LinesandCircles,WestandEast

　　NOTHINGINTHEWORLDISABSOLUTE.Everythingisrelative,culturaldifferencebeingnoexception.Culture,asthetotalpatternofhumanbehavioranditsproducts,overstepsgeographicallimitsandhistoricalconditionsinmanyways,anditischaracterizedbyitsstrongpenetrativenessandfusibility.

　　Theadvancementoftheglobalizedeconomyandtherapidityandeaseofmoderncommunication,transportation,andmassmediahaveresultedinaneverincreasingexchangebetweencultures,unprecedentedinscale,scope,andspeed.Consequently,anincreaseinuniversalityandareductionindifferencebetweenculturesisaninevitabletrend.Itisnosurprisetoseephenomenacharacteristicofonecultureexistinginanother.Asaresult,somepeopleevenfearthattheworldwillbecomeadullplacewhenallthedifferentnationalitiesbehaveexactlyalike.

　　Nevertheless,the“culturalsediment”formedthroughlong-rangeaccumulationisnottobeeasilyremoved,andtheculturaltraditionhandeddownfromgenerationtogenerationshowsgreatconsistencyandcontinuity.Theculturesofdifferentregionsandnationsstillhavetheirowndistinctivepeculiarities,andthereforesignificancestillneedstobeattachedtothestudyoftheindividualitiesofdifferentculturesagainstthebackgroundoftheiruniversality.

　　Byandlarge,linearityandcircularitycanbeusedtoindicatethemajordifferencebetweenWesternandChinesecultures.“Westernculture”hereisageneralterm,puttingasideitsinteriorregionaldiversitiesinordertocontrastitwithChineseculture.Acircleisaroundenclosure.Alineisanarrowcontinuousmark.ThecontrastbetweenthelinearityofWesterncultureandthecircularityofChinesecultureembodiesitselfinsuchaspectsasworldview,corevalue,outlookontime,andmodeofthinking.