摘　要

春节和圣诞节是中国和西方社会最重要的传统节日。通过对中西方春节与圣诞节的对比研究，以总结出这两个节日的由来，习俗精神宗旨，社会功能文化内涵等方面较详细的中西文化的差异，以及文化差异背后所体现的价值差异。研究差异有助于更好地、较理性地借鉴和吸取外来文化中的优秀成果，借鉴西方人的积极价值观，保护和弘扬中华民族的文化精髓。
中国和西方国家的文化存在着各个方面的差异，传统节日文化是其中重要的一项，而中西节日文化也有着各自不同的特点。本文从中西文化比较的角度，分别从节日来源、节日时间等习俗方面对中国的春节与西方的圣诞节进行了详细的对比研究，较全面地论述了中西文化间存在的文化差异，并分析了存在各种差异的原因。

关键词：春节; 圣诞节; 文化内涵; 文化差异

Abstract

Chinese New Year and Christmas are the most important traditional festival in China and western societies. The study of differences contributes to a better understanding of achievements in the foreign culture, learning the positive values of the westerners, and protecting and carrying forward the essence of the culture of the Chinese nation.
There are aspects of differences between Chinese and western cultures. Traditional festivals are one of the important differences, and there are distinctive features in Chinese and western festival cultures as well. This paper provides a comparative discussion of cultural aspects on Chinese Spring Festival and western Christmas. It gives detailed comparisons of the festival customs from origins, time and so on, and the author also discusses the cultural differences existed in Chinese and western culture, as well as their causes.

Key words: Spring festival; Christmas; cultural connotation; cultural differences

1 Introduction
1.1 Background
A festival is regarded as "a carrier of culture", or a display of the ways of behavior and thinking. A festival is a unique and specific cultural phenomenon and this unique cultural phenomenon embodies human cognition and attention to the natural environments and peripheral surroundings (Han Yangmin, 1998:151). These two definitions are the best among the above mentioned. According to them, it is reasonable for researchers to find the nature of human culture by studying festivals. Moreover, festival customs provide us a way to reveal the difference and similarity between different cultures. It is impossible to pay equal attention to every festival custom, and therefore, the Spring Festival and Christmas, the two most representative and well-known festivals in the east and the west, are chosen to make a comparison in details.