Understanding China: Face Trumps Truth

Do not underestimate the importance of understanding the Chinese perspective.  Your life will be more and more dominated by it as time goes by.

Those of us who did not grow up in China inevitably get China wrong again and again.  Policy makers, ambassadors, businessmen and women are often confounded by the Chinese world and cannot understand why things unfold as they do.  Stories abound of business dealings gone wrong with the clueless foreigner leaving China perplexed as to why it all derailed.  This especially plagues those of us from western civilizations.

An understanding of a few concepts can vastly improve relations with the Chinese people.  The Chinese perspective is significantly different from that of the West in a few key ways.  One of the most important concepts is usually referred to as "face".  "Losing face" essentially means being embarrassed or looking bad in front of other people. "Saving face" means making sure you don't embarrass someone.  "Giving face" means to make someone look good in the presence of others. 

Of course, to some extent, we all care how we are perceived by others, however this is taken to an extreme degree in China.  Read the following statement with care as it is crucial to operating successfully in the Chinese world: honesty and truth are not as important as harmony and saving face.  

This statement cannot be over-emphasized.  In the West, we place enormous value on the truth and honesty.  While these qualities are considered positive in China, they are much lower on the list than maintaining harmony.  The key to maintaining harmony is never to make someone lose face.  Saving and giving face are of immense importance to the Chinese, so much so that it is socially expected that you will lie and give face rather than be honest if it means embarrassing someone.  

A simple example will help explain how this concept colors every aspect of life.  Years ago, shortly after I began living in China, I travelled to the western part of the country.  One time, as I was stepping onto a public city bus, the driver waved me away, indicating I could not ride on the bus.  When I asked why, he said there were no seats.  I looked and saw multiple open seats.  Plus, if you have ever been on a bus in China you know that, if there is room to stand, there is room for you.  I pointed this out to the driver, who just kept repeating that there were no seats.  I stood there shocked as the bus driver closed the doors and drove away.

After sharing this with Chinese friends, I learned that the bus went to an area where foreigners were not allowed without a special permit.  This would be rather uncomfortable for the driver to explain to me and might make one or both of us feel embarrassed and lose face.  In order to preserve harmony, the driver came up with a lie which would keep either one of us from an uncomfortable face-losing situation.  By doing so, he kept the peace.

While truth and justice are trumpted in the western media, in China you hear about harmony.  Whether or not you agree with this, it is deeply a part of Chinese society.  An awareness of the importance placed on "face" in China is crucial to successfully engaging with and exploring this country which contains twenty percent of all humanity.