In May 2007, at the Cannes festival, the directors Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro announced a joint project, Cha Cha Chá, to make five films for 100 million dollars. Universal Pictures and Focus Features International would finance the films and handle their distribution and international sales.
The film site Espinof called the three directors Los Tres Amigos, the three friends.
Carnal is a close friend who is loved like a brother. Cuate comes from the Nahuatl coatl, which meant both “serpent” and “twin.” A woman who had twins used to say that she had cuates. Today the word means a friend. Compa and valedor are other everyday words for a friend.
Compadrazgo is the bond between a child’s parents and the child’s godparents, who become each other’s compadres. A study in the Revista Mexicana de Sociología on communities of the Huasteca describes it as “a true bond of friendship” that ties the whole community together.
The godfather may take the father’s place in providing for the home if the father dies. The study observes that “a well-chosen godfather is worth more than a modern life insurance policy.”
Nakanishi Keiji, who works to revive the nakōdo, the go-between, told J-CAST News how marriages used to begin. Kinjo no hito ya kaisha no jōshi, shinseki to itta daisansha ga wakai futari o hikiawasete senaka o oshite ita. Neighbors, a boss at the company, relatives and other third parties brought the young couple together and gave them a push.
In the Zexy wedding trend survey of 2009, only 1.1 percent of couples had a nakōdo.
In the Zhuangzi, Confucius asks why, in his years of trouble, his friends have drifted away and his disciples have scattered. He is told that those joined by profit abandon each other in hardship, while those joined by nature take each other in.
“The friendship of a gentleman is plain as water. The friendship of a petty man is sweet as sweet wine. The gentleman is plain and so stays close. The petty man is sweet and so breaks off.” (君子之交淡若水，小人之交甘若醴)
“Those who come together without a reason,” the passage says, “part without a reason.”
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.
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.
Guan Zhong said of his friend Bao Shuya: “When I was poor, I traded with Bao Shuya and took the larger share of the profit. He did not think me greedy. He knew I was poor.” Guan Zhong failed in a plan for him, served three times and was dismissed three times, and fled from three battles. Each time Bao Shuya found a reason that was not a fault.
When Guan Zhong’s master lost the struggle for the throne of Qi, Guan Zhong was taken prisoner. Bao Shuya recommended him to the new ruler, Duke Huan, who put him in charge of the government. “My parents gave me life,” said Guan Zhong. “Bao Shuya is the one who knows me.”
人走茶凉 When the guest leaves, the tea goes cold. When an official leaves a high post, people turn cold toward him, because he can no longer grant them favors.
In August 2015, a People’s Daily commentary called the saying a vivid image of how warm and cold human relations can turn. It told retired officials to accept the cold tea and not interfere in the work of their successors.
The saying is about ties that rested on the post and not on the person.
In a 1988 survey in Tianjin, the sociologist Bian Yanjie found that jobs were obtained through strong ties more often than through weak ties. Job seekers often reached their helpers through an intermediary to whom both sides had strong ties, and those who used such indirect ties got better jobs. He published the study in 1997 in the American Sociological Review as “Bringing Strong Ties Back In.”