An Exploration on the “Misunderstandings” in the Contemporary Sino-Italian Relation

Abstract

In the contemporary Sino-Italian exchanges and cooperation, due to the lack of mutual understanding keeping abreast with the times, the two countries often have to take some “expedients” to guide the practical cross-cultural communication. The most influential representative is the “East-West dichotomy” understanding and interpretation. Such an “expedient” has obvious flaws, which are mainly reflected as: Clear definition and classification criteria are absent; classification is too broad and ignores cultural identity; features of the “reference object” are mistaken as the common features of a class of objects. The consequences are likely to artificially create a series of difficulties and obstacles, misleading the people of two countries and communications astray. This article aims to introduce and analyze the “misunderstandings” in Sino-Italian relation from a cross-cultural perspective, reveal the reasons for these misunderstandings, restore the process generating the errors and provide advice and reference for an accurate and effective “recognition”.