Abstract:Sometimes, when we know a person very well, we may say that we know him “like the back of our hand”. However, experiments show that less than 5% of people can identify the back of their hands from a photograph . The result tells us that most people are not good at reading hand gesture. Virtually, hand gesture as part of nonverbal communication plays a vital role in our social life. 

　　　This paper aims to provide readers of some certain hand gestures in daily life, and compare the same hand gestures in intercultural communication under the influence of different cultural backgrounds in different countries. Through this dissertation, readers may avoid misinterpretation, have a better understanding and a basic knowledge of hand gestures so as to read other’s thought correctly and behave appropriately in social life.　

Key Words: nonverbal communication; body language; hand gesture; interpretation

中文摘要:有时候，当我们对一个人极其熟悉，我们会形容对这个人“了如指掌”。 然而，试验证明能够从照片中认出自己手背的人却不到5%。结果表明，绝大多数的人都不善于解读手势语言。但实际上，手势语，作为非语言交际的一部分，在我们日常生活中扮演着重要的角色。

　　　本文致力于介绍一些日常生活中的手势语及其情感表达，并在跨文化背景下，对同一手势进行比较与分析。通过本文，读者能基本掌握手势语，在跨文化交流中较好地理解他人想法，在社会交往中更加关注自身行为举止。

关键词：非语言交际；身体语言；手势语；解读