The paper tentatively studies the function of the indirect speech act in Chinese cultural communication, namely, domestic communication. Two aspects are shown in this paper: communication between people of different ...The paper tentatively studies the function of the indirect speech act in Chinese cultural communication, namely, domestic communication. Two aspects are shown in this paper: communication between people of different social status, genders and casual relationships, and communication between people of same social status, genders and close relationships. Therefore, the study result can be concluded like this: whether the use of indirect speech act is successful or not always influences people's communication significantly.展开更多
Value is a criterion which can help people to distinguish good and bad, beauty and ugliness, fight and wrong and true and false. Value varies from different counties, which is the main cause of the conflict and misund...Value is a criterion which can help people to distinguish good and bad, beauty and ugliness, fight and wrong and true and false. Value varies from different counties, which is the main cause of the conflict and misunderstanding in communication between China and western countries. It is first introduced in this paper about how these differences are formed and then explain them in several ways. It is of great significance to know and learn the cultural differences in cross-cultural communication.展开更多
The influence of cultural differences by race and treat people with an understanding of the work will be carried out from different angles, which leads to the same people for a work of literary criticism. Expand artic...The influence of cultural differences by race and treat people with an understanding of the work will be carried out from different angles, which leads to the same people for a work of literary criticism. Expand article on the impact of cultural differences between British and American English and American literary criticism on this topic research, by the characteristics of English and American Literature and American Literature and commentary of the corresponding description. It is to analyze the impact of cultural differences on the Anglo-American literary criticism, so that people understand the culture differences in the importance of the influence of the Anglo-American literary criticism.展开更多
The paper uses the theory of core competence based on knowledge capital to build up international joint venture’s effective capability system of cross-culture. It involves in forming common mind of business, strategi...The paper uses the theory of core competence based on knowledge capital to build up international joint venture’s effective capability system of cross-culture. It involves in forming common mind of business, strategies of glocalization, complementary skills of cross-culture and cross-cultural training. It also presents the case of Lansheng Daewoo Corp to give a positive analysis.展开更多
The paper is to study the culture differences in the novel The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan. Amy Tan was an oversea Chinese. Her mother was born and grew in old China. With the influences of her mother, Tan's novel...The paper is to study the culture differences in the novel The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan. Amy Tan was an oversea Chinese. Her mother was born and grew in old China. With the influences of her mother, Tan's novel inevitably reflects the Chinese culture. For herself, she was born and grew up in the States; she has been influenced by the American culture. So in her novel both the Chinese culture and American culture can be found. In this paper, the Chinese culture will mainly be talked about and analyzed, with some slight of American culture mentioned. The paper will start with the definition of culture, and the implication and features of Chinese and American culture will be explained. In the body of the paper, the typical symbols and manifestation of Chinese culture will be shown. And the conclusion is the main character's acceptance of the two cultures in the end.展开更多
The paper analyzes the definition of culture, and discusses the relationship between culture and language. By reviewing culture teaching and language teaching approaches, the paper puts forward some practical concerns...The paper analyzes the definition of culture, and discusses the relationship between culture and language. By reviewing culture teaching and language teaching approaches, the paper puts forward some practical concerns about language teaching which firmly fabricate with culture teaching.展开更多
The film The treatment is supposed to express the idea that understanding and appreciation of each other's culture is very important in intercultural communication. But behind this veil, ethnofugalism can be found by...The film The treatment is supposed to express the idea that understanding and appreciation of each other's culture is very important in intercultural communication. But behind this veil, ethnofugalism can be found by way of analyzing their conversations and behaviors. This paper tries to see their attitude towards their mother tongue and their own cultural tradition. It holds that no culture is inferior to others, which is the base on which intercultural communication is built.展开更多
Culture is the holistic interrelationship of a group's identity, beliefs, values, activities, rules, customs, communication patterns, and institutions (Dodd, 1998). Values are important components of a given cultur...Culture is the holistic interrelationship of a group's identity, beliefs, values, activities, rules, customs, communication patterns, and institutions (Dodd, 1998). Values are important components of a given culture accepted by individuals sharing that culture. They are deep and hidden elements of the cultural iceberg that are seldom questioned or defended but can reflect different characteristics of different cultures. Kluckhohn and Strodbeck's value model is used here to analyze distinct Chinese and American culture.展开更多
