中西战神:关羽和阿瑞斯

Chinese God of War Guan Yu and Western Ares

中国人崇拜战神关羽,实质是对关羽所代表的忠义精神的欣赏,并不是说中国人更喜欢战争;古希腊人对战神阿瑞斯的崇拜时间不长,后来更多的是赞美代表生产和贸易的狩猎女神阿尔特弥斯和赫尔墨斯,这也不是说西方人更热爱和平。中西方对各自战神的不同态度,源于中西方的战神有不同的文化内涵。只有通过文化交流和相互学习,人类文明才有可能和谐相处,避免冲突。

Chinese worship Guan Yu, god of war, is because of his loyalty and righteousness, and it doesn＇ t mean that Chinese prefer war. It is not long time that the ancient Greeks worship Ares god of war. Then they put more praise on hunting goddess Artemis, and the messenger Hermes, who are on behalf of production and trade. It doesn＇t mean that the western prefer peace. Chinese and the western have different responses to their gods of war, because these gods have different connotation in their culture. Only through con- tinuous cultural exchange and learning from each other, it can be possible that human being have a harmonious relationship, and avoid the clash of civilizations.