Chinese culture Essay Example for Free

Chinese culture Essay 1. Executive Summary Business today is becoming more universal and it is common to travel around the world for business dealings. In order to clinch a business deal with parties of other countries, it is essential to do some research about the country first. This will provide critical information about their business tradition, etiquette issues and other factors that will allow easier acceptance of Singaporean business persons. China being the largest populated country of 1. 3 billion, with an area of 9,600,000 square kilometers, has a long history, unique culture and a wide variety of distinctive customs and traditions. She has been attracting foreigners to invest as there are plentiful resources and labour market, which are crucial in business dealings. Besides the factors that are mentioned above, other factors play essential roles as well. Guanxi and Mianzi are the foremost factors that Chinese businessmen take into account. Other factors include preparation for Chinese business meetings, knowledge of the Chinese Lijie, such as non-verbal communication and social relationships. Also, the Chinese banquet consisting table etiquette together with drinking and toasting. There will also be gift-giving, such as what should be considered to give and what should be avoided. Last but not least, different ways to negotiate with the Chinese for the best solution should be taken into consideration. In conclusion, having the knowledge of the Chinese etiquette will better help one to succeed in clinching more business dealings. At the same time, it also helps one to understand the culture and customs of Chinese. Therefore, this will not only do one good for business purposes, but also encourages common understanding amongst countries. 2. Introduction The Peoples Republic of China, has a largest population of 1. 3 billion and a GDP of US$2393 billion. Thus, it has been eyed by many business executives due to its big market share and a large pool of labour which provides many business opportunities. In order to carry out business transactions efficiently with the Chinese, it is important for us to know what the prohibitions, customs and taboos are in China. By understanding these, we will be more prepared to conduct business with the Chinese. 2. 1 Meeting the Chinese. To begin with, the Chinese are very particular about first impressions. They prefer to be introduced formally to people as they are reluctant to strike up conversations with people they are unfamiliar with. A proper handshake will be most appropriate upon introduction. If one is being introduced to a group, remember to shake everyone’s hands. Also, stand up throughout, when being introduced or when presenting self. Begin introductions with his/her name, followed by the company’s name and specify the country that he/she is from. 2. 2 Business Cards. It is polite to use two hands to hold both corners when presenting business card and to position it so that it is legible to the recipient. Try to have one side of the card being translated and print the Chinese letters using gold ink as this is an auspicious colour. It will be respectful to spend a few seconds reading the card upon receiving it and helps in remembering one’s name. It is demeaning to put it directly into your pocket without glancing. If it is a sit-down meeting, place the card on the table so that one can look at it. 2. 3Conversations. Most Chinese like to engage in conversations concerning topics which they have knowledge on, such as weather, geography, Chinese cuisine, Chinese scenery and landmarks. Topics related to politics should be avoided. Dismiss personal questions with a little humour if uncomfortable. The Chinese would often compliment the country of origin. However, accepting praise outright is not considered as good etiquette for them. Instead, one is expected to deflect compliments and pretend it is unworthy of receiving them. 2. 4 Greetings Surnames come first when addressing a Chinese. In business situations, one will seldom concern themselves with a Chinese person’s given name. It is advisable to get straight how one should address someone at the first meeting. For business purposes, it is traditionally acceptable to call a Chinese by the surname, together with a title such as Managing Director Toh. 2. 