The issues of analyzing the cultural differences in architecture, and the interaction between culture and space have gained importance in many respects both in practice and in education. "Culture" and conservation o...The issues of analyzing the cultural differences in architecture, and the interaction between culture and space have gained importance in many respects both in practice and in education. "Culture" and conservation of the "cultural heritage" have a place in the conditions for the "architectural education" put forward by the UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)/UIA (International Union of Architects) Council during the 2002 meeting in Berlin. For this purpose, cultural, social, urban, environmental and architectural values and issues of architectural heritage were defined as specific subjects that should be considered in the preparation of the curriculum to build up a sense of responsibility. From this point of view, this paper aims to propose an educational process for dealing with the sense of cultural heritage and its survival in the modern world, and shares the products of the work carried out at the Project 4 Studio at Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Interior Architecture, Yeditepe University, as the studio training is the main component of architectural education. The main issue of the paper is to present some examples of the student projects and to consider the importance of design studio, which can gain knowledge about cultural and architectural heritage and develop students' skills to adopt and be respectful to traditional values.展开更多
This article expatiates on the functions and features of Sino-American non-verbal communication. It discusses the relationship between verbal and non-verbal communication, non-verbal communication and culture as well....This article expatiates on the functions and features of Sino-American non-verbal communication. It discusses the relationship between verbal and non-verbal communication, non-verbal communication and culture as well. Furthermore, it analyzes the differences between Sino-American non-verbal communication. It contrasts and demonstrates the following aspects: specific body language, time language, space language and paralanguage. It puts forward some effective strategies, namely, how to get deeper acquaintance with non-verbal communication, how to strengthen cultural mastery and develop the cross-cultural sense and open thought, how to cultivate cross-cultural communicative competence. The article aims to improve the abilities of cross-cultural communication, in order to help both parties of China and America reduce misunderstandings and establish a better relationship.展开更多
Language carries culture, and culture contains rich language elements. At present,most scholars study the difference of the grammar between English and Chinese from the linguistic perspective, while it is very short t...Language carries culture, and culture contains rich language elements. At present,most scholars study the difference of the grammar between English and Chinese from the linguistic perspective, while it is very short to explain the difference of grammar between English and Chinese from cultural angle. So according to the contrastive analysis of culture difference of English grammar and Chinese grammar, it helps the language learners learn the grammar and use correct grammar, it is also of great help to the intercultural communication. It plays an active role to the teaching of grammar.展开更多
Culture is the sum of the products from human creation of material and spiritual. It contains the values, behaviors, literary arts, customs, lifestyles, economical and political system and so on that human groups poss...Culture is the sum of the products from human creation of material and spiritual. It contains the values, behaviors, literary arts, customs, lifestyles, economical and political system and so on that human groups possess. Language is the carrier and the crystallization of culture, it is also a mirror which is reflecting the culture. Any kind of national language is always inextricably linked with the nation's culture, and any language is the reflection of the culture. Mastering a language must understand the culture of the language belongs, especially cultural differences in customs. Culture refers to cultural practices throughout society and everyday commtmication activities by the national customs form. Due to the big contrast of culture and customs between Western and Chinese, if the English learners want to grasp English, they must understand and master the differences between Chinese and Western culture, they can not speak in English with Chinese cultural communication patterns. Differences between Chinese and Western customs exist everywhere, to understand these cultural practices will help understanding and use English correctly.展开更多
Song of The Chu, a novel written by LAN Zi-- a Chinese Australian writer, recounts the struggle in Australia over 20 years (1988-2008) of a group of Chinese young people. Cultural difference or even conflict is one ...Song of The Chu, a novel written by LAN Zi-- a Chinese Australian writer, recounts the struggle in Australia over 20 years (1988-2008) of a group of Chinese young people. Cultural difference or even conflict is one of the inevitable issues in terms of migration. The Chinese (Han) culture which belongs to the continental civilization and the Australian (Western) culture which belongs to the maritime one are both mighty and cannot be conquered or assimilated by each other. This means that the Chinese immigrants to Australia, compared to the ones from a less mighty culture, are more sensitive and resistant to the impact of an alien culture, which leads to a conscious or unconscious sense of security of the mother culture. Cultural security, not unidirectional, also refers to the worry by the locals of the impact brought by the immigrants. The protagonist resorts to converting to Buddhism as a solution to the cultural schizophrenia展开更多
