From this group of idioms, we could see that the land is very important to the Chinese. So in the Chinese idioms, there are many idioms about the land. The Chinese culture belongs to the agriculture civilization.
3.1.2 The English geography idioms
In England, the sea is connected to the people’s life closely. England is an island country. In England, the field is less, the land is for stock breeding. The English people always make their living on the sea. So there are many idioms about the sea and the ship.
(1) At sea[23]
① On a ship, etc on the sea
e.g. spend three months at sea
② Not know what to do; confused
e.g. I’m all at sea ; I have no idea how to repair cars.
(2) Miss the boat[24]
Miss an opportunity; be too late to participate in something
e.g. She put her application in for her interview one day late. Unfortunately for her the university authorities could do nothing and she had missed the boat
(3) At bottom [25]
In reality; really basically
e.g. He seems aggressive but at bottom he is kind and good-natural
(4) Another kettle of fish (a different kettle of fish ) [26]
A completely different person or thing from the one previously mentioned
e.g. He is good at playing tennis in private, but playing in public is a different kettle of fish.
This group of idioms reflect that the sea、the boat、the fish are very important to the people’s lives. The English culture belongs to the sea civilization.
People live in the different geography environments will create different cultures. All the cultures could not be separated from their environments. Because of its region, climate and environment, every culture has its own character.[27]
The environment influences the culture deeply. The Chinese agriculture civilization makes the Chinese idioms use the geographical words as the images. And the English sea civilization makes the English idioms use the image about the sea.
3.2The causes of the Chinese and English idioms using the different images
The idioms are accepted through common practice. They have come into being for a long time. Today most of the idioms were formed in the ancient times.
Why does the Chinese culture belong to the agriculture civilization? Why does the English culture belong to the sea civilization. If we want to know these clearly, we had better look into the origins of the Chinese and English civilizations.
3.2.1The difference of the origins of the Chinese and western civilizations
(i) The origins of the Chinese civilization
People in different environments will create different cultures. In the origins of the Chinese civilization, the tillage is the most important thing in people’ live. So the Chinese culture is connected to the field closely.
The Chinese civilization is very long. It can derive from 7000~~5000 years ago.[28] From the “Yang Shao Civilization” the Chinese civilization had begun. For it was so long ago, that many data about this civilization were lost.
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