5On the telephone Although Chinese may make arrangements through the phone, most Chinese prefers face-to-face meetings. On the telephone, the standard greeting is the word â€Å"wei†, which means â€Å"hello† or â€Å"are you still there† in Mandarin. Chinese often do not furnish any identifying information upon answering the phone; hence it is good to verify that one has reached the organization he/she intended to dial. 3. GuanXi – Relationships Personal relationships play a vital part in the business world of Chinese. Chinese businessmen do not rush into discussions and negotiations, as they want to get familiar with their business partners before doing business. This is known as Guanxi, which means â€Å"relationships†. It is the network of relationships among various parties that cooperate together and support one another. Before doing business, Chinese will extend hospitality to demonstrate their respect for others and appreciation of the finer things in life so as to soften their visitors. There will be small talk during the first full day, where Chinese learns about his visitor and goals. The evening during the welcome banquet, they would learn more as foreign visitors will open up during casual talks. Also, the visitors may visit the residence of their acquaintances from other organizations and bring some gifts as it is important for building and creating Guanxi. Gifts like foreign cigarettes and quality wines are acceptable, which will be discussed more at the later part of the report. Trust is built during such situations and Chinese would then be more comfortable to work with them. Relationships are not only between companies but also personal levels. Establishing a sincere, supportive relationship based on mutual respect is a fundamental aspect of Chinese culture. In the world of business, possessing the right Guanxi is crucial for ensuring the minimization of difficulties and frustrations that are often encountered and it is also important to any successful business strategy in China. 4. Mian Zi Face Face, also known as Mianzi, is a mark of personal pride and forms the basis of an individual’s reputation and social status. Having face means having a high status in the eyes of ones peers, and is a mark of personal dignity. It is a prized commodity, which can be given, lost, taken away or earned. Face to a Chinese, holds more importance and encompasses a greater part of life. In order to establish all important interpersonal relationships, face must always be created and maintained at all times. Losing face may be caused by, for example, public insult, chastisement or contradicting someone in front of another, and also, by ourselves, such as losing temper or losing your own control in public. Furthermore, rescinding an order can also be constructed as losing face. This is why Chinese leaders would rather follow the policies even if there are events that prove them that it is irrelevant. Causing someone to lose face through public humiliation or inappropriate allocation of respect to individuals within the organization can seriously damage business discussions. On the other hand, praising someone in moderation before their colleagues is a form of giving face and can earn respect, loyalty and aid negotiations. Nevertheless, face is so important that it is justification for spending money even if the Chinese is not very rich. Money that may be set aside for emergency use may be used for buying gifts or accessories instead because of face. 5. Lijie- Art of Politeness Being polite is a type of basic courtesy one should possess. In China, personal feelings and hint of criticism should not be dealt with publicly as it might cause public embarrassment and unpleasantness. A glass of tea that is automatically set out in front of arriving guests is how the Chinese allows the guest to feel comfortable and appear gracious. 5. 1 Surface harmony Surface harmony is an essential skill because the world of Chinese etiquette is very insensitive to unpleasant genuine feelings as it concerns matter of â€Å"face†. To the Chinese, things are done more for show than for substance; for example, manners are tools which they use to maintain pleasantness at all times, even when it is not entirely felt. Surface harmony is disturbed when one expresses his/her disagreement. Therefore, it is advised to remain quiet and â€Å"give face† as it might result in sabotage, subversion or revenge as the Chinese are well capable of such actions. 5. 2Intermediaries Intermediaries can be useful in communicating something unpleasant to the Chinese, and they help to ask questions, as preservation of face and surface harmony is considered highly important to Chinese. Intermediaries are highly useful in negotiations as they provide back channels for information that might prove too sensitive or risky. However, anger may be expressed directly for strategic purposes. 5. 3 Social relationships Chinese manage their social relationships by an imaginary circle that surrounds them. Relatives, friends, neighbours, classmates and co-workers are within the circle. These people have relationships with one another and hence, bear some sort of obligation. Chinese tend to go all out for them, be it putting themselves at great inconvenience or even ethically questionable circumstances. The rest of the world, whom a Chinese treats like a stranger, remains outside of the circle to whom with no particular obligation. 5. 