Internal Handling Archives - understand-culture

Solve It Locally

China’s Regulations on Petition Work were issued on February 25, 2022, and took effect on May 1, 2022. Under Article 20, a petitioner who comes in person must go to a reception site set up or designated by a body with authority over the matter, at the same level or one level above. Every body must “resolve problems locally and guide petitioners to raise their problems where they are.”

Under Article 19, once a petition has been accepted or is being handled, a higher body will not accept the same petition within the set period.

A Broken Arm in the Sleeve

In chapter 7 of Dream of the Red Chamber, the old servant Jiao Da gets drunk and abuses his masters. When Jia Rong scolds him, Wang Xifeng says Jiao Da should be sent away: “If relatives and friends heard of this, would they not laugh at a family like ours, with no law or rules?”

Jiao Da goes on shouting that the family’s descendants do shameful things in secret. “What don’t I know?” he cries. “With us, ‘a broken arm is hidden in the sleeve!'” The terrified servants tie him up and stuff his mouth with earth and horse dung. Wang Xifeng and Jia Rong hear it from a distance and pretend they have not heard.

Words for One’s Own People

家丑不可外扬 Family shame must not be spread outside. The private failings of a family are not to be made known to outsiders. The Handian dictionary cites an earlier form, 家丑不外扬, from the Song dynasty Compendium of Five Lamps (五灯会元).

一家人不说两家话 One family does not speak the words of two families. Among one’s own people, there is no need for polite formulas.

体己话 Intimate words. The private talk between people who are close. The Handian dictionary takes its example from Dream of the Red Chamber.

知根知底 To know the root and the bottom. To know someone well. The dictionary’s example reads: “We are old friends. We know each other through and through.”

The Vocabulary of Covering Up

粉饰太平 To paint over and present peace. To hide disorder and show a picture of peace and prosperity.

捂盖子 To hold the lid down. To hide a problem and keep the truth from coming out.

遮丑 To cover the ugly. To hide a shortcoming, a mistake or something shameful with words or actions.

瞒上不瞒下 To hide things from those above but not from those below. Also, to act together so that superiors do not find out.

Sanlu

In 2008, infant formula from the Sanlu Group was found to contain melamine. China’s Ministry of Health reported nearly 296,000 children with urinary problems, six of whom died.

According to the account in Chinese Wikipedia, Sanlu’s own tests had found melamine in 15 of 16 batches that summer. On August 1, chairwoman Tian Wenhua ordered the matter covered up. City officials blocked a public recall until after the Beijing Olympics. In January 2009, Tian was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mediation at Work

China’s Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law took effect on May 1, 2008. It says that labor disputes are to be resolved by “emphasizing mediation.” A worker may negotiate with the employer, or “ask the trade union or a third party” to join the talks.

A company may set up a labor dispute mediation committee of worker and management representatives. Its chair is a union member “or a person chosen by both sides.” Mediators must be “fair and upright” and “close to the people.”

The Fengqiao Experience

In 1963, during the Socialist Education Movement, Fengqiao district in Zhuji, Zhejiang, dealt with the “four categories” of class enemies by having local people supervise and reform them on the spot, without arrests. Mao Zedong wrote an instruction that other places should copy it.

Over the decades, the Fengqiao Experience came to mean settling disputes locally. Xinhua sums it up: “Small matters do not leave the village, big matters do not leave the town, conflicts are not passed up.”

A Father Conceals for His Son

The Duke of She told Confucius: “In my village there is an upright man. When his father stole a sheep, he testified against him.” Confucius replied: “The upright in my village are different. A father conceals for his son, and a son conceals for his father. Uprightness lies in this.” (Analects 13.18)

Later law reflected the same principle. The Tang Code did not punish members of the same household and close relatives who concealed one another’s crimes.

Our Own People

自己人 Our own people, those close to us.

胳膊肘往外拐 The elbow bends outward. Said of someone who helps outsiders against their own people.

肥水不流外人田 Rich water does not flow into an outsider’s field. Keep the good things within the family.