non-verbal communication.