Proverb, the essence of language, is a fixed phrase or short sentence that is circulated among the masses. With the increasingly close exchange between China and western countries, translation between English and Chin...Proverb, the essence of language, is a fixed phrase or short sentence that is circulated among the masses. With the increasingly close exchange between China and western countries, translation between English and Chinese, especially proverb translation, is the most important task of translators. "English animal proverb is a wonderful work of numerous and various English proverbs, and it is rich in unique charms of language arts." Correctly translating English animal proverb can play an important role in proverb translation A large number of English animal proverbs use "dog" as a metaphor, and there is an obvious discrepancy of dog culture between China and western countries. In the light of it, taking the proverb about "dog" as an example, this thesis introduces the dog culture of China and western countries respectively and their discrepancies. Based on this, the thesis has a deep discussion on several methods of translating English proverb into Chinese and the attentions that should be paid in the process of translating. All these aim to make readers have a better understanding of Chinese and western proverbs and shorten the distance caused by cultural difference to more flexibly master and use both English and Chinese languages展开更多
Henry James is one of the greatest novelists, who enjoys great reputation in the English literary world. He spent many years in Europe. Fie had deep and subtle insights into the life of the upper class in America and ...Henry James is one of the greatest novelists, who enjoys great reputation in the English literary world. He spent many years in Europe. Fie had deep and subtle insights into the life of the upper class in America and Europe. He experienced the cultural differences between America and Europe profoundly, which was demonstrated in his literary works. Daisy Miller is one of the representative works of Henry James, reveals his "international theme", the American innocence in face of European sophistication, In D^dsy Miller, Winterbourne is an undeniable protagonist, embodies both narrative and symbolic meaning. Through his narration and his representative features of the sophistication of European culture, we can gradually realize that it is the inevitable collision between new world and old world that leads to the pathetic ending of Daisy Miller.展开更多
In the 21st Century of the increasing living standards, the social demand for talents with various aspects of ability is becoming higher and higher. The families, study and society of generations after 70s and 80s pay...In the 21st Century of the increasing living standards, the social demand for talents with various aspects of ability is becoming higher and higher. The families, study and society of generations after 70s and 80s pay more attention to cultivating their own children's comprehensive development. Juvenile moral education is an important part of the contemporary juvenile education. Juvenile moral education is worthy of being paid attention to. On one hand, it is because the juvenile education is in the most basic and critical stage of the whole education stage, which is in the stage of the biggest influence of education development; on the other hand, it is because the young people are active and curious by nature, which will cause the difficulty of moral education to increase in the education process. Various countries and regions in the world have their own unique cultures and adjustments,and these different cultures affect the residents of different countries and regions with different living habits, ways of thinking and behaviors; thus forming different cultural differences. This paper, by taking the juvenile moral education between China and America as the research object, aims at analyzing the Chinese and Western cultural difference in juvenile moral education representation and transmission, aiming at from point to area,promoting the communication and development of juvenile moral education.展开更多
Nowadays, multinational marriages are more and more widespread, especially between China and the West. However, a prevailing phenomenon is that due to the differences of China-West family values, it has caused irrecon...Nowadays, multinational marriages are more and more widespread, especially between China and the West. However, a prevailing phenomenon is that due to the differences of China-West family values, it has caused irreconcilable conflicts of culture, which undoubtedly becomes the stumbling block of cross-cultural communication. Pushing Hands (1991) is a typical movie reflecting the cultural conflicts of Sino-US families, from which we can see all kinds of inadaptations in family life caused by cultural differences. Combined with Pushing Hands, this paper compares the differences of Sino-US views on families and analyzes the causes for these differences. Such an analysis will reinforce the English learners' understanding of cultural differences and improve their ability of cross-cultural communication.展开更多
In an era of globalization, cross-cultural communication is not strange to us with studyingand travelling abroad, and even immigration becoming a part of our lives. In such an era of international communication being ...In an era of globalization, cross-cultural communication is not strange to us with studyingand travelling abroad, and even immigration becoming a part of our lives. In such an era of international communication being increasingly frequent, learning the culture of other countries will help usto do well in international communication. The paperis going to study,from the British and American history and culture, the differences of all kinds of their present acts in the world and impacts of the historical reasons on their own citizens, to not only let the reader understand the cultural differences between these two countries, but also to get the cause of the difference to better understand their cultures.展开更多
