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Review focus: behavior, Chinese philosophers, culture, outsiders, social, political and economic limitation
Asian Business Code Words Index NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine
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Excessive behavior, in one way or another, seems to be a natural human characteristic that distinguishes people from virtually all other life forms. Over the course of human history, one of the primary challenges to all societies has been how to curb this characteristic without bringing destruction down on themselves. Chinese philosophers addressed the problem of excessive human behavior under the heading of jie (jee-eh), or limitations, in which they noted that it is only through limitations that the human race, and all nature in general, survives. They advocated zhong yong zhi dao, or the middle way is the best. The famed Book of Changes points out that nature itself sets the first line of limitations, determining where and how life survives, and providing guidelines for mankind to follow. But it adds that mankind itself must set the defining limitations that establish standards of behavior that give meaning to human life. In the Chinese context, all order in the affairs of humans begins and ends with jie - in setting social, political and economic limitations; and not surprisingly, a great deal of the disorder that has afflicted China was the result of limitations that went too far in attempting to control the thinking and behavior of people. The Cultural Revolution was an example of jie carried to the ultimate extreme. Obviously, the ideal society is one in which limitations meet but do not exceed the intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs of people. China has therefore never been an ideal society because its limitations from the dawn of Chinese history have been excessive - designed to control the attitudes and behavior of people for political expediency; not for fulfilling their needs or nurturing their full potential. Despite all of the wisdom accumulated by the great sages of China, including I Ching itself, the governments of China have never put people first. Those in power have always put themselves first, order second, and the people last. This failing is in itself a jie that the Chinese have imposed upon themselves, apparently because the limitations under which they traditionally existed prevented them from developing a society based on democratic principles. It is only now that the Chinese are reaching a point where the concept of limiting the limitations set on personal freedom and personal responsibility is beginning to transform the society. Jie has been used for centuries in reference to all kinds of undesirable situations that are exacerbated by too many limitations or too few. The advice given directly, or that is inherent in I Ching references, is aimed at achieving a "limitations balance" that results in the all-around behavior that is considered ideal in the Chinese context. Outsiders in China must learn a great deal about the various jie in order to function effectively. There are various limitations having to do with age, for example, that are especially meaningful to the Chinese. For example, having a conspicuously younger businessman or business woman in charge of older people in a company or organizational hierarchy still ruffles the cultural feathers of the Chinese, and must be handled with special care.
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Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the 
| This month's column is excerpted from China's Cultural Code Words, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
© Boye Lafayette De Mente & the Asia Pacific Management Forum 1999
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