Nature of the Chinese Culture and its Main Difference from Western Cultures
Family-centered communitarianism vs individualism.
In most western countries, in particular Anglo-Saxon countries, people emphasizes personal freedom, personal rights, and privacy etc.. In contrast, in Chinese societies, no matter in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Singapore as well as overseas Chinese communities, people more emphasize relationship, and “we-ness” and “community”. This leads to the following 4 key words in understand the Chinese culture which is different from western cultures.
In most western countries, in particular Anglo-Saxon countries, people emphasizes personal freedom, personal rights, and privacy etc.. In contrast, in Chinese societies, no matter in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Singapore as well as overseas Chinese communities, people more emphasize relationship, and “we-ness” and “community”. This leads to the following 4 key words in understand the Chinese culture which is different from western cultures.
5 key words in understanding the contemporary Chinese Culture:
1. Guanxi (Relations)
The Chinese term for relationship is “guanxi”, one of the most important cultural traits of Chinese people. The term “guanxi” may be better translated as personal contacts” or “personal connections”. “guanxi” can also be understood as “reciprocal obligation”, i.e. “a special relationship individual have with each other in which eachcan make unlimited demand on the other”, “friendship with implications of a continual exchange of favors”, or “the establishment of a connection between two independent individuals to enable a bilateral flow of personal or social transactions”.
“guanxi” derives essentially from the Chinese family system. In the traditional Chinese family, whenever small immediate or extended, members are mutually obligated to help one another. “guanxi” is strongly colored by Confucian reciprocal obligation toward family members. Through the establishment of the “guanxi”, people bond with each other with respected obligation toward each other. “guanxi” is essentially a network.
“guanxi” is usually established among people who share a commonality of certain identies – for example, tongxue (schoolmates), laoxiang (fellow viligers) and laopengyou (old friends). China is not a full-fledged market economy yet, which makes it difficult to allocate resources through market mechanisms alone, therefore, “guanxi” is a major means of resources aalocation. Without “guanxi”, one “simply cannot get anything done”. In recent years, making intensive use of “guanxi”, or getting through the “backdoor” to get things done, has been legitimately criticized by the Chinese government. However, in china hardly any aspect of social life is not touched by “guanxi”.
1. Guanxi (Relations)
The Chinese term for relationship is “guanxi”, one of the most important cultural traits of Chinese people. The term “guanxi” may be better translated as personal contacts” or “personal connections”. “guanxi” can also be understood as “reciprocal obligation”, i.e. “a special relationship individual have with each other in which eachcan make unlimited demand on the other”, “friendship with implications of a continual exchange of favors”, or “the establishment of a connection between two independent individuals to enable a bilateral flow of personal or social transactions”.
“guanxi” derives essentially from the Chinese family system. In the traditional Chinese family, whenever small immediate or extended, members are mutually obligated to help one another. “guanxi” is strongly colored by Confucian reciprocal obligation toward family members. Through the establishment of the “guanxi”, people bond with each other with respected obligation toward each other. “guanxi” is essentially a network.
“guanxi” is usually established among people who share a commonality of certain identies – for example, tongxue (schoolmates), laoxiang (fellow viligers) and laopengyou (old friends). China is not a full-fledged market economy yet, which makes it difficult to allocate resources through market mechanisms alone, therefore, “guanxi” is a major means of resources aalocation. Without “guanxi”, one “simply cannot get anything done”. In recent years, making intensive use of “guanxi”, or getting through the “backdoor” to get things done, has been legitimately criticized by the Chinese government. However, in china hardly any aspect of social life is not touched by “guanxi”.
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