1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

Ang Lee (1954- ) was born in Taiwan; he is a film director, screenwriter and producer. When he was young, he didn#8217;t have any interest in reading. He just wanted to be a director. After failing twice in the college entrance examination, he prepared the specialist examination, and became a theater major in National Taiwan Arts (now National Taiwan University of Arts), which had changed Ang Lee#8217;s life. In 1990, Lee completed the script of Pushing Hands and won the Taiwan government outstanding drama award. He not only won $ 400,000 prize with this script, but also got the chance to direct the film for the first time. Lee#8217;s contribution to the film is that he offsets Eastern and Western cultural barriers successfully and has achieved international recognition. Ang Lee has made a great contribution to Chinese film industry, and also set up a bridge of communication between eastern and western culture.

Pushing Hands was the maiden work of Ang Lee. It tells a series of stories about an immigrant American family which represents a conflict between traditional Chinese culture and American customs. Alex Chu settled in the United States and married a foreign woman, Martha. They had a child, Jeremy Chu. In order to make Chinese filial piety, Alex Chu took his father Mr. Chu from the mainland to the United States to lead a happy elderly life. Mr. Chu was the head coach of Beijing shadowboxing. When he lived with this family, he had a contradiction with Martha and went out to work in a restaurant. But Mr. Chu hurt the boss of the restaurant and was caught in the police station because the boss discriminated against the Communist Party of China. In this accidental circumstance, Mr. Chu became famous in the United States for his extraordinary shadowboxing. When Alex Chu took his father back home from the police office, Martha also had a feeling of guilty. But Mr. Chu returned to his own simple residence instead to spend his lonely old age. This film was awarded for the best actor in 1991 Taiwan Golden Horse Award, best actress and best director award for special award of jury. In 1992, it was also the best film in the Asia Pacific Film Festival Award.

Culture is the product of society. China and the west differ in their mode of thinking and values because of the different cultures and social contexts. Movie is one of the special methods of cultural performance. It graphically reveals the conflict and collision between eastern and the western cultures. China and America are the typical examples of the two cultures. With the enhancement of China#8217;s comprehensive national strength, the diplomatic relations between the United States and China are getting closer and closer. The cultural exchange between China and America reflects the main theme of the cultural communication between the East and the West. The movie puts cultural exchanges and conflicts into a Sino-American family, and makes a deep comparative analysis on them from family, education, food, medical treatment and so on. The study of the differences between Chinese and Western culture is conducive to people for their cross-cultural communication in their daily life. It helps people avoid the misunderstanding caused by lack of the knowledge of cultural differences.

1.2 Need for the study

Individualism and collectivism are one of the important factors to understand Eastern and Western cultures. They can reveal differences between the two cultures. Actually, they will affect the social interaction and communication. People#8217;s communication mode, lifestyle and behavior are different. So the lack of awareness and understanding of cultural differences will cause the cultural conflict.

This study is based on a family with Chinese and American. Through the contrast of their attitudes towards life, the author will analyze the differences between Chinese collectivism and American individualism. A deep understanding of individualism and collectivism helps people to calculate their behavior in different cultural contexts and allows people to adjust themselves in cross-cultural communication. With the development of globalization, China and the United States have more and more exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, economy and politics. The important thing for China and America is to promote mutual understanding through contact and dialogues so as to reduce disagreements and expand common ground. Therefore, it is necessary to realize the influence of collectivism and individualism on cultural differences. It leads to better understanding of us and others. It helps us become more tolerant and less defensive, enjoy cultural differences.

Through the comparative study of American individualism and Chinese collectivism, the author hopes that cultural exchanges between America and China can provide invaluable opportunities for Chinese and American cultures to get enriched by absorbing each other#8217;s positive elements, and sincerely hopes that China and America may increase cultural communication and cooperation, enhance cultural awareness, and the two peoples may walk hand in hand into a bright future.