儒家中道思想与跨文化交际

The Golden Mean of Confucianism and Intercultural Communication

儒家中道思想提倡"无过无不及",而且强调"时中",即随时随地而至中。这一哲学思想对跨文化交际具有特别重要的意义,因为它可以疏解由于交际环境文化强弱之差和会话原则的不同而引起的障碍,缓解由于世界观及价值观的不和而带来的矛盾,消解由于规范规则和风俗习惯的差别而产生的隔阂,解决由于非语言行为迥异而造成的尴尬。中道思想也可作为跨文化交际中文化适应和全球化中文化融合的行动指南,根据这一思想,文化适应中的适应程度和文化融合中有关文化间的关系应该通过"时中"而达到"中和"。虽然在跨文化交际中践行中道并非易事,但只要有"至诚"之心,交际双方的关系是可以通过调整而达到"中和"的。

The golden mean of Confucianism upholds 'not overdoing and not falling short', and it emphasizes 'reaching the mean with the change of circumstances'. This philosophy is particularly significant for intercultural communication, because it can help remove the barrier caused by the cultural difference between high context culture and low context culture and between conversational principles; it can help solve the problems brought about by the cultural difference of world outlooks and social values; it can also help lessen the pains arising from different cultural norms and customs; and it can relieve the awkwardness incurred by different nonverbal expressions. The golden mean may also be a guideline for cultural adaptation and global cultural merging. It maintains that the degree of cultural adaptation and the relation between the cultures in cultural merging are adjusted and coordinated for harmony with the actual circumstances. Although it is difficult to practice the Confucius doctrine of the mean, it is possible to do it successfully so long as sincerity is adhered to.