Abstract

Politeness is one of the symbols of human civilization. It is a common phenomenon and a kind of communication principle. Face culture is a very important part in Chinese culture and influences many aspects of people’s life. It is sure that China and western countries that have different cultural backgrounds have different understanding on politeness. As one of the politeness principles, face perspective has its own patterns of manifestation in China and western countries. This paper introduces Chinese face culture and compares it with western countries by quoting some scholars’ opinions and analyzes the cultural differences and the reasons behind them. This paper also discusses some advice about cross-cultural communication.

Keywords: face perspective; cross-cultural communication; cultural difference; politeness

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

2. Definition of Face Perspective-2

2.1 Western Researches on Face-2

2.2 Chinese Researches on Face-2

3. Content of Chinese People’s Face Perspective-5

3.1 Self-4

3.2 Covering and Flaunt-4

3.3 Shame-5

4. Case Study of Face-7

4.1 Chapter Introduction-7

4.2 Case of Positive and Negative Face-7

4.3 Individual and Social-8

5. Reasons of the Formation of Face Perspective in China and the Differences between China and the West-

-9

5.1 Difference in Value Concept-9

5.2 Difference in Social Relation-9

5.3 Difference in Social Ceremony-10

6. Different Face Perspective in Intercultural Communication-11

6.1 Inspirations for Intercultural Communication-12

6.2 Further Reflections-12

7. Conclusion-13

References-14