The Chinese Way

367 Pages·2014·4.02 MB·English

by  Min Ding, Jie Xu

The Chinese Way
As business becomes increasingly globalized and China establishes its growing
role in the international business environment, developing an understanding of
the complex culture is important to anyone acting in the global arena. This book
offers readers a thorough and nuanced resource to that end, describing the ever-
evolving Chinese way of life circa 2014, based on extensive primary and secondary
data.
Taking an anthropological approach to achieve a well-rounded representation, the
book covers 51 topics that would have been studied if China were a newly discov-
ered civilization. It explores the culture through its examination of the nine core
concepts that best represent the Chinese way of life. While the book is a rigor-
ous treatment of the Chinese way of life, it is also filled with personal stories and
perspectives from close to 1000 successful Chinese from academia, business, and
government.
The Chinese Way equips international business students, scholars, and practi-
tioners with a deep understanding of a society that is a major player in global
business today and offers a foundation for successful business interactions with
Chinese companies, organizations, and people.
Min Ding is the Smeal Professor of Marketing and Innovation at P ennsylvania State
University, USA and Advisory Professor of Marketing and Director of I nstitute for
Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG) at Fudan University, China.
Jie Xu is a Research Associate at Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth
(iSIG), Fudan University, China.
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The Chinese Way
Min Ding & Jie Xu
First published 2015
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Min Ding
The right of Min Ding & Jie Xu to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ding, Min, 1967-
The Chinese way / Min Ding & Jie Xu.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. China—Social life and customs—21st century. 2. National characteristics,
Chinese. I. Xu, Jie, 1988- II. Title.
DS779.43.D56 2015
951.06ʹ12—dc23 2014007395
ISBN: 978-0-415-53496-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-53497-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-317-81830-4 (ebk)
Typeset in 10/12 Minion Pro
by codeMantra
Contents
Preface ix
1 The Chinese Way of Life, Version 2014 1
parT I
Customs and Traditions 9
2 Face: The Three-Tiered Chinese Version of Honor 11
3 From a Nation of Etiquette to a Society of Gifting 15
4 presumption of Untrustworthiness (Guilt) 21
5 Unwritten rules 25
6 promises 31
7 pursuit of Quick Success and Instant Benefits (pQSIB) 37
8 Drinking Culture 41
parT II
Social Structure 49
9 Harmonious Society 51
10 Subcultures 57
11 Social Circles 63
vi Table of Contents
12 Employment Equality 69
13 The Status of Women 77
14 Migrant Workers 83
parT III
Marriage and Family 89
15 Families 91
16 Ideal Spouse and Child 97
17 Extramarital relationships 101
18 Divorce and Divorcees 107
19 Leftover Women 113
parT IV
Needs, Values, and aspirations 121
20 Life Objectives and the Chinese Dream 123
21 role Models 129
22 The Generations 133
23 The Nouveau riche 139
24 Environmentalism 143
parT V
World View 149
25 attitude towards Foreign Nations 151
26 Cultural Identity 157
27 Faux Emigrants 163
Table of Contents vii
parT VI
religion and Belief 169
28 religions and Faith 171
29 Superstition 179
parT VII
arts and Entertainment 185
30 Nine Traditional Skills of the Cultured Chinese 187
31 Duanzi 193
32 Cuisines and restaurants 199
33 Nightlife 207
parT VIII
Governing System 215
34 political System: Governing as partners 217
35 The Legislative System: people’s Congresses 225
36 administrative System 231
37 The Legal System 237
38 Corruption 243
39 Social Thoughts 251
parT IX
Economic System 257
40 The Three Types of Chinese Companies 259
41 Business to Business 267
viii Table of Contents
42 The Business to Consumer Market 273
43 Brands 279
44 pursuit of Expensive products 285
part X
Education System 291
45 K–12 and Beyond 293
46 Studying abroad 299
47 Executive Master of Business administration (EMBa) 305
48 professors and Scholarship 311
part XI
Communication System 317
49 Unidirectional Communication 319
50 Bidirectional Communication 325
51 Open Circle Communication 331
52 Closed Circle Communication 337
Index 343
preface
English writer Alexander Pope once wrote, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”
This quote was exactly what came to mind when a senior VP from a large, privately-
owned Chinese chemical company told us the following story. He and two of his
colleagues traveled to North Carolina recently to negotiate a deal with a chemical
company to establish a possible joint venture in Shanghai. The discussion went well,
and they signed the agreement. On the eve before their return trip, they each received
a nicely wrapped present from their American partners after dinner. Upon returning
to their hotel rooms and opening their presents, to their astonishment and bewilder-
ment (and probably outrage although he didn’t tell us explicitly), they each found a
nicely made small coffin. Why on earth would anyone give a coffin as a gesture of
good will? (One must remember that the Chinese generally see things as omens, and
they do not even give each other clocks as presents since the phrase “song zhong”
[give someone a clock] is pronounced the same as “be at one’s side until he/she dies.”)
But coffins? After throwing the coffins in the hotel’s trashcan and returning to China,
they told their associates about this experience and eventually discovered that in one
part of Guangxi province, there is indeed a custom of giving someone a toy coffin as
a gesture of good will based on pronunciations. “Coffin” is pronounced “guan cai” in
Chinese; guan is pronounced the same as the character for “government official” and
cai is pronounced the same as the character for “wealth.” So in that particular part of
China, giving someone a coffin symbolizes wishing someone well because acquiring
a position in government and/or gaining more wealth are both desirable outcomes in
China. The only problem, of course, is that the majority of the Chinese population has
no idea this custom exists and would be greatly offended to receive a coffin as a gift.
However, we cannot blame the students alone. This led us to paraphrase Pope’s fa-
mous statement as: “Dumbing down a complex subject is a dangerous thing.” Teach-
ers must bear responsibility when they simplify a complicated topic to the extent that
superficial and distorted interpretations are all but guaranteed. On a topic as important
and as complex as China, one cannot afford to be the wrong type of teacher or student.
Today, one needs no justification for wanting to understand China. The best
recipe for helping someone understand China has two ingredients: comprehen-
siveness and descriptiveness. Comprehensiveness is required in the presence of
complexity. China is a country with a very long and uninterrupted culture. One
cannot possibly understand the Chinese until she has at least some understand-
ing of all things that are important to them, as everything they do and think are
intricately related in that background. For example, it would be folly to try to