中国人的面子观

Face Considerations in China and the US and its Influence for cross-cultural business negotiationAbstractWith the rapid development of economy and China’s entry into the WTO, the trade between China and America and its economic cooperation has increased significantly. Sino-US business negotiation, as an indispensable activities for promoting economic exchanges to realize cooperation and mutual benefits, are becoming more and more important.China and the US both have its unique and culture. Face considerations are an important aspect of culture. The differences between China and America in their perspective of face, degrees of concern with face and ways of dealing with face issues often bring difficulties in understanding or even misunderstanding in Sino-US business negotiation, becoming obstacles to negation. How to conduct cross-culture business negotiation better is a question that needs to be resolved for negotiators of China and the US. The thesis makes a relatively detailed study of the influence of the different face consideration in China and the US on business negotiators and give suggestions for Chinese and America negotiators in the last. Key words: face consideration; business negotiation; China andAmerica；culture differences摘要随着中国经济的快速发展以及中国加入世界贸易组织，中美贸易往来与经济合作显著增长。

中美商务谈判，作为促进经济交流，实现合作共赢的必不中少的活动，其重要性也日益突出。

然而，中美都有自己的独特的文化，而“面子”观是文化的重要方面之一。

由于中美对面子观的认识、关注程度以及处理面子问题的方式不同，常给中美之间的商务谈判带来交流上的困难甚至误解，造成谈判中的障碍。

如何更好地进行跨文化商务谈判，则是摆在中美谈判者面前的一个需要解决的问题。

本文就中美面子观差异对商务谈判的影响进行了细致的研究，并在最后对中美谈判者提出了自己的建议。

关键字：面子问题，商务谈判；中美；文化差异ContentsAbstract摘要IntroductionChapter 1 Face in America and China1.1 Face consideration in China1.1.1 The Popular Chinese Phrase and Expressions of Face1.1.2 Characteristics of the Chinese Face1.2 American perspective of face1.2.1 Goffman’s Theory of Face and Social Interaction1.2.2 Brown & Levinson’s Face and Politeness Strategies Theory1.2.3 Seolion&Senllon’s Paradox of Face and Politeness System Theory1.2.4 Stella Ting-Toomey’s Face Negotiation TheoryChapter 2 The Influence of face consideration on Negotiation2.1 Theories Related to Negotiation2.1.1 Definitions of Negotiation2.1.2 Characteristics of International Business Negotiations2.2 The Influence of Culture on Business Negotiation2.3 The Importance of Face Considerations on NegotiationsChapter 3 The Collision on Face in Communication Between the Chinese and Americans3.1 An example of Culture Collision in Cross-cultural Business Negotiation3.2 Suggestions on How to Solve the Face Problems in Cross-cultural Communication3.2.1 Face the Cultural Differences and Shocks Intellectually3.2.2 Be Sensitive With the Context and Cultural Differences3.2.3 Accept the Cultural Differences and Be ConsiderableChapter 4 ConclusionBibliographyIntroductionBackground and purpose of researchThe United States is one of the countries with the most advanced economy and technology in the world. China is the largest developing country in the world. With the rapid growth of its economy, China is playing an increasingly important role in the world economy. Its huge potential for economic growth has attracted attention from all the world. Economic and technological cooperation between China and the US has increased rapidly, becoming an important force that pushes forward the economies of the two countries.Many factors influence the success of Sino-US businessnegotiations. Among these factors, culture factors can not be ignored. Chinese culture is a typical oriental culture while American culture is a typical western culture. China and the US differ greatly in history, culture, values, and ways of dealing with people and affairs, often bringing difficulties to the communication and understanding between Chinese and American negotiators. Whether a negotiator can appropriately deal with culture differences between China and the US has become an essential factor affecting the success of Sino-US negotiations.The issue of face is a common but important aspect of culture phenomena. People from different cultural backgrounds have different understandings of face, different degrees of concern with face, and different ways of dealing with issues related to face. This influences business negotiators significantly. To understand and deal with the relationship between face and negotiation correctly is a problem facing every business negotiation.The thesis inquiries into the issue of face involved in Sino-US business negotiation, reveals the cultural roots for the differences between Chinese and American perspectives of face, elaborates on the subtle but important influence of face onnegotiation from the perspectives of negotiation ritual, styles and strategies, and clears up the misunderstandings that occur in Sino-US business negotiation due to different perspectives of face so as to provide reference to Chinese and American negotiators to conduct business negotiations between the two countries better.The structure of the thesisThe thesis comprises the following parts:First of all, the introduction serves as a general presenting of the research, which includes background and purpose of research, and then the structure of the thesis.Chapter 1 is come famous theories related to face considerations both in China and western countries.Chapter 2 is theories related to negotiation and the influence and importance of face consideration.Chapter 3 is the collision on face in communication between the Chinese and Americans. This part gives suggestions on how to solve the face problem in cross-cultural communication.Chapter 4 is the conclusion of this thesis.Chapter 1 “Face” in China and AmericaBefore the comparison，it is quite necessary to know what face means in Chinese and American cultures. Face is very important in Asian cultures，where it means something close to honor or reputation．