ABSTRACT

The values of individualism have become a remarkable label of contemporary America, manifesting in its economy, politics, cultures and many other aspects. As a historic eastern country, China had a great quantity of ideologies and social regimes, such as clanship and Confucianism, which generated the value of collectivism and made it one of the most conspicuous features of Chinese social values. Incomprehension of each other’s cultural values is the main cause of frictions in cross-cultural communication. To solve clashes and misapprehensions caused by incomprehension of values, analysis of its root or source is the key. By analyzing and discussing historic events, influential ideologies, social attributes, and economic patterns of China and America, this study is designed to trace sources of Chinese collectivism and American individualism with the purpose of deducting the frictions in cross-cultural communication process, and pushing forward the development of the two countries in the age of globalization.

Key words: Collectivism  Individualism  Sources  Cross-cultural Communication

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

中文摘要

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 THE BACKGROUND OF THE PAPER-1

1.2 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPER-1

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 PREVIOUS STUDIES ON FORMING SOURCES OF CHINESE COLLECTIVISM-3

2.2 PREVIOUS  STUDIES  ON  FORMING  SOURCES  OF  AMERICAN  INDIVIDUALISM-5

2.3 SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS STUDIES-7

CHAPTER THREE FACTORS OF THE FORMATION OF CHINESE COLLECTIVISM-8

3.1 HISTORICAL AND TRADITIONAL FACTORS-8

3.1.1 Primitive Institutions-8

3.1.2 Confucianism in Feudal Society-9

3.2 IDEOLOGIES IN MODERN CHINA-11

3.2.1 Marx’s Communist Ideology-11

3.2.2 Sinicized Marxism-12

3.3 CHINESE SOCIALISM-13

CHAPTER FOUR FACTORS OF THE FORMATION OF AMERICAN INDIVIDUALISM-15

4.1 HUMANISM IN RENAISSANCE-15

4.2 INFLUENCES FROM RELIGION-16

4.2.1 Protestant Revolution-16

4.2.2 American Puritanism-17

4.3 RALPH WALDO EMERSON’S TRANSCENDENTALISM-18

4.3.1 Main Idea of Transcendentalism-18

4.3.2 Emerson Individualism-19

4.4 CAPITALISM-19

4.5 WESTWARD MOVEMENT-20

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION-22

BIBLIOGRAPHY-23