China Archives - Page 62 of 112 - understand-culture

Ordering for Face

“We used to think that ordering more dishes when treating guests gave us face. Now the waiters remind us to order moderately, and that is good. Now we take pride in a clean plate.” A diner named Yan said this in a Beijing restaurant in August 2020, during the Clean Plate campaign against food waste.

A People’s Daily commentary that September described the habit. Some people are frugal at other times, it said, but when they host, “even three or five people order a whole big table.” In some places, if the guests eat every dish, “the host feels he has no face.” Its headline gave the answer. Wasting food “is not having face, but losing face.”

The Yellow Calendar

The huangli (黄历) is the traditional almanac. Besides dates and solar terms, it lists for every day what is auspicious and what should be avoided (宜 and 忌). It is used to choose a good day. The Handian dictionary explains the old custom of 看日子, choosing a day: people usually asked a fengshui master or consulted the huangli.

The name goes back to the calendars once compiled by the court and issued in the emperor’s name, the “imperial calendar” (皇历). Because they often had yellow covers, they were also called the “yellow calendar.”

Sitting on the Hood

On March 27, 2019, Xue Chunyan took delivery of a Mercedes-Benz CLS 300 from the Lizhixing dealership in Xi’an and found a problem with the engine. She negotiated with the dealer several times for an exchange or a refund, without success. On April 11, a video of her sitting on the hood of a car at the dealership, crying and complaining, began to spread online.

By April 17, the two sides had reached a settlement. On May 27, the market regulator fined the dealership one million yuan. Car owners in other cities copied her and sat on car hoods at their own dealerships.

The private talks had brought nothing for two weeks. The settlement came six days after the video appeared.

Eight O’Clock on the Eighth

The Beijing Olympics opened at 8 pm Beijing time on August 8, 2008. A China Daily language column explained the date to its readers: “The eighth of August. The eighth day of the eighth month. Eight is a very lucky number in China.”

Sayings on Time and Trust

路遥知马力，日久见人心 A long road shows a horse’s strength. A long time shows a person’s heart. The saying appears in a Yuan play, The Fight to Repay Kindness (争报恩).

信用 Credit, trustworthiness. The Handian dictionary defines it as “the trust gained by keeping one’s promises.” Its example: “He is a person who keeps his word. Since he said he would help, he will surely help.”

Love You for a Lifetime

On January 4, 2013, couples crowded into marriage registry offices. In Chinese, the date 2013-1-4 sounds like 爱你一生一世, “love you for a lifetime.” China News Service reported that in Chengdu the number of couples had risen sixfold. In Lanzhou, more than 200 couples registered within two hours.

Petty Men First

In chapter 84 of Journey to the West, the widow Zhao, who has run an inn for many years, welcomes the pilgrims. “My inn treats guests in three ways,” she says. “Now let us be petty men first and gentlemen afterward. Let us settle the price of the room first, so the bill is easy later.”

The saying 先小人后君子, first the petty man, then the gentleman, means to set out the terms plainly before treating each other with courtesy. The writer Wang Meng explained it as signing a contract first, fixing the division of profit and responsibility, “and then talking of cooperation and team spirit.”

Think Three Times

三思而后行 Think three times, then act. The phrase comes from the Analects, where it is said of the minister Ji Wenzi. Confucius heard it and said: “Twice is enough.” (再，斯可矣)

欲速则不达 Seek speed and you will not arrive. Also from the Analects: “Do not seek speed. Do not look for small gains. Seek speed and you will not arrive. Look for small gains and great matters will not be achieved.”

磨刀不误砍柴工 Sharpening the axe does not delay the cutting of firewood. Good preparation does not waste time.

Gaginang

In the Teochew dialect of Chaoshan, “our own people” sounds roughly like gaginang. Some write it 胶己人, but the linguist Lin Lunlun says the correct form is 家己人.

An article on Chaoshan identity describes the effect of the word among Teochew people far from home: “Wherever you go, if you say one word, gaginang, there is no one who will not help.”

The Three Gorges Vote

The idea of a dam at the Three Gorges of the Yangtze goes back to Sun Yat-sen’s Plan for National Reconstruction, published in 1919. Seventy-three years later, on April 3, 1992, the National People’s Congress approved the project. The vote was 1,767 in favor, 177 against and 664 abstentions. Twenty-five delegates did not press the voting button.