 |
|
Review focus: saying no, communication, custom, bufangbiande, China, business relationships, business associates, Chinese, translation, government, businesspeople
Asian Business Code Words Index NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine
|
There are a number of Chinese customs and cultural practices that are universal in their appeal, and cross cultural barriers with the greatness of ease. These include the Chinese custom of making family and banquet-style meals into social encounters that educate the young, provide adults with quality time with each other, and bind people together - something that is sorely missing in many Western families. There are also enormous benefits to be derived from the Chinese custom of ritual politeness because it forces people to stay aware of the feelings of others and to conduct themselves on a higher plane of existence. It is a well-established fact that familiarity more often than not breeds contempt, particularly among close friends and spouses. Confucius observed ages ago that this common human failing can be avoided simply by maintaining a degree of formal politeness in all of our personal relationships. Ancestor worship is not something that would appeal to many Westerners (and it is dying out among the Chinese as well), but it has contributed to a number of cultural practices, such as respect for parents and the aged in general, that are worth retaining and should be emulated by other people as well. One Chinese cultural trait that is not likely to go over outside of the Confucian sphere of Asia, however, is the practice of not giving direct response, of speaking in vague, fragmentary terms that leave the objective minded Westerner confused and frustrated. Part of the cultural conditioning of the Chinese is to avoid any response or comment that might be upsetting, in the interest of the other party's feelings and in maintaining harmony. One of the key terms coming under the heading of harmony-keeping words is bufangbiande (boo-fahng-be-enn-duh), which means inconvenient. When the Chinese want to say that something cannot be done or they can't do something, or they don't want to do something, for whatever reason, they will often say it is bufangbiande and let it go at that. To the Chinese this answer is sufficient, and to insist that they explain why, which foreigners typically do, is a serious breech of etiquette. In the Chinese context of things, the "why" insofar as most of their actions are concerned is a part of an ephemeral world that is not to be addressed directly, but is to be understood by intuition - by cultural telepathy. Of course, foreigners in China can also use bufangbiande, and they generally have many opportunities to do so because it is especially common for the Chinese to ask them to do things that are unreasonable and out of the question. The main thing to keep in mind is that when you use this term you don't have to explain it. Generally the Chinese do not want to hear a complicated explanation, whether it is valid or not. (Bufangbiande is the equivalent of the Japanese word muzukashii which means "difficult". When the Japanese say something is "difficult" it means they are not interested; they can't or won't help you; what you want is impossible; etc.) When uninitiated foreigners hear either of these two words their tendency is to push even harder, saying things as "I understand that it is inconvenient/difficult, but that's to be expected, and it's worth it," and so on. Unfortunately, the harder one pushes with either the Chinese or Japanese the less chance there is for them to change their response. Another institutionalized way of saying no is yanjiu yanjiu (yahn-jew yahn-jew), I'll/we'll study the matter. Another version of it's inconvenient : butai fangbian (boo-tie fahng-be-enn), meaning it's not too convenient.
|
|
Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the 
| This month's column is excerpted from NTC's Dictionary of China's Cultural Code Words, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
 |
| email updates | email this page | discuss | search | today's asian business strategy news | advertise | about |
| daily asian news, research & commentary for the international business strategy, market research & strategic management professional |