reate the image, improve the customs ultimately and achieve the purpose of enhancing the economy and social benefits. Etiquette, which is an important part of the company’s culture and the entrepreneur’s spirit, is a major attachment of group’s image. Almost all international enterprises have a high standard of etiquette and regard etiquette as an important part of group’s culture. At the same time, it also can be regarded as the important software to obtain international fame. Therefore, studying etiquette is the trend of the times and the actual need of enhancing the competition.
B. The Value of the Study of the Western Etiquette and Chinese Etiquette
Since different countries have different histories and cultures, there are a lot of differences in the habit of conduct and the ceremony, especially between China and the West, the jokes and the mistakes caused by misunderstanding is not unusual. In modern history, there are two stories concerning the misunderstanding of different etiquettes. The first one is about Li Hongzhang who was invited by Bismarck to a diner. Due to a lack of the Western etiquette knowledge, he drank the water which was used to wash hands after eating the fruit. Then Bismarck did not understand Chinese customer, in order not to make Li Hongzhang lose his face, he drank the water too. Other officers also followed him and refrained from laughing. Here is another story: a KMT officer and his wife went to the airport to meet a consultant from the United States. After the meeting, the consultant said “Your wife is really beautiful!” The officer felt embarrassed and replied : “哪里，哪里！” It is just a polite way which is very common in China for the kind of the words he addressed. But the clumsy interpreter translated : “哪里，哪里！” like “where, where?” American consultant couldn’t understand, he thought “I just praised his wife, and why he asked me where his wife is beautiful”. Then, he said: “she is beautiful from head to toe.” These two jokes are due to the lack of etiquette knowledge about the differences between China and the West. This shows that the understanding of the differences of the Western etiquettes and Chinese etiquettes are absolutely necessary. To the officers, to understand each other’s customs will be conductive to the exchanges between the different countries. A person who understands others’ rituals and folk customs can be seen as respecting for others and can be easier to make a good impression on the other side. Along with the constant development of Chinese and the Western cultures, Chinese ritual and the Western ritual are fusions. The Westerners have accepted the reasonable factors in Chinese culture and other important feelings. At the same time Chinese people have gradually accepted the advanced civilization of the Western culture and etiquette style. However, in real life, the impact on etiquette due to cultural differences between China and the West still exists. So
