Losing face is serious business, it's no joke!

After reading the article titled, “The Cult of Face”, I realized just how crucial and impactful the concept of “face” was in the Chinese culture.

To recap, the article compares the West and China based on how they perceive the concept of face. According to the West, face is how one views him or herself – more individual-based – opposed to China, where face means how others would view oneself. It describes actions, which are common or “the norm” in the West, to be losing face if performed in China. For example, to Westerners, raising a question would seem common at meetings; however, in China it is seen as “uncultured, overbearing, and rude”. Ultimately, the way Westerners do business, is definitely not how the Chinese do business.

My attention was further drawn when “truth” was added into the discussion. As stated in the article, being truthful – regardless of the shortcomings – automatically gains respect in the West. In China, on the other hand, this is a different story. The truth can be disguised with a lie, when the intention is to save one’s face.

“In fact, it’s perfectly acceptable to tell a lie—even a bald-faced one—if it serves to protect face. China’s culture of shame doesn’t think of lies in terms of “right” and “wrong.” Instead, the goal of Chinese truth is often to protect the face of an individual, group, or even nation.”

After reading this article, I learned a lot more about the Chinese culture (on top of learning more about “saving face”, of course). From the above statement, which further explains the acceptability of telling a lie to save face, it also explains the concept of “shame” in China. What I didn’t know was that, the basis of being truthful revolves more around saving face than it is around being “right” or “wrong”.

“The Cult of Face” really opened my eyes to the importance of understanding another’s culture before doing business with them. At the end of the article, there are extremely helpful hints for giving or losing face situations – a must-read for conducting business in China. One of the points, under losing face situations, mentions “calling someone out on a lie”. Now, this is another area where the West differs from China. In the West, as the article states, “we don’t like to be bull-sh*tted” and therefore, will call one out on it! Keep in mind; however, this is an example to losing face in China!

This article proves just how different one culture can be from another. We are not all the same. What’s a big deal to you may be meaningless to someone else and vice versa. For that reason it’s crucial to understand these minor, yet impactful, actions because it could definitely make or break a relationship.

Reference: http://www.china-mike.com/chinese-culture/understanding-chinese-mind/cult-of-face/