Abstract

The traditional festivals deposit a country’s long history and culture. The study of festival culture which is considered as a significant manifestation of a nation’s culture is an essential part of the study of a country’s culture. Since festival culture in both China and America has the characteristics of diversity and pluralism, a comparative study of them is meaningful.  This paper compares the differences in festival origins, festival customs and food habits from a certain important traditional festivals with similar cultural connotation in China and America, analyzes the underlying cultural differences reflected, and comes up with a series of strategies to promote some festivals with little public participation. With the increasing importance of festival culture, a better understanding of the traditional festival cultures in China and America is quite beneficial to our cultural learning and communication between the two countries.

Keywords: festival culture; important festivals; cultural differences; strategies

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

3. Cultural Differences Reflected by Comparison Between Important Chinese and American Traditional Festivals-3

3.1 A Brief Introduction of Some Important Traditional Festivals in China and America-3

3.2 Cultural Differences in Origins of the Festivals-5

3.3 Cultural Differences in Festival Customs-7

3.4 Cultural Differences in Food Habits-8

4. Strategies to Promote Traditional Festivals-10

4.1 Establishing Some Principles-10

4.2 Following the Successful Practice of Festivals-11

4.3 Highlighting National Features-12

5. Conclusion-13

Works Cited-14