1.IntroductionIdiomsarethoughtofasthecoreandessenceoflanguageandculture.Anylanguagewhichhasalonghistoryisabundantinidioms.ManyofthewordsoftencontainenoughphilosophicalandincisivetheoriesforpeopletostudyandtheybecomeanimportantpartofmodernEnglish(Zhang,2009,p.8).Forexample:“Asamansows,soheshallreap”canbetranslatedinto“种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆”,“Tostrikewhiletheironishot”istranslatedas“趁热打铁”,“Alongroadtestsahorse’sstrengthandalongtaskprovesaman’sheart”canbetranslatedinto“路遥知马力,日久见人心”.Nowadays,withtheprosperingofinternationalcommunication,theactivityofidiomtranslationhasbecomeespeciallyfrequentandimportant.However,idiomsarestronglycombinedwithspecificculture,whichoftenleadstogreatdifficultyintranslation.Thus,studyingtherelationsbetweenidiomsandafewimportantculturalaspectssuchashistoricalbackgrounds,geographicalconditions,socialcustoms,religiousbeliefs,etc.willhelpustounderstandtheculturalelementsinidioms.Sincecultureplayssoimportantaroleininterculturalcommunication,theculturalfactorsindifferentlanguageshavebeenattractingmoreandmoreattentionoflinguisticscholars.Inordertomakeinterculturalcommunicationmoresuccessful,manyscholarshavebecomeinterestedinthestudyofculturalsimilaritiesanddifferencesencodedindifferentlanguages.Thestudyofculturalfactorsindifferentlanguagesisofsignificanceininterculturalcommunicationaswellasotherdisciplinessuchaslinguistics,languageacquisition,etc.ThispaperwillexpoundtheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishidiomsandexploretheroleofcultureplaysinunderstandingofidioms.2.TheculturalbackgroundsinidiomsIdiomsasaspecialformoflanguagecarryalargeamountofculturalinformation.Theyaretheheritageofhistoryandtheproductofculturalevolvement.Generallyspeaking,Idioms1正文中的一级标题用14号timesNewRoman加粗，标题在某一页的开始，段前就不再另外空行，只段后一行即可。所有标题左对齐正文中的一级标题用14号timesNewRoman加粗，上空两行下空一行,即段前两行，段后一行。所有标题左对齐。MLA格式中，每个标题里每个实义词首字母大写正文中的一级标题用14号timesNewRoman加粗，段前两行，段后一行。所有标题左对齐。正文中所有标题中只有第一个词的首字母，冒号和破折号后第一个词的首字母，及专有名词必须大写，其余小写APA格式：每级标题下的正文首段不缩进APA格式：每级标题下的正文第二段开始，以后每段都缩进五个字符。全部正文内容使用word1.5倍行距，12号TimesNewRoman从引言那页开始标页码，页码居中对齐。comefromsociety,cultureandhistory;theyareincludedineverythingandrelatedtosociety’slifeandplayanimportantroleinculture.2.1ThedefinitionofcultureCultureisalargeandextremelycomplexconcept.Someforeignscholarsestimatethatnolessthan200definitionsfor“culture”havealreadybeencitedintheacademicfield,someofwhichareconcernedwiththematerialproductsofthepeople;othersdealwiththosespiritualaspectssharedbypeoplelivingincertaincommunities;stillothersfocusbothonbeliefsandpracticesofasociety.Hedefines,“cultureisthatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,morals,customandanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety”(Luo,2005,p.27).ChinesescholarKe(2000,pp.142-143)statesinhisarticleCulturalPesuppositionsandMisreading“thatmostanthropologistsagreeonthefollowingfeaturesofculture:1)Cultureissociallyacquiredinsteadofbiologicallytransmitted.2)Cultureissharedamongthemembersofacommunityinsteadofbeinguniquetoanindividual.3)Cultureissymbolic.Symbolizingmeansassigningtoentitiesandeventsmeanin...
