Abstract: A nation’s written symbols and culture can be reflected by the way that the “agreement” made between written symbols and oral tradition. The “agreement” between Chinese characters and oral tradition was packed with contradictions while the Greek letters and oral tradition was full of attraction. Chinese characters were not submissive to oral tradition, while the Greek letters were so close to oral tradition as musical notes to its songs. From the above two kinds of “agreement”: “contradiction” and “attraction”, it can be inferred that there existed two cultural orientations between China and the West, such as the different attitudes towards written symbols, different thinking modes and different highest ways to arrive at the truth.

Key words: written symbols, oral tradition, agreement, contradiction, indirect-image-thinking