Difference between revisions of "Guanxi (China)"

[[File:Guanxi.jpg|400px|thumb|left|]]

[[File:Guanxi.jpg|400px|thumb|left|]]

''Guanxi'' practices grow out of the traditional Chinese cultural emphasis on social relationships and the interpersonal ethics of obligation and reciprocity. The Confucian classical texts are filled with discussions of the reciprocal duties and obligations of different social roles and relationships, and the ethics and etiquettes of gift-relations and host-guest relations at rituals and banquets.  However, Taiwanese culture stems from the same traditional culture, but ''guanxi'' practices there are not as pervasive as in Mainland China. Prior to Taiwanese people re-establishing contacts with Mainland China in the 1990’s, the term ''guanxixue'' was not used in Taiwan. In my own work<ref>Yang, Mayfair. Gifts, Favors, and Banquets: The Art of Social Relationships in China.  Ithaca:  Cornell University Press, 1994.</ref>, I have suggested that ''guanxi'' in China was produced out of the political-economic structures of Maoist state socialist society, where the state took charge of all social organizations and human activities, and goods, jobs, housing, and life opportunities  were all allocated by the state. ''Guanxi'' culture was thus born out of the need to get permission from so many gatekeepers, whether state officials or clerks, controlling all social paths and opportunities. It proliferated due to its assuming the burden of replacing the missing market mechanism in the Maoist state socialist order. It is not surprising that the societies of the former Soviet Bloc also came to rely on ''[[blat]]'', a Russian term which refers to an informal exchange quite similar to ''guanxi''.

''Guanxi'' practices grow out of the traditional Chinese cultural emphasis on social relationships and the interpersonal ethics of obligation and reciprocity. The Confucian classical texts are filled with discussions of the reciprocal duties and obligations of different social roles and relationships, and the ethics and etiquettes of gift-relations and host-guest relations at rituals and banquets.  However, Taiwanese culture stems from the same traditional culture, but ''guanxi'' practices there are not as pervasive as in Mainland China. Prior to Taiwanese people re-establishing contacts with Mainland China in the 1990’s, the term ''guanxixue'' was not used in Taiwan. In my own work<ref>Yang, Mayfair. Gifts, Favors, and Banquets: The Art of Social Relationships in China.  Ithaca:  Cornell University Press, 1994.</ref>, I have suggested that ''guanxi'' in China was produced out of the political-economic structures of Maoist state socialist society, where the state took charge of all social organizations and human activities, and goods, jobs, housing, and life opportunities  were all allocated by the state. ''Guanxi'' culture was thus born out of the need to get permission from so many gatekeepers, whether state officials or clerks, controlling all social paths and opportunities. It proliferated due to its assuming the burden of replacing the missing market mechanism in the Maoist state socialist order. It is not surprising that the societies of the former Soviet Bloc also came to rely on ''[[blat]]'', a Russian term which refers to an informal exchange quite similar to ''guanxi''.