Russian and Chinese national personalities: based on the material of phraseological units and proverbs with the concept of "religion"

Sun' Syuina Postgraduate student, Department of Russian Language and Linguoculturology, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia 117198, Russia, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6 1161799398@qq.com Other publications by this author

Introduction

As an integral component of the totality of cognitive activity of national spiritual culture, religion is reflected in phraseological units and proverbs, the main purpose of which is to fix the national consciousness and the picture of the world of speakers of a particular linguistic culture. The relevance of the research topic is due to the active development of intercultural relations and humanitarian exchange between Russian and Chinese societies, their interest in studying the national personality in the space of different linguistic and cultural knowledge.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

1) to determine the composition of phraseological units, proverbs in Russian and Chinese, dedicated to traditional national religious values.

2) to comparatively analyze the spiritual and mental characteristics of Russian and Chinese national personalities in phraseological units, proverbs in relation to various religious beliefs, Christianity, Orthodoxy, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam.

3) to identify the national-specific and universal religious values of the compared national personalities.

Russian Russian phraseological units, proverbs, 58 phraseological units, proverbs of the Chinese language were used as the research material, selected by the method of directed sampling from the following dictionaries: "Russian proverbs, sayings and catch phrases. Russian Russian Dictionary" edited by E.M. Vereshchagin, V.G. Kostomarov ^[20], "Proverbs of the Russian people" by V.I. Dahl ^[8], "Dictionary of Russian Proverbs and Sayings" by V.P. Zhukov ^[11], "Russian phraseology. Russian Russian Phraseological Dictionary" by V.N. Telia ^[17], "Chinese folk sayings, proverbs and expressions" by A. Tishkov ^[18], "Chinese-Russian phraseological Dictionary" by K.V. Tolmats ^[19], "Chinese-Russian phraseological Dictionary" by O.M. Gottlieb, Mu Huain ^[6], "Xinhua Phraseological Dictionary" ^[21].

The theoretical basis of the research was the publications of Russian and Chinese authors, which consider the problems of the Russian national personality in the aspect of linguoculturology (Vorobyov ^{[4, 5]}, Rapoport ^[15], Nedosugova ^[14], Letova ^[12], Vasilyuk ^[3], as well as an analysis of Chinese culture, the linguistic picture of the world (Domenak ^[9], Abramova ^[1], Tan Aoshuang ^[16], Guruleva ^[7], ^[22], Ye Lang, Zhu Liangzhi ^[10], ^[13]).

The main part

"Personality can have a profound impact on the activities of society as a whole. And the forms of social interaction themselves determine the type of personality" ^{[4, p. 97]}. As an integral component of the structure of social relations, religion plays an important role in the formation and development of a national personality and its self-awareness.

The Russian national personality, as noted by many researchers, is characterized by religiosity. To bear suffering and sacrifice in the name of the holy faith is typical for the Russian people. The thirst for suffering inherent in Russian people is rooted in their sense of guilt.

The Russian people want to suffer, because suffering can reduce the burden of guilt. This is how the Russian people become masters of suffering, even while enjoying it. The idea of sacrifice as the central idea of Russian ethics is born out of guilt. From the point of view of the Russian people, it is the sacrifice that can open the way leading from this world to another, without death there is no resurrection, without sacrifice there is no rebirth. Russian Russian Easter idea", which, along with Messianism, is a characteristic feature of Russian Christianity" ^{[12, p. 168]}. The Russian people emphasize the self-worth of the victim himself.

Russian Russian language has been reflecting this trait of the Russian national personality since ancient times. Religiosity is manifested in various kinds of phraseological units, proverbs of the Russian language, in which God is referred to as the supreme being. They rely on God, entrust their destinies to God, and expect justice from him:

Our share is God's will.

God will give you a day, and He will give you food.

God gave, God took.

It's God's will.

God willing, he'll give it to the window.

We all walk under God.

A terrible dream, may God be merciful.

Whoever does not sin against God is not to blame for the king.

There is no one to be afraid of except God.

My age has passed, but God's days have not abated.

But the Russian people believe that forgiveness is given only to those who earn it with their work, patience and faith, and not to everyone. This is evidenced by many proverbs:

God gives those who get up early.

God was patient and told us to.

To live is to serve God.

Do God's work, it will do its own thing.

