The idea that Chinese are very concerned with mianzi, or 'face,' may seem a tired stereotype, but a recent survey shows it has much validity.
Most Chinese people value the face a lot as an old saying goes that people live for polished face while trees live for bark.
Over 80 percent of the 1,030 people queried Beijing Sci-tech Report in a study released last week said that face was an important consideration in their lives.
Only 11.98 percent thought face was moderately important, 2.61percent said it was not important and 2.07percent said they had no feelings on the issue.
"In China, 'face' mostly stands for one's social status and reputation, and people paying attention to face. They are paying attention to the external estimation of their social status," Huang Guangguo, a psychologist at Taiwan University told Beijing Sci-tech Report.
When asked, "What do you think of paying great attention to 'face' as a social phenomenon?" 51 percent of respondents said it was hard to say if it was a good or bad thing, but that it was a useful habit.
Just over 28 percent said "face" was a remnant of traditional culture that modern Chinese should reject, 15.6 percent thought it was good idea and helpful to communication, and 5 percent said that they simply did not care about the matter.
The flip side of concern about face and keeping face is losing it in situations related to work or social standing.
Over 35 percent of respondents said not being able to do their work well or show their abilities was the most "face-losing" situation imaginable.
Another 17.29 percent chose "not having any social position and not having any say," 17.15 percent said "having limited income and money," 12.35 percent responded "not having enough social relationships," 10.88 percent chose "not having any power" and 6.99 percent answered "not having friends."
(Beijing Today January 14, 2005)
