From Chinese And Korean Loanwords To See The Cultural Influence To Each Other

Till 2011, formal diplomatic relations between People's Republic of China and South Korea have been established for 19 years, which has witnessed the considerable development of the bilateral cultural exchanges between the two countries. China and South Korea are close neighbors, and the long history of their cultural exchanges can be dated back to China's Sui and Tang dynasties. For thousands of years, the two nations have been learning from each other, creating the splendid culture. Out of the author's interest in both Chinese and South Korean culture and on the basis of abundant information and documents, this paper attempts to study the interrelationship of the two cultures from the perspective of loanwords.Ancient China has a profound effect on Korean culture, because China was once the first superpower in ancient East Asia and the world with a splendid culture and powerful economic strength. Ancient South Korea, at that time, could only follow and copy Chinese culture, using Chinese as its language. Not until 1446 when South Korea's king, Sejong the great, created Hangul could South Korean record their history with their own languages. Nevertheless, Chinese words have been heavily kept in Korean language. After the Second World War, with economic recovery and development in the world, South Korea has been playing an increasingly important role on the world stage. In the hope of to occupying a leading position in the cultural field, South Korea exports around the world all sorts of cultural products, which have gained great popularity in China. A large number of Korean loanwords are brought into Chinese by the "Korea wave". It is the first time that Korean language has influenced Chinese so deeply after Korean language was governed by Chinese for thousands of years. However, conflicts have arisen between China and South Korea about the affiliation of some cultural heritages in recent years. Therefore, it is necessary to ponder the following questions. Why can South Korea excel in revealing excellent eastern culture so quickly and deeply when Chinese audiences are engrossed in well-made Korean dramas? Is the swarming of Korean loanwords an invasion to Chinese culture or the rebirth of Chinese traditional culture? How can the loanwords be applied to facilitate the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language?This paper begins with a theoretical explanation of the loanword, and then makes comparative description of the loanwords in China and South Korea, which is followed by an introduction of the communicating history between China and South Korea. Finally, the paper analyses the status quo of the cultural exchanges between China and South Korea under the impact of loanwords as well as the significance to the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language.