The influence of Chinese and western face differences on cross—cultural communication

【Abstract】At present， due to the rapid development of high technology， the global communication is becoming more and more frequent. It is meaningful of the success of cross-cultural communication to know the difference between Chinese and western face culture.

【Key words】Face； Cross-culture Communication； Distinction

1. Concept Overview

1.1 Chinese Face：

Face， which is the specific psychological phenomenon， also is the most familiar concept for Chinese people.“Men cant live without face， trees cant live without bark”， “A familys ugliness should never be publicly aired”， which are both well-known Chinese proverbs. In China， saving face is about respecting its personality. To lose face is to violate its dignity. It is fair to say that face is ubiquitous in Chinese life. But giving it a definition is a tough work. Many Scholars have been devoting themselves to defining“face” all the time.

Lu Xun once thought that face was“the platform of the Chinese spirit， as long as it was caught， just like braid was got hold. No one could walk around freely”.

In 1944， Hu Xianjin， an ethnic anthropologist， defined face as“the fame which an individual has got after he has accomplished something in society， and also the recognition of social visible achievement”.“Face represented a widely valued reputation in China.”

1.2 Western Face：

The American sociolinguist， Erving Goffman proposed a famous face theory in the late 1950s. He sociologically defined face as“A person who is in a particular communicative situation， obtaining the positive social value for himself through verbal action. He created self-image in according with the social favorable attribute.”

In the 1980s， British anthropologists Brown and Levinson adopted“Goffmans face concept”， and on the basis of which they put forward a new theory， including“face， the behavior of threatening face， the preservation theory of face”. For the first time face was divided into negative face and positive face. Negative face means that people never want to be forced or enjoy own behaviors to be interfered or resisted； positive face means that people would like their statements and actions to be approved.

2. Cultural Roots on Face

2.1 The Chinese social roots of face culture：

The Chinese agrarian economy had been inherited from generation to generation. Land was the foundation of human existence. Human and land， which connected closely， depended on each other deeply. Whether there was a natural disaster， war or famine， people were reluctant to travel in distant parts， where was far away from homeland. Even if had to， they also were willing to live together. That delicate relationship had formed a constant culture which is unique all over the world.endprint

In this context， the values of Chinese collectivism were created. Group interests went first all the time. Personal desires， feelings and others relative to the private interests were unworthy of being mentioned. For the sake of the community， the individual would not hesitate to sacrifice everything he had. So Chinese face culture is more to be turned out a collective culture.

Collective face has been highly respected， while personal face has to obey and serve it. The Chinese collective values， which are constantly strengthened， consolidated and extended， are the headstream of collective face. So it shows sharp contrasts with the western values of self-centeredness， independent personality.

2.2 The Western social roots of face culture：

Unlike Chinese， western culture had been injected into rational spirit and humanism since the time of ancient Greek. The contract-type legal consciousness developed since traditional Roman times， especially with the vigorous development of modern commercial， the contract spirit broke the family bond of kinship， which made people advocate freedom， rights and interests of the individual.

Western culture emphasized that individual freedom was independent of group constraints， even placed the pursuit of personal value on a lofty position. The nations or groups must protect the interests of the individual from being infringed. Therefore， individuals were less burdened by the collective face pressure， and was less profound and persistent on the face issue than the Chinese.

3. The distinctions between the two

At present， due to the rapid development of high and new technology and information technology， the global communication is becoming more and more frequent. It is quite meaningful of the success of cross-cultural communication to know the difference between Chinese and western face culture. Chinese people like connecting ones face to ones standing， it seems that the higher position could bring about bigger face； while westerners prefer to eliminate face problems which give rise to embarrassment by weakening status differences， making people feel amiable equality on the exchanges.

Therefore， in the transnational negotiation and communication the Chinese will be much more humble and cautious， while westerners will behave more easily and naturally. Many aspects could reflect this phenomenon below.

3.1 First of all， in term of appellation：the Chinese show an obvious tendency to“belittle themselves to raise others”， and introduce oneself or family by using“Biren， Quanzi， zhuojin and other similar words”. This unique appellation is a kind of representation in the collective culture of China， which is unaccepted and odd to many westerners.endprint

The two forms of equality and non-equality have been adopted in the west. When the two sides are equal in position， “title + last name” would be chosen； in the case of unequal status， when a party use formal title， the other party would choose informal address to call its first-name. It also reflects the cultural values for equality which westerners have always pursued.

3.2 Secondly， as for expression：the Chinese are deeply influenced by the view of face， who are used to expressing their opinions in a euphemistic and reserved manner， afraid that being too outspoken would hurt their faces or look untrustworthy. Therefore， people would rather speak in a straight and narrow way to maintain a harmonious situation to protect face than run risks on harming others face.

As time passes， “you only talk less， cannot empty the bag when meeting strangers”， “carefully watch what someone is doing and saying”， “one must sail according to the wind… ” became the golden rules in the process of communication， are highly sought for.

Unlike Chinese euphemisms， westerners are more straightforward in their interactions. Under the western culture， the meanings of speech and environment are separated from each other， which results in that people are used to separating people from things when dealing with things. So the manner of discourse tends to be direct， straightforward， straight to the point， never go around.

3.3 Finally， with regard to private contacts：western people pay much more attention to individualism， and are generally not willing to be interfered in its privacy and private life. It is quite impolite to inquire about other peoples private lives at random， which threatens the negative face of westerners.

While China is a country that values affection and relationships， whose people are in a social collective paramount. In the process of communication， people are eager to inquire after someones health and get information of marriage situation that is a way to strengthen understanding and establish relationship， which would not arouse the antipathy of the other party. The more passionate， the more intimate.

For example， when being a guest in a Chinese family， the host would like to keep the guests bowl full all the time， using various methods to persuade the guest to eat， to drink， or even in a compulsive way. If only in this way， it seems to be enthusiastic enough and giving full face to the guest. But according to Brown and Levinsons points， it is quite poor behaviors to force others to do something that they dislike， which in fact threatens their negative face.endprint

4. Conclusion

The gap between Chinese and western cultures is obvious， which would inevitably lead to problems for both sides in the early stage of communication. But with the development of the global transportation system， people all over the world are exchanging their information more and more frequently.

In the process of frequent cross-cultural communication， firstly people should learn to respect each others face culture and treat the things they dont understand with mercy. Secondly， we should take time to study each others culture and keep trying to accept different ideas and cultures. Finally， while the concept of“global village” is winning popular support， behavioral differences from Chinese and western people would be more and more minor. Chinese people no longer consider the westerners too apathy and alienated， on the contrary， the westerners also no longer regard the Chinese as too enthusiastic， not respecting human rights. People worldwide are friendly and better the communication and cooperation in the end.

References：

[1]Goffman，E，Interactional Ritual：Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior.New York：Pantheon Books，1967.

[2]Brown，G，Levinson，S.Some universals of language usage： politeness phenomena[M].Cambridge University Press，1978.

作者簡介：张珊（1986.08-），女，汉族，河南平顶山人，硕士研究生，助教，研究方向：外国语言学及应用语言学。endprint