The Cross-cultural Ethics Behind The “Dragon Bones”

Cultural ethics,as the core and particular cognitive system in culture,have distinct ethnic features when cultures tend to be globalized and diversified at the same time.Moreover,cultural ethics guide people and give them proof in the cultural communications,which have attracted enough attention from the intercultural communication research.With such a context,this dissertation,taking The Bonesetters' Daughter as an example,compares different ethical concepts between Confucianism and Christianity including collective ethics and individual ethics,man-nature harmony and man-god discrepancy,and different filial piety views.Based on the novel,this dissertation analyzes three-generation women's attitudes toward the core cultural symbol,dragon bones.The dragon bones here embody Confucian ethics.Protagonists' varying attitudes about the dragon bones reflect their attitudes about Confucian ethics.Love,an attitude,is protagonists' similar choice in two sets of ethical concepts.This dissertation aims not at ranking the two cultures and their ethics,but at finding out the similar ethical choice.The final ethical choice,love,is not only the highest moral standard but also common emotions of human beings.