Don't build seven churches, but build seven children.

Do not live as you want, but as God commands.

To bow to two gods is not to serve one.

Not everything is kind to God that is useful to man.

Russian Orthodoxy is, first of all, a love of kindness. Christian virtues are permanent character traits of the Russian national personality. It would not be an exaggeration to speak about the innate Christianity of the Russian soul. The love of goodness is the main value for a true Orthodox. This attitude to faith comes from the depths of the Russian mentality, according to which man is by nature good, and evil in the world is a deviation from the norm. In Russia, Orthodox Christianity has become a love of kindness:

If you go with God, you will find a way to good.

Without good deeds, faith is dead before God.

Whoever does good, God will repay him.

The Soviet reality, when religion was separated from the state, gave rise to such proverbs:

Without God, the road is wide.

Whoever waits for the truth from God has a crooked road.

They became cultured, they gave God a refusal.

But even decades of Soviet power could not eradicate its religiosity and spirituality in the Russian national personality. Russian Russian proverbs did not reflect the true views of the Russian people and therefore have not been preserved in the memory of Russian people, their presence can be found simply from dictionaries.

Here is what Metropolitan A.I. Vvedensky wrote in 1925 on this occasion: "I do not dispute that religion, perhaps, is not the focus of attention for many people these days. I do not dispute that these days the unfolding class struggle, beautiful and fascinating in itself, captures individuals so much that they seem to have no time, they should not think about God. Despite this, I still maintain that modern, seemingly triumphant atheism is not really a victory of unbelief at all. I definitely say that religion can be pushed — it is your will, you are free — into the background of your consciousness. We can even store it in the cellars of the subconscious and put Roman guards so that religious feeling does not resurrect, but religious feeling is indestructible" ^{[2, p. 304]}. And Soviet atheism, from the point of view of A.I. Vvedensky, is also a certain religion.

Unlike the Russian people, the Chinese national personality carries a non-religious character ^{[22, p. 13]}.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              "There is no single religion in China, and there is no such strong religious authority as in the West, but clan power, family power in China are very developed, they actually control people" ^{[22, p. 17]}. However, a variety of religions have been peacefully coexisting in China for several centuries — Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Christianity. At the same time, Confucianism remains the dominant ideology, however, it is not a religion by Western standards. From the point of view of some foreign researchers, Confucianism exists as a religion, but we adhere to the opinion that "It was a humanistic philosophy elevated to the rank of a state religion, which determined the values and moral principles of the system of government and social structure in China, as well as the behavioral model of members of Chinese society" ^{[13, p. 75]}.

The three main creeds of China - Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism ? are characterized by mutual borrowing. The tendency of their rapprochement was clearly marked in the Tang era (618-907), and continued in subsequent dynasties. The peaceful coexistence of different religions in China is considered a unique phenomenon in the history of mankind. Any religion, both native and foreign, had to correspond to the Chinese way of life, thinking, and political structure.

In addition to religions, the cult of ancestors and the belief in the existence of evil and good spirits are widespread among the Chinese people. Long before the appearance of the first religious teaching on earth, official rituals of worship of Heaven, Earth, Sun and Moon were performed in the Celestial Empire, which were conducted by the emperor alone. By doing this, he begged for order, peace and prosperity of the country. Among the ordinary Chinese people, there were rituals of worship and sacrifice to deceased ancestors. On holidays, offerings were made to the God of the gate, the God of the hearth, the God of the earth, etc. Whether it was a city or a village, craft or art, there was a patron god everywhere. Rituals in their honor were held to prevent misfortunes, droughts, floods, diseases, etc. 

Initially, Taoism emerged as a philosophy, only in the second century. He was formed in a stable religious organization. Mystical ideals of fantastic longevity and immortality played an important role in the transformation of philological Taoism into religious Taoism. Taoism has almost never been an official religion ? rather, it was a movement of the masses, lonely practitioners and hermits. His supporters opposed the achievements of the progress of civilization, called for the simplification of life, the absolute freedom of the human personality. "Return to nature" was quite fashionable among Chinese poets, artists, officials and intellectuals.

Throughout its long history, Taoism has retained a wide influence on the national consciousness of the Chinese, as evidenced by a number of phraseological units:

"Friendship pear and fire date" - food of the gods; elixir of immortality.

"To live forever."

