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Golden face: Cultural reciprocity in the articulation of mainland Chinese social structure
Author(s) -
Lewis Hugh M.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
thunderbird international business review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.553
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1520-6874
pISSN - 1096-4762
DOI - 10.1002/tie.20082
Subject(s) - negotiation , constructive , reciprocity (cultural anthropology) , face (sociological concept) , reciprocal , sociology , articulation (sociology) , mainland china , core (optical fiber) , social psychology , law and economics , flexibility (engineering) , social relation , china , political science , psychology , law , economics , computer science , social science , linguistics , management , politics , philosophy , telecommunications , process (computing) , operating system
The informal Chinese system of “face,” or dynamic, open‐ended networks of reciprocal social relations and transactions, is at the core of the everyday construction of contemporary Chinese social realities. Implicit rules guiding behavior in these networks regulate social relations and provide a familial sense of symbolic order and behavioral purpose to the Chinese world. If one is to endeavor any long‐term venture in China, for whatever constructive purposes, one must eventually come to terms with and even learn to negotiate this system of face with whomever one deals. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.