So is it in western cultures．The notion of face is universal．Face，in English, literally means the area between one’s forehead and one's chin．Then further, it refers to the surface of an object and last, from the aspect of culture，it is the less tangible commodity that is related to a person’s dignity and prestige．The Chinese face (mianzi) has three meanings：outer part or surface，reputation and favor, while Lianmian (face) means cheeks and favor．Here，the common core ‘mian’ was the symbol of relationship between self and society, when it first appeared in the forth century BC.1.1 Definitions of FaceThere are many definitions of face，listed here are few representative ones．1.1.1 The Popular Chinese Phrases and Expressions of Face“A face problem”．Face plays so important a role in Chinese people’s life that it is an answer to people’s action in certain situation．Sometimes, peoples’ decision on something depends on whether keeping their face or giving others face because it is a face problem．2001 saw the noisylawsuit between Wang Zhiwen(a famous actor)and Anhui Commercial Newspaper．Wang Zhiwen accused Anhui Commercial Newspaper of defaming him，which caused him great economic and spiritual loss．However, Wang Zhiwen simply demanded the defendant to pay him one yuan for all the loss．As he declared in public，all that he wanted was to prove his innocence．It is a face problem not for money ．“To keep face”is to keep someone’s face．It means that one keeps silence on someone’s personal behavior when the latter' s fault is exposed so as not to hurt his or her dignity．That’s why we go straight with people’s fault only when left alone in a quiet room so that others will not know it and make unfavorable comments on it．Generally speaking people tend to accept such criticism and correct their action．For instance when a teacher came cross his or her student alone on the campus and pointed out he or she should not play with the cell phone in class，the latter would do better in his or her class．Similarly, a teacher will be grateful if a student sends him or her a note secretly about the mistakes the former made in class．If a friend keeps our face in public，we regard him or her as considerate．“Give face”．When one person helps another to increase the latter's prestige，such as praising him or her for his or her ability in public or showing great respect to his or her advice，the former is giving the latter face．The latter will be very pleased or sometimes be motivated to workharder, especially when he or she is a beginner．Take students and their teacher for an example．Some ordinary students will make great progress if they receive their teacher’s praise in the classroom．They will be more active and spend more time studying．On the other hand，if the teacher often criticizes some students in the classroom, they will feel shameful or hurt and begin to loss interest in this teacher's class．Under some situation, to give face is just to keep a harmonious environment．One may choose not to give others face as well．In most cases，even though we can not give face to others, w e must at least “muddle with others’ face” superficially. Sometimes，to give face or not to is a question because you may suffer a bit from the face．To give face, you have to sacrifice your rare time to your counter-company’s boring dinner, or endure your colleagues’blame because you have to do your good friend a favor, or even keep quiet when your neighbors make annoying noise．“Have no face”. In China, his making me have no face means that he makes me feel embarrassed or lose fame．For example, a boy will feel having no face if his girl friend always refuses his requirement directly in public．Generally speaking，whether one “has no face” or not is decided by his reputation．Those who have no face are sure to find it difficult to do many things in the circles of Chinese society．They can neither be introduced to certain people for making friends or ask some celebrities to do them a small favor without the help of other powerful friends．“Increase face”. There are a number of ways to increase face, ranging from donating to the non-profit organizations，to helping strangers and to signing on the important papers. Many people choose to build libraries in colleges and universities，and hospitals in cities．No matter what original they work for, it is sure that their action will attract public attention and gain praise．Such praise certainly increases their face．“Maintain face”．In Chinese society, face is closely related to fame or reputation．Chinese people must be careful with their face in daily life and do everything they could to maintain face．Thus rich people pay more attention to their clothes and eating than common people．Besides，Chinese people always try to maintain others’face．For instance，a Chinese teacher rarely criticizes his or her students in the classroom except under some rather special circumstances. To maintain face can sometimes reduce the direct conflict between people and keep the society in harmony．Yet it has negative effects such as，wasting in some wedding ceremonies.“Muddle fac e”．One may not think highly of the other person．However, in order to gain a good impression, he or she still shows enough respect to the latter so that the latter will not feel uncomfortable．That is to muddle face．When a young leader go into accompany with new concepts and techniques, he or she decided toinnovate on a world-class and flourishing one．Being modest, he or she invited the elder workers and managers to give suggestions，though he or she never took them seriously．