"To flow violently without ceasing" — to talk incessantly; endless conversations.

The "Juice of longevity".

"To be born again and change bones" — the rebirth of a Taoist into a saint through practice.

"Passing from heart to heart" is spiritual unity.

"The threefold spiritual (rational) principle and the seven unclean (animal) spirits (in the human body)."

"Peace and non- action".

"To see with the ears and hear with the eyes."

"Ascend to heaven in broad daylight."

"Do not eat food cooked on fire."

"The six nerves are restless."

"Artless and sincere."

The Chinese first became acquainted with Buddhism at the beginning of the first century through merchants and monks who penetrated the country along the "Great Silk Road". The Chinese people found a special attraction in Buddhism due to two components of this religion: firstly, the doctrine of karma, which gave an understandable explanation for the causes of their own misfortunes; secondly, the promise of life after death.

In the VI?III centuries, the main schools of Chinese Buddhism were finally formed, of which the school of reflection (Chan) turned out to be the most "Chinese". This school contains distinct Taoist motives: disregard for the written word; striving for a simple life, carried out according to the laws of nature.

After the introduction of Buddhism, the Chinese believed in rewards for good and evil, the concept of cause and effect, reincarnation, ghosts and spirits, etc., maintained a pious faith in the Buddha, prayed to the Buddha and repented before him. Buddhism helps the Chinese people rethink the value of life and encourages them to do good every day:

"Keep a fast, keep a fast" - strictly adhere to the rules and rituals of Buddhism.

"To save all living things."

"Bodhisattva lowers his eyebrows" - to be merciful; to look kindly at others.

"The deity may be strong, but the demon is ten times stronger."

"(Together) putting scented candles is fate" — an oath union sealed by lighting scented candles.

"Pure teaching has washed the chapter."

"To make prostrations."

"Big chiliocosm".

"People engaged in charity work."

The heavenly Virgin showers flowers.

"Karma, retribution for sins."

"Great kindness and great sorrow (about responsiveness to human joys and sufferings and the mercy of bodhisattvas to people)."

"Complete purity (complete purification) from everything sensual (worldly)."

"The sea of torments is boundless."

The "Pure land of the Western region".

"Compassion is the foundation."

"Morning bell and evening drum".

"Petty restrictions".

"To see clearly and become a Buddha."

"Boundless supernatural power."

"Good done with good and evil rewarded is punished with evil."

The spread of Christianity in China was not so successful. There are about 4 million Catholics in China today. A small number of adherents of Christianity are concentrated in rural areas, among peasants.

Islam entered China around the middle of the seventh century. After the tenth century, almost all the national minorities of northwest China gradually became Muslims.

We have not found any proverbs and phraseological units related to Christianity and Islam in the Chinese language. 

Conclusion

Russian Russian and Chinese phraseological units, proverbs with the concept of "religion" have been analyzed, and it has been found that there are fewer phraseological units recorded in Russian dictionaries than Chinese ones — 48 versus 58.

Religion is an undoubted social value. Religious beliefs fixed in the system of phraseological units based on national spiritual culture have great cognitive value.  The universal traditional religious values of the compared national personalities include faith in the existence of evil and good spirits, love of kindness and the idea of the goodness of human nature.

But there are great differences between Russian and Chinese national personalities in relation to religious beliefs. The Russian nation is characterized by religiosity. The Russian national personality emphasizes guilt, thirst for suffering and the self-worth of the victim himself, considers God as a supreme being, and is also characterized by kindness, Christian virtues, hard work, patience and faith.

Unlike the Russian people, the Chinese national personality is characterized by non-religion. For the Chinese personality, such religious values as longevity and immortality, great kindness, the pursuit of a simple life and love of nature, reward for good and evil, the concept of cause and effect, pious faith in the Buddha are of great importance.

In our opinion, further research in line with this stated problem is promising not only in terms of concretizing the speech portrait of the Chinese language personality, but also in terms of modeling the system of traditional cultural values of Russian and Chinese national personalities.

Information about sources of funding or grants:

The publication was supported by the China Scholarship Council within the framework of the program "Scholarship of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation", No. 202107040006, and within the framework of the topic No. 202802-2-000 "Linguistic and cultural research of the communicative reality of modern Russia" (the Program of Strategic Academic Leadership of the RUDN "Priority 2030").