Teamwork Archives - Page 7 of 9 - understand-culture

Face and Favor

The psychologist Hwang Kwang-kuo built a model of how Chinese people decide on a request. Starting from Fei Xiaotong’s idea of ties that are closer or more distant, he divides relationships into three kinds: expressive, mixed and instrumental.

Each kind follows its own rule. For expressive ties, the rule of need applies. For instrumental ties, the rule of fairness applies. For mixed ties, the person who controls the resource follows the rule of renqing (人情). He weighs what helping would cost against the return that may come in the future.

The Vocabulary of Owing

欠情 To owe feeling. To have received a kindness and not yet repaid it. In The Plum in the Golden Vase, a man greets another: “I have owed you feeling for a long time and have not come to see you, brother.”

领情 To receive feeling. To accept a gift or a kindness and feel grateful for it.

回礼 To return a courtesy. To answer a gift or a greeting with one of one’s own.

雪中送炭 To send charcoal in the snow. To help someone in urgent need. A Ming story sets it against 锦上添花, adding flowers to brocade: “There is only adding flowers to brocade. Where is there sending charcoal in the snow?”

Gifts and Renqing in Xiajia

The anthropologist Yan Yunxiang did fieldwork in Xiajia, a village in Heilongjiang. As The Paper summarizes his finding, a gift “creates a spiritual bond between the giver and the receiver, which the villagers call renqing (人情).”

Do More, Err More

In June 2026, a People’s Daily commentary, republished by Xinhua, described an attitude among officials: “do more, err more. Do less, err less. Do nothing, err not.” (多干多错、少干少错、不干不错)

This “wrong understanding,” the commentary said, makes Party members and officials “afraid of mistakes, afraid of accountability, afraid of carrying the pot.” They “would rather lie flat and avoid responsibility than take on hard tasks.”

Sayings on Familiarity

一回生，二回熟 Strangers the first time, acquaintances the second. The Handian dictionary explains: at the first meeting people feel like strangers, at the next meeting they know each other. Its example comes from Zhou Libo’s novel The Hurricane: “We were strangers the first time, and now we know each other. Be sure to drop in.”

多个朋友多条路 One more friend, one more road.

Never Take the Lead

On December 24, 1990, Deng Xiaoping spoke to leading officials about foreign policy. Some Third World countries, he said, wanted China to lead them. “But we must never take the lead. This is a basic state policy. We cannot afford to lead, and we are not strong enough. Taking the lead brings no benefit at all, and we would lose much of our room to act.”

The formula taoguang yanghui, hide one’s brightness and bide one’s time, is often credited to Deng. There is no clear evidence that he used it himself.

The Vocabulary of Seniority

论资排辈 To rank by seniority and generation. To set a person’s level and treatment by length of service and generation. A dictionary example: “When a work unit assigns housing, ranking by seniority cannot be avoided.”

老资格 Old credentials. Standing and authority that come with age, as in “a veteran diplomat.”

前辈 A person who is older, or who has longer service.

Years Before Promotion

The 2019 Regulations on the Selection and Appointment of Party and Government Leading Cadres set minimum years. To be promoted to a county or division post, a cadre needs at least five years of work and two years at the grassroots. A deputy must serve two years before becoming the head. The head of a lower unit must serve three years before becoming a deputy one level up.

Promotion outside these rules is called poge tiba, breaking the frame. Article 9 says it must be strictly controlled. No one may break the frame on years of service twice in a row, or skip two levels at once.

The Military Pledge

A junlingzhuang is a written pledge given on receiving an order. The signer accepts severe punishment if the task is not done. In chapter 46 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a pledge reads: “I am willing to submit a military pledge. If it is not done in three days, I accept heavy punishment.”

A CCTV News article noted that the fight against poverty was the only task since the 18th Party Congress for which Party and government heads signed military pledges to the Center. Xi Jinping said in 2016: “A military pledge is not made lightly. What we say, we must do.”