For reasons of simplicity, the most commonly used hydrological models are based on the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) model, which is probably a good choice for the estimation of runoff on the Loess...For reasons of simplicity, the most commonly used hydrological models are based on the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) model, which is probably a good choice for the estimation of runoff on the Loess Plateau of China; however, the high spatial heterogeneity, mainly caused by a fragmented landform and variations in soil type, may limit its applicability to this region. Therefore, applicability of the SCS-CN model to a small watershed, Liudaogou on the plateau, was evaluated and the most appropriate initial abstraction ratio (I~/S) value in the model was quantified by the inverse method. The results showed that the standard SCS-CN model was applicable to the estimation of runoff in the Liudaogou watershed and the model performance was acceptable according to the values of relative error and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency. The most appropriate Ia/S value for the watershed was 0.22 because with this modified Ia/S value, the model performance was slightly improved. The model performance was not sensitive to the modification of the Ia/S value when one heavy rainfall event (50.1 mm) was not considered, which implied that the model, using a standard Ia/S value, can be recommended for the Liudaogou watershed because single rainfall events exceeding 50 mm seldom occurred in that region. The runoff amount predicted for the Liudaogou watershed by the SCS-CN model, using the modified Ia/S value, increased gradually with increasing rainfall when rainfall values were lower than 50 mm, whereas the predicted amount increased rapidly when the rainfall exceeded 50 mm. These findings may be helpful in solving the problem of serious soil and water loss on the Loess Plateau of China.展开更多
文摘The paper tentatively studies the function of the indirect speech act in Chinese cultural communication, namely, domestic communication. Two aspects are shown in this paper: communication between people of different social status, genders and casual relationships, and communication between people of same social status, genders and close relationships. Therefore, the study result can be concluded like this: whether the use of indirect speech act is successful or not always influences people's communication significantly.
文摘Value is a criterion which can help people to distinguish good and bad, beauty and ugliness, fight and wrong and true and false. Value varies from different counties, which is the main cause of the conflict and misunderstanding in communication between China and western countries. It is first introduced in this paper about how these differences are formed and then explain them in several ways. It is of great significance to know and learn the cultural differences in cross-cultural communication.
文摘The influence of cultural differences by race and treat people with an understanding of the work will be carried out from different angles, which leads to the same people for a work of literary criticism. Expand article on the impact of cultural differences between British and American English and American literary criticism on this topic research, by the characteristics of English and American Literature and American Literature and commentary of the corresponding description. It is to analyze the impact of cultural differences on the Anglo-American literary criticism, so that people understand the culture differences in the importance of the influence of the Anglo-American literary criticism.
文摘The paper uses the theory of core competence based on knowledge capital to build up international joint venture’s effective capability system of cross-culture. It involves in forming common mind of business, strategies of glocalization, complementary skills of cross-culture and cross-cultural training. It also presents the case of Lansheng Daewoo Corp to give a positive analysis.
文摘The paper is to study the culture differences in the novel The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan. Amy Tan was an oversea Chinese. Her mother was born and grew in old China. With the influences of her mother, Tan's novel inevitably reflects the Chinese culture. For herself, she was born and grew up in the States; she has been influenced by the American culture. So in her novel both the Chinese culture and American culture can be found. In this paper, the Chinese culture will mainly be talked about and analyzed, with some slight of American culture mentioned. The paper will start with the definition of culture, and the implication and features of Chinese and American culture will be explained. In the body of the paper, the typical symbols and manifestation of Chinese culture will be shown. And the conclusion is the main character's acceptance of the two cultures in the end.
文摘The paper analyzes the definition of culture, and discusses the relationship between culture and language. By reviewing culture teaching and language teaching approaches, the paper puts forward some practical concerns about language teaching which firmly fabricate with culture teaching.
文摘The film The treatment is supposed to express the idea that understanding and appreciation of each other's culture is very important in intercultural communication. But behind this veil, ethnofugalism can be found by way of analyzing their conversations and behaviors. This paper tries to see their attitude towards their mother tongue and their own cultural tradition. It holds that no culture is inferior to others, which is the base on which intercultural communication is built.
文摘Culture is the holistic interrelationship of a group's identity, beliefs, values, activities, rules, customs, communication patterns, and institutions (Dodd, 1998). Values are important components of a given culture accepted by individuals sharing that culture. They are deep and hidden elements of the cultural iceberg that are seldom questioned or defended but can reflect different characteristics of different cultures. Kluckhohn and Strodbeck's value model is used here to analyze distinct Chinese and American culture.