His or her action is just to show them respect and to muddle their face．“Respect m y face”．The Chinese people value more favor than law．When there is a quarrel or fight people usually lose the sense of logic and devote all the strength to overwhelming their adversaries by all means．In such a situation, the only person who can stop these horrible acts is an elder or one with higher social position by saying “please respect my face”．This request is more efficient than preaching up forgiveness repeatedly．For the sake of their own benefit, the angry people will soon become reasonable and take the suggestions from the one with high social position.“Rely on someone’s face”．It appears when someone wants to take advantage of his or her relationship with a famous person. One is relying on a famous person’s face，when he or she deliberately stresses on their relationship in front of other people so as to gain favorable advantage，though she or he is not quite familiar with the celebrity．Generally speaking, the famous person will not interfere in it, even if he or she has known it earlier, because he or she views it as a chance to test his or her own fame．“Save face”. It is to acquire fame by ostentation andhumbuggery．Generally speaking, Chinese parents often give their daughters a great number of dowries including household commodities and luxurious wealth, which will be exhibited to all the guests and neighbors，whose praise will increase their face．A wedding ceremony in Zhejiang is a vivid example of this phenomenon．Loaded with countless dowries, a truck follows six elaborately decorated Benz or BMW cars parading down the main streets with loud merry music．No mater whether the Benz or BMW cars are bought or rented, whether the dowries are afforded by the bride’s family or aided quietly by the bridegroom’s family, every audience is deeply attracted by this showing off and both the families feel that the face is saved．1.1.2 Characteristics of the Chinese faceChinese scholars’theories about the characteristics of the Chinese face can be summarized in the following aspects．Firstly, face is dynamic．Face is not a fixed image of oneself that a person portrays on the stage of life．Rather, face can change with time and concrete setting and can be enhanced or damaged．Everyone hopes to get a higher status to enhance one’s face．Face can be given or lent．A person can give someone face and can also borrow face from someone．Face can also be used to renegotiate the obligations in interpersonal relationships．So face is flexible and dynamic．Secondly, face is emotional．In China, the word face has the samemeaning as ren-qing(human emotions)．Ren-qing has important functions in the Chinese society．The different orders of relationship between Chinese display varying degrees of human motions between them．Those close friends will show emotional support to each by respecting each other’s face．A scholar points out that "there is no way to talk about human motion between strangers．To work for our acquaintances or friends, to give them mianzi, and to make them happy, is so-called human emotion．If one does not have a good or important relationship，it will be difficult for one to claim sufficient face in the presence of another because there is so little human motion involved．If the two sides of interaction do not have kinship relationships, they always try to foster emotions so as to cooperate smoothly. Even if two sides communicate for a specific purpose, the contact between them will naturally generate emotions and help to establish relationships between them．So face is the emotional support mutually given according to different orders of relationship．Thirdly, face is hierarchical．The face of a Chinese is determined by his social status．Chinese scholar Jia, Wenshan(2003) believes that the use of face is determined by the status that is granted a person in a certain relationship according t o the society’s hierarchical system．Different degrees of concern with face reflect different positions in society．Since the Chinese society is hierarchical，the face need and concern are alsohierarchical．Fourthly, face is moral．Face carries moral standards．The fear of losing face will keep a person’s deeds within moral boundaries, making him abide by moral standards historically or conventionally accepted．Fifthly, face has both positive and negative functions．The positive function of face is that it can define responsibilities and obligations between people in place of law and keep people’s deeds within moral bounds．Face is also the lubricator of human interaction．Chang and Holt(1994) point out that face can be used to express the harmony of human relationships and strengthen the harmony at the same time．The negative function of face is that when there is a dispute, the parties involved will all refuse to lower his head first out of considerations of face，making it difficult to solve problems．In addition, as Chang and Holt point out , in China, when a person gives his opinions publicly, unlike giving opinions privately, he will always insist that he is right to save his face．So face can be an obstacle to stating opinions publicly．The Chinese scholars’theories about the concept and character of face is the theoretical basis for this thesis to study face issues in the negotiations between China and America, providing theoretical guidance to understanding face considerations of Chinese negotiation．1.1.2 American (Western) perspective of faceNot only Eastern people have the concept of face, western peoplealso have the concept of face．Next is a review of some representative theories about face in the West．1.1.2.1 Goffman’s theory of face and social interactionGoffman is one of the earliest scholars to study face．