Confucius said: “Can one fail to follow words of correction? What matters is to change. Can one fail to be pleased by gentle words of advice? What matters is to think them through. Pleased without thinking it through, following without changing, there is nothing I can do with such a person.” (法语之言，能无从乎？改之为贵。) The passage is in the Analects.
The Vocabulary of Resisting
狡辩 To argue cunningly. To quibble. A Taiwanese dictionary gives the example: “When one has done wrong, one should have the courage to admit it, and not quibble irresponsibly.”
嘴硬 A hard mouth. To know that one is wrong and still refuse to give in.
强词夺理 To argue by force and seize reason. To insist on arguing without having reason on one’s side.
不服气 Not convinced. To resent something and not accept it.
Sincerely Accept, Resolutely Obey
On April 10, 2021, Alibaba responded to a fine of 18.228 billion yuan: “We sincerely accept it and resolutely obey.” (诚恳接受，坚决服从) In October 2021, Meituan was fined 3.442 billion yuan. Its response read: “Sincerely accept, resolutely implement.” It said that it would examine itself fully and make corrections, and would take the case as a warning.
Six Months to Rectify
Under the Communist Party’s Regulations on Inspection Work, as revised in 2024, the inspection leading group arranges for the findings to be reported back to the leadership of the organization that was inspected and to its head. The official word for this is fankui (反馈), feedback. The organization must then carry out “a six-month period of concentrated rectification, counted from the day it receives the inspection feedback.” Feedback and rectification are to be made public “in an appropriate way.”
Received
In Chinese work chats, a common reply to a message from a leader is shoudao (收到), “received.” In December 2023, the business site Jiemian quoted an office worker: “Do not reply OK to a leader. Reply ‘received’ or ‘all right.’ That is better.”
A worker also told Jiemian: “When I reply ‘received,’ it means I know. It does not necessarily mean I will do it.”
Advise a Friend, Then Stop
Zigong asked about friends. Confucius said: “Advise them faithfully and guide them well. If it does not work, stop. Do not bring disgrace on oneself.” (忠告而善道之，不可则止，毋自辱焉) An old commentary explains the last part: if one insists on speaking, one may be humiliated. The passage is in the Analects.
Sayings on Meeting Again
抬头不见低头见 If not when looking up, then when looking down. Said of people who see each other all the time.
做人留一线，日后好相见 In dealing with people, leave a thread, so that meeting later will be easy.
留后路 To leave a road back. To keep a way out or some room for oneself.
Brewing Before the Meeting
The Communist Party’s Regulations on the Work of Local Committees, dated December 25, 2015, say that local Party committees and their standing committees make decisions by “collective leadership, democratic centralism, individual brewing, and decision at the meeting” (集体领导、民主集中、个别酝酿、会议决定). The Party committee of one university uses the word in its own rules. Its secretary and deputy secretaries “should fully communicate and brew important questions before the meeting, and exchange views.”
Tea at Yingtai
On the evening of November 11, 2014, Xi Jinping met Barack Obama at Yingtai in Zhongnanhai. “As night deepened, the two heads of state kept talking, and strolled to the Yingxun Pavilion for tea.” Xi said the two countries should talk often and closely, “not about matters case by case,” but frankly and in depth about fundamental questions. Xinhua later reported that the tea, planned for thirty minutes, lasted nearly an hour.
Good-Guy-ism
In September 2013, People’s Daily Online, carrying a Xinhua report, gave Xi Jinping’s call to “firmly oppose liberalism and good-guy-ism (好人主义) in Party life.” A Hebei official described the habit of avoiding conflict: “Afraid of touching contradictions, they plant more flowers and fewer thorns.” (多栽花少栽刺)
In 2021, an article in People’s Daily wrote: “A spirit of harmony, Mr. Nice Guys, you are good, I am good, everyone is good. This is not unity. It is slackness, and also a kind of numbness.”