文摘The issues of analyzing the cultural differences in architecture, and the interaction between culture and space have gained importance in many respects both in practice and in education. "Culture" and conservation of the "cultural heritage" have a place in the conditions for the "architectural education" put forward by the UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)/UIA (International Union of Architects) Council during the 2002 meeting in Berlin. For this purpose, cultural, social, urban, environmental and architectural values and issues of architectural heritage were defined as specific subjects that should be considered in the preparation of the curriculum to build up a sense of responsibility. From this point of view, this paper aims to propose an educational process for dealing with the sense of cultural heritage and its survival in the modern world, and shares the products of the work carried out at the Project 4 Studio at Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Interior Architecture, Yeditepe University, as the studio training is the main component of architectural education. The main issue of the paper is to present some examples of the student projects and to consider the importance of design studio, which can gain knowledge about cultural and architectural heritage and develop students' skills to adopt and be respectful to traditional values.
文摘This article expatiates on the functions and features of Sino-American non-verbal communication. It discusses the relationship between verbal and non-verbal communication, non-verbal communication and culture as well. Furthermore, it analyzes the differences between Sino-American non-verbal communication. It contrasts and demonstrates the following aspects: specific body language, time language, space language and paralanguage. It puts forward some effective strategies, namely, how to get deeper acquaintance with non-verbal communication, how to strengthen cultural mastery and develop the cross-cultural sense and open thought, how to cultivate cross-cultural communicative competence. The article aims to improve the abilities of cross-cultural communication, in order to help both parties of China and America reduce misunderstandings and establish a better relationship.
文摘Language carries culture, and culture contains rich language elements. At present,most scholars study the difference of the grammar between English and Chinese from the linguistic perspective, while it is very short to explain the difference of grammar between English and Chinese from cultural angle. So according to the contrastive analysis of culture difference of English grammar and Chinese grammar, it helps the language learners learn the grammar and use correct grammar, it is also of great help to the intercultural communication. It plays an active role to the teaching of grammar.
文摘Culture is the sum of the products from human creation of material and spiritual. It contains the values, behaviors, literary arts, customs, lifestyles, economical and political system and so on that human groups possess. Language is the carrier and the crystallization of culture, it is also a mirror which is reflecting the culture. Any kind of national language is always inextricably linked with the nation's culture, and any language is the reflection of the culture. Mastering a language must understand the culture of the language belongs, especially cultural differences in customs. Culture refers to cultural practices throughout society and everyday commtmication activities by the national customs form. Due to the big contrast of culture and customs between Western and Chinese, if the English learners want to grasp English, they must understand and master the differences between Chinese and Western culture, they can not speak in English with Chinese cultural communication patterns. Differences between Chinese and Western customs exist everywhere, to understand these cultural practices will help understanding and use English correctly.
文摘Song of The Chu, a novel written by LAN Zi-- a Chinese Australian writer, recounts the struggle in Australia over 20 years (1988-2008) of a group of Chinese young people. Cultural difference or even conflict is one of the inevitable issues in terms of migration. The Chinese (Han) culture which belongs to the continental civilization and the Australian (Western) culture which belongs to the maritime one are both mighty and cannot be conquered or assimilated by each other. This means that the Chinese immigrants to Australia, compared to the ones from a less mighty culture, are more sensitive and resistant to the impact of an alien culture, which leads to a conscious or unconscious sense of security of the mother culture. Cultural security, not unidirectional, also refers to the worry by the locals of the impact brought by the immigrants. The protagonist resorts to converting to Buddhism as a solution to the cultural schizophrenia
文摘Proverb, the essence of language, is a fixed phrase or short sentence that is circulated among the masses. With the increasingly close exchange between China and western countries, translation between English and Chinese, especially proverb translation, is the most important task of translators. "English animal proverb is a wonderful work of numerous and various English proverbs, and it is rich in unique charms of language arts." Correctly translating English animal proverb can play an important role in proverb translation A large number of English animal proverbs use "dog" as a metaphor, and there is an obvious discrepancy of dog culture between China and western countries. In the light of it, taking the proverb about "dog" as an example, this thesis introduces the dog culture of China and western countries respectively and their discrepancies. Based on this, the thesis has a deep discussion on several methods of translating English proverb into Chinese and the attentions that should be paid in the process of translating. All these aim to make readers have a better understanding of Chinese and western proverbs and shorten the distance caused by cultural difference to more flexibly master and use both English and Chinese languages
文摘Henry James is one of the greatest novelists, who enjoys great reputation in the English literary world. He spent many years in Europe. Fie had deep and subtle insights into the life of the upper class in America and Europe. He experienced the cultural differences between America and Europe profoundly, which was demonstrated in his literary works. Daisy Miller is one of the representative works of Henry James, reveals his "international theme", the American innocence in face of European sophistication, In D^dsy Miller, Winterbourne is an undeniable protagonist, embodies both narrative and symbolic meaning. Through his narration and his representative features of the sophistication of European culture, we can gradually realize that it is the inevitable collision between new world and old world that leads to the pathetic ending of Daisy Miller.
