{"id":10585,"date":"2019-11-22T12:27:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T12:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/?p=10585"},"modified":"2019-11-22T15:58:54","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T15:58:54","slug":"zhong-guo-ren-de-mian-zi-chinese-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/de\/zhong-guo-ren-de-mian-zi-chinese-face\/","title":{"rendered":"\u4e2d\u56fd\u4eba\u7684\u9762\u5b50 Chinese Face"},"content":{"rendered":"
Simon feels mad with Chinese \u9762\u5b50(miàn z\u01d0), which literally means "face", but the co<\/em>nnotation is abstract and hard to understand. However, he found it is vital in the Chinese philosophy of interperso<\/em>nal relatio<\/em>nships and appears in daily co<\/em>nversation frequently. <\/p>\n

     lì lì j\u012bn ti\u0101n h\u011bn nán shòu\uff0cy\u012bn wéi l\u01ceo b\u01cen d\u0101ng zhòng p\u012b píng t\u0101 le
A: \u4e3d\u4e3d\u4eca\u5929\u5f88\u96be\u53d7\uff0c\u56e0\u4e3a\u8001\u677f\u5f53\u4f17\u6279\u8bc4\u5979\u4e86\u3002<\/strong>
    Lily is unhappy today, because her boss criticized her in public. <\/p>\n

    t\u0101 nà me ài miàn z\u01d0\uff0ck\u011bn dìng jiào dé tài méi miàn z\u01d0 le
B: \u5979\u90a3\u4e48\u7231\u9762\u5b50\uff0c\u80af\u5b9a\u89c9\u5f97\u592a\u6ca1\u9762\u5b50\u4e86\u3002
<\/strong>    She is very co<\/em>ncerned a<\/em>bout her face; this means she feels she has lost face.<\/p>\n

    shì \u0101 \uff0cl\u01ceo b\u01cen de huà tài sh\u0101ng t\u0101 miàn z\u01d0 le
A: \u662f\u554a\uff0c\u8001\u677f\u7684\u8bdd\u592a\u4f24\u5979\u9762\u5b50\u4e86\u3002<\/strong>
    Yeah, what her boss said has hurt her face very much.<\/p>\n

     bú guò t\u0101 ti\u0101n ti\u0101n shàng b\u0101n chí dào \uff0cnán guài l\u01ceo b\u01cen bú g\u011bi t\u0101 miàn z\u01d0
B: \u4e0d\u8fc7\u5979\u5929\u5929\u4e0a\u73ed\u8fdf\u5230\uff0c\u96be\u602a\u8001\u677f\u4e0d\u7ed9\u5979\u9762\u5b50\u3002
<\/strong>     But she is almost late every day, no wo<\/em>nder her boss didn’t save her face.<\/p>\n

\u9762\u5b50(miàn zi)  really refers to pride, reputation, prestige or honor. Related co<\/em>ncepts include:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u7231\u9762\u5b50(ài miàn zi): be co<\/em>ncerned a<\/em>bout face-saving
\u8981\u9762\u5b50(yào miàn zi): be keen on face-saving
\u6ca1\u9762\u5b50(méi miàn zi): lose one’ s face
\u4f24\u9762\u5b50(sh\u0101ng miàn zi): hurt one’ s face
\u7ed9\u9762\u5b50(g\u011bi miàn zi): save one’ s face\/offer a kind of honor<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an old saying goes "Men rest on their face just as trees rest on their bark"(\u4eba\u6d3b\u4e00\u5f20\u8138\uff0c\u6811\u6d3b\u4e00\u5f20\u76ae\uff09. Why is \u9762\u5b50(miànzi) so vital to Chinese people? Historically speaking, it is closely related with Confucianism, which has influenced Chinese people’ thinking for thousands of years. Its core is that harmony matters most. So we would not embarrass others in public by any way, even when someone make mistakes, we usually pull punches instead of pointing out directly.<\/p>\n

Besides trying to avoid losing face, Chinese people also aspire to“gain face” as well: some parents let their kids go to well-known universities like other kids in order to gain \u9762\u5b50(miànzi) for themselves; stars and bosses do<\/em>nate for charities sometimes for face-saving; some Chinese purchase luxuries though their salaries are low.<\/p>\n

This sounds complicated, but there’s no need to despair. There is nothing good or bad in the issue of \u9762\u5b50(miànzi), as long as you don’t do harm to others’ interests. It is just a reflection of Chinese culture in one aspect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n