RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTHER-IN-LAW AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW IN CHINESE TRADITIONAL FAMILY AS REFLECTED IN CHINESE PROVERBS

Abstract

To learn a language well, in addition to understand its grammatical rules, phonetic and vocabulary system, it is also necessary to understand its cultural background. It is not feasible to learn a language without culture because as a special cultural phenomenon, each language is created and developed in a specific national cultural and historical environment. It is deeply influenced and restricted by the national culture. A national language can only be fully and accurately understood in the context of its own culture. Therefore, it is very important for foreign students to understand the culture background of the Chinese language so that they can learn Chinese better. Students should learn a culture through a language and understand a language more through a culture. From this perspective, we want to study a special family relationship in Chinese traditional families through Chinese proverbs and sayings: the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. We analyzed 276 common sayings and proverbs related to the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. It was found that the most complicated and unsatisfactory relationship between women in Chinese families along with the tragic situation and humble positions of daughters-in-law in traditional feudal families.