文摘In the 21st Century of the increasing living standards, the social demand for talents with various aspects of ability is becoming higher and higher. The families, study and society of generations after 70s and 80s pay more attention to cultivating their own children's comprehensive development. Juvenile moral education is an important part of the contemporary juvenile education. Juvenile moral education is worthy of being paid attention to. On one hand, it is because the juvenile education is in the most basic and critical stage of the whole education stage, which is in the stage of the biggest influence of education development; on the other hand, it is because the young people are active and curious by nature, which will cause the difficulty of moral education to increase in the education process. Various countries and regions in the world have their own unique cultures and adjustments,and these different cultures affect the residents of different countries and regions with different living habits, ways of thinking and behaviors; thus forming different cultural differences. This paper, by taking the juvenile moral education between China and America as the research object, aims at analyzing the Chinese and Western cultural difference in juvenile moral education representation and transmission, aiming at from point to area,promoting the communication and development of juvenile moral education.
文摘Nowadays, multinational marriages are more and more widespread, especially between China and the West. However, a prevailing phenomenon is that due to the differences of China-West family values, it has caused irreconcilable conflicts of culture, which undoubtedly becomes the stumbling block of cross-cultural communication. Pushing Hands (1991) is a typical movie reflecting the cultural conflicts of Sino-US families, from which we can see all kinds of inadaptations in family life caused by cultural differences. Combined with Pushing Hands, this paper compares the differences of Sino-US views on families and analyzes the causes for these differences. Such an analysis will reinforce the English learners' understanding of cultural differences and improve their ability of cross-cultural communication.
文摘In an era of globalization, cross-cultural communication is not strange to us with studyingand travelling abroad, and even immigration becoming a part of our lives. In such an era of international communication being increasingly frequent, learning the culture of other countries will help usto do well in international communication. The paperis going to study,from the British and American history and culture, the differences of all kinds of their present acts in the world and impacts of the historical reasons on their own citizens, to not only let the reader understand the cultural differences between these two countries, but also to get the cause of the difference to better understand their cultures.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.41001156)the Beijing Novel Program, China (No.2009B25)+1 种基金the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation, China (No.8102015)the Open Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau of China (No.10501-295)
文摘For reasons of simplicity, the most commonly used hydrological models are based on the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) model, which is probably a good choice for the estimation of runoff on the Loess Plateau of China; however, the high spatial heterogeneity, mainly caused by a fragmented landform and variations in soil type, may limit its applicability to this region. Therefore, applicability of the SCS-CN model to a small watershed, Liudaogou on the plateau, was evaluated and the most appropriate initial abstraction ratio (I~/S) value in the model was quantified by the inverse method. The results showed that the standard SCS-CN model was applicable to the estimation of runoff in the Liudaogou watershed and the model performance was acceptable according to the values of relative error and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency. The most appropriate Ia/S value for the watershed was 0.22 because with this modified Ia/S value, the model performance was slightly improved. The model performance was not sensitive to the modification of the Ia/S value when one heavy rainfall event (50.1 mm) was not considered, which implied that the model, using a standard Ia/S value, can be recommended for the Liudaogou watershed because single rainfall events exceeding 50 mm seldom occurred in that region. The runoff amount predicted for the Liudaogou watershed by the SCS-CN model, using the modified Ia/S value, increased gradually with increasing rainfall when rainfall values were lower than 50 mm, whereas the predicted amount increased rapidly when the rainfall exceeded 50 mm. These findings may be helpful in solving the problem of serious soil and water loss on the Loess Plateau of China.