Goffman believes that face is “the positive social value a person effectively claims for himself by the line others assure he has taken during a particular contact”. According to Goffman，the li ne that he has taken refers to “a pattern of verbal and nonverbal acts by which he expresses his view of the situation and through this his evaluation of the participants, especially himself”.Goffman’s illustration of face reveals the following characteristics of face．Firstly, face is the positive social value a person advocates．If a person believes that certain acts，verbal or nonverbal, do not have positive social value, then he can not claim face for doing such all act．Only when a person acts positively can he acquire face．Secondly, face is realized through others’ society evaluation．Goff man stresses in his definition “the line others assume he has taken.”Although face is a display of self image，yet what a person is concerned with is not self evaluation but what others and society think of him．If a person thinks that no matter what you think of me．I believe good, then he is not concerned with face．Only when he pays attention to what others or the society think of him is he concerned with face．So it can be said that face is the social reflection ofself image．Thirdly, face is shown in “particular contact”．Face is a product of social interaction．In order to satisfy different needs, people communicate in various ways and form various relationships in social interaction, creating face needs．Fourthly face is a projected image. Goffman stresses that face comes from “good appearance”．Therefore, no matter whether you actually respect a person, as long as you appear to respect him, both sides will enjoy face.Goffman also studies face in the context of social interaction. He believes that the nature of social life can be illustrated through three metaphors．Social life is a drama．Everyone is both a role player and an observer．Social life is ritual．Everyone has his norms that govern his behavior．Social life is a game．The study of face is to study the traffic rules of social interaction．Goffman links face to social interaction, believing that face is the central goal of interpersonal rituals．Protecting , preserving and defending face is the principle of social rituals．On the other hand，the stability of ritual order and the social value of face have its order．The rules that people respect each other in interpersonal interactions determine the loss，preservation and giving of face ．1.1.2.2 Brown &Levinson’s face and politeness strategies theoryBrown＆Levinson propose the concept of different types of face and link face to politeness strategies．They propose the theory that politeness strategies are chosen according to the degree of face threats．Brown＆Levinson believe that “face is the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself”. “Face is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced and must be constantly attended to in interaction. Brown＆Levinson also believe that face is mutual．People save face in mutual cooperation．The preservation of face is in the interest of both sides of communication．One of Brown& Levinson’s most important contributions is that they distinguish between positive face and negative face．Brown& Levinson believe that face has two interrelated aspects：positive face and negative face．Positive face is the positive image that every member of a society claims for himself, that is , the want of every member that his wants be desirable to at least some others．Negative face is the want of every “competent adult member that his actions be unimpeded by othe rs.”Everyone has his own claim for territories, his privacy and right to be free from interference, that is，freedom of action．These constitute what Brown& Levinson call “negative face”．When criticizing Brown＆Le vinson’s fa ce theory, many scholars point out that in collectivist such as China, the concept of negative face do not exist, because individuals are subject to groups and have no concept of private territories．Brown＆Levinson put forward the concept of “face threatening acts(FTAs)”．Brown＆Levinson believe that some acts intrinsically threaten face such as making requests, criticizing others．They call thoseacts face threatening acts．Brown& Levinson further classify face threatening acts，suggesting that , some acts，such as orders，demands，suggestions，reminders，warnings，threaten the negative face while some acts，such as criticisms，despise，expressing opposing opinions or telling bad news，threaten the positive face．Some acts, as in the above list, threaten the hearer’s face while some acts，such as making apologies or expressing thanks, threaten the speaker’s face．1.1.2.3 Seolion& SeoHon’s Paradox of Face and Politeness System TheorySeolion& Senllon’s paradox of face and politeness system theory also has important influence in the study of face ．Scolion＆Scollon propose that face is a paradoxical concept and has double meanings．They point out two aspects of face considerations during human interaction．On the one hand, people need to be involved with other participants and show their concern for the other side；on the other hand，people need to defend a certain degree of independence from other participants and need the other side to respect their need for independence．Scollen& Seollon believe that the involvement aspect and independence aspect of face appear simultaneously on interaction occasions，forming a paradoxical situation. Senllon& Scollon’s str ategies of involvement include：paying attention to others’, showing strong interest in others’ affaires, claiming in-group membership with others，claiming common ground or addressing each other by given names. Scollon＆Scollon’s strategies of independence include：guessing others’needs and interests to the lowest possible degree，not imposing one’s views on others，giving others full choices and addressing each other by titles or other formal address forms．