The specific nature of the family concept in Russian and Chinese linguistic cultures (based on family proverbs)

The purpose of the study is to identify the similarities and differences in the content of the family concept in Russian and Chinese cultures, which can be achieved by flashbacks, questionnaires, cultural, comparative, and lexicographic analysis. The author carried out a comparative analysis of Russian and Chinese linguistic worldview based on the study of the cultural and historical background to the concept of family in both cultures and an empirical survey of contemporary bearers of Russian and Chinese linguistic cultures. Respondents were asked to express their agreement or disagreement with family proverbs in their native language. The study reveals that family is of great value to both culture bearers. Most respondents agree with the proverbs that come down to the fact that a person cannot live without a family, there is no happiness without a family. It is concluded that differences in the content of the family concept have slightly decreased. Thus, the Russian lexeme ‘family’ used to refer not only to blood ties but also to spiritual kinship and belonging to the same social group while blood relationship was the only thing to identify a person as one’s own, a member of the family in Chinese culture. In present-day Chinese and Russian linguistic consciousness, family is defined identically as a group of (close) relatives living together. The difference is that the cult of the elders is proclaimed and filial piety is treated as a crucial element in Chinese culture while the cult of children is peculiar to Russian culture.