4 Non-verbal communication. Chinese have various non-verbal communications. Firstly, Chinese tends to have a shorter social distance compared to many western cultures, for example, a Chinese friend might stand a little close to you for comfort or breathing directly into your face when talking to you. Furthermore, if one steps backwards, his/her Chinese counterpart may advance accordingly. When dealing with a Chinese, particularly the older ones, one should not touch a member of the opposite sex you do not know extremely well as other types of physical contact can be misinterpreted. However, it is said to be perfectly acceptable for Chinese to be physical with members of the same sex. Traditionally, Chinese are seldom demonstrative with the opposite sex in public. Therefore, foreigners should keep in mind that they are well advised to avoid more passionate forms of contact besides holding hands with a companion. During a conversation, one should not slink down in chairs as they are deemed disrespectful. Furthermore, some Chinese will avoid meeting one’s eyes or smile. This is a sign of shyness or keeping feelings to themselves. Thus should not be confused with insincerity, unfriendliness or anger. Silence is a virtue for it represents reflection or a sign of politeness. Gestures such as â€Å"come here† by curling index finger upward, â€Å"okay† sign with thumb and forefinger forming a circle, and shrugging of shoulders showing â€Å"I don’t know† may not be understood by the Chinese. Nodding or shaking of head, thumbs-up and clapping of hands for applauding are universally accepted gestures. 5. 5 Ways to reject a Chinese Rejecting people or saying ‘no’ can result in losing face, therefore the Chinese devised a number of methods of refusing without saying ‘no’. Ways to reject are, saying to grant the wish would be â€Å"inconvenient† as it means there are political problems associated with fulfilling a request, or it is â€Å"under consideration† or â€Å"being discussed†. This generally means that something is unlikely to happen. Another way is to blame someone else for the roadblock by finding a scapegoat. Lastly, a Chinese may tell a lie such as inventing a story to get out of the uncomfortable position in which a person feels placed. 11. References and Acknowledgements 1. De Mente Boye. (2004). Chinese etiquette ethics in business. Boston: McGraw-Hill. 2. Scott D. Seligman. (1999). Chinese Business Etiquette: a guide to protocol, manners, and culture in the People’s Republic of China. United States of America: A Time Warner Company 3. About. com: China Online (n. d. ). Retrieved on June 13, 2007. http://chineseculture. about. com/od/businessculture/Chinese_Business_Culture. htm 4. Communicaid global communication: doing business in China. (n. d. ). Retrieved on June 13, 2007. http://www. communicaid. com/chinese-business-culture. asp 5. Chinese Culture. (n. d. ). Retrieved on June 13, 2007. http://www. chinese-culture. net/html/chinese_business_culture. html 6. Kwintessential- Language and culture specialists (n. d. ). Retrieved on June 13, 2007. http://www. kwintessential. co. uk/cultural-services/articles/china-business-culture. html 7. China’s GDP grows 10. 7% in 2006. (January 25, 2007). ChinaDaily. com. cn. Retrieved on June 25, 2007. from http://www. chinadaily. com. cn/china/2007-01/25/content_792311_2. htm 8. Economy – Economic Structure Trends. (2006). Retrieved on June 20, 2007. http://china-europe-usa. com/level_4_data/eco/042_3. htm 9. China – Business etiquette, manners and cross cultural communication. (n. d. ). Retrieved on June 15, 2007. http://www. cyborlink. com/besite/china. htm 10. China – Business Travel Etiquette. (n. d. ). Retrieved on June 15, 2007. http://www. crazycolour. com/os/china_02. shtml 11. Business Card Etiquette by Neil Payne. (n. d. ). Retrieved on June 15, 2007. http://www. sideroad. com/Business_Etiquette/business-card-etiquette. html.

A Rose for Emily :: A Rose For Emily, William Faulkner

â€Å"She would not listen to them (795),† but they listened to her. They listened and watched throughout all of Miss Emily’s life – scowling, sympathizing, and, sometimes, they even smiled for her. These ever-watchful beings, the curious citizens of Jefferson, share and provide a backbone to this twisted tale in William Faulkner’s gothic short story, A Rose For Emily; though the views cast about Miss Emily differ significantly by generation and gender, their opinion conveyed as a whole expresses that they view Miss Emily as a shocking, unacceptable and â€Å"fallen (792)† being. Faulkner’s emphasis on narration drives the mystery farther. Along with the disturbing secret Emily hides, Faulkner conceals the identity of the narrator or narrators. The townsfolk, as a whole, are the narrator, yet throughout the piece it is suggested that the spokesperson for the town changes. For example, in part I, the narration appears to be from a member of the older generation as he or she observes the â€Å"next generation, with its more modern ideas (788)† come to a dissatisfactory conclusion about a resolution for the odor coming from Miss