Scolion& Scollon believe that involvement and independence are conflicting because if you stress one aspect，the other aspect is threatened．If a person is involved too much with the other side，the other side will easily feel that his independence is threatened．On the contrary, if a person give the other side too much independence，the other side can easily feel that his involvement is restrained．Scollon＆Scollon believe that in social interaction ,both involvement face and independence face must be protected．Scollon&Scollon’s theory has important implications for negotiation．In negotiations, the involvement and independence strategies of the negotiating sides are conflicting but paradoxical and must be used properly．1.1.2.4 Stella Ting-Toomey's Face Negotiation TheoryTing-Toomey studies face in the context of conflict management process and different cultures, establishing a theory related to face management in the process of conflict management in different cultures, that is, a face negotiation theory．This theory is very important in thestudy of cross-cultural communication and face．Ting-Toomey believes that conflict is a pervasive phenomenon found in social and interpersonal interactions of all cultures．Conflicts call for all the interdependent conflicting parties to conduct positive face management．Ting-Toomey views conflict as a face negotiation process in which the faces or situated identities of the conflict parties are being threatened or called in to question．Effective face work strategies are very necessary．However, different cultures are concerned with different aspects of face and different conflict solving styles．So Ting-Toomey further analyzes the differences of face negotiation in different cultures．Ting-Toomey classifies face concerns in two dimensions. (1) face-concern principle：self-face or other-face；(2) face-need principle：negative face (concern for autonomy) and positive face (concern for inclusion)．Four kinds of face maintenance are identified using the two dimensions．Self positive-face maintenance is to use communication strategies to protect one’s need for inclusion and association；self negative-face maintenance is to protect one’s freedom and space；other positive—face maintenance is to support the other person’s need for inclusion and association；other negative-face maintenance is to signal respect for the other p erson’s need for freedom, space and dissociation．Ting-Toomey discusses the different conflict solving styles and different concern for face in different cultures．She believes that thestudies of conflict solving styles by previous scholars can be summarized as：whether you care more about yourself or about others in conflict solving；whether you focus on solving problems or on maintaining relationships；whether you directly confront conflict or whether you avoid conflict．Ting-Toomey believes that the concern-for-self conflict management style is related to self-face protection；the concern-for-other style is related to other-face support．Issue-oriented approach means the need for control，for choices，and for negative face of autonomy；relationship-oriented approach means the need for connection，for approval, and for positive face of association．Finally, conflict-approach attitude leads to the use of solution strategies to find ways to accommodate both sides’needs; conflict-avoidance attitude leads to the use of withdrawal–exits strategies．Ting-Toomey further relates the different culture types to the choice of face strategies and conflict styles．The first distinction is between individualism and collectivism．Individualistic cultures take the “I” identity as the prime focus；collectivistic cultures take the “w e” identity as the prime focus．Individualistic cultures emphasize individual goals over group goals，individual concerns over group concerns，and individual rights and needs over collective responsibilities and obligations．Collectivistic cultures, in contrast, value group goals overindividual goals, group concerns over individual concern , and collective needs over individual needs．So while individualistic culture are concerned with self-face maintenance, collectivistic cultures are concerned with both self-face and other-face maintenance．Individualistic cultures value autonomy, choices，and negative-face need, while collectivistic cultures value interdependence , reciprocal obligations，and positive-face need．The second distinction is between low-context (LCC) and high-context culture (HCC)．Ting-Toomey believes that in the LCC system，face negotiation is an communication process．The face-giving and face-protection moves and counter-moves have to be overtly spelled out, and the arguments and persuasion in a conflict situation would typically follow a spiral logic pattern．In the HCC system，face-negotiation is along-term process．The face-support or face-violation act not only is meaningful to the individual，but also have group implications．The arguments and disagreements in a conflict situation are ambiguously expressed and the face-giving and face-saving follow a spiral logic pattern．In the LCC，immediate reciprocity of face-giving and face-saving is required．In the HCC system, eventual reciprocity of face-giving and face-saving is important for the development of social and interpersonal relationships．Ting-Toomey’s face negotiation theory is significant for business negotiations．Conflicts in business negotiations are inevitable．Business。