Shame Consciousness And Embodiment Of Its Verbal Expression

Due to China facing Japan across the sea, the two countries have beeninfluencing language and culture etc. each other over a long period of time.Belong to the same Asian cultural circle, Japan has been affected byConfucianism from China deeply and also has absorbed moral and ethical systemof China. Further, Japan formed its shame consciousness apart from China bymelting the system into its own national situations. Therefore, verbal expressionon the shame consciousness has become an important part of daily life fromdevelopment history in the two countries.This thesis states two aspects on the shame consciousness and embodimentof its verbal expression as below.Firstly, on the basic of study significance, the thesis describes thecomparisons of the shame consciousness between China and Japan. For China onhistory and culture, it shows the great influences of the shame consciousnessfrom the three dynasties: Xia, Shang, Zhou, and pre-Qin dynasty on the followingdynasties, through analyzing some issues about historical origin and socialbackground. Confucianism by Confucius and Mencius thoughts advocatedself-discipline and introspection on the shame consciousness. Nevertheless, theshame consciousness of China means self-discipline. For Japan, it analyses theshame consciousness based on social features. These social features show threespecialties in Japan, which are rigid hierarchy, collectivism and moral principle tocontrol Japanese people. Due to the rigid hierarchy and collectivism, mostJapanese people care about other people’s points during working constantly.Hence, the shame consciousness of Japanese means heteronomy.Based on the above, the thesis explores the reasons why the two countriesformed the different shame consciousness. For one reason, most Chinese peopleconcern their face rather than Japanese people focus on respect; for the other reason, Chinese people pay more attention to benevolence, but Japanese peoplelay on loyalty.Secondly, furthermore the thesis analyses verbal expression on the shameconsciousness for two countries in details. With respect to the shameconsciousness, it describes words and phrases from four words, includingChinese idioms, Japanese colloquialisms, proverbs and phrases etc. in order toreveal the characteristics on verbal expression of the shame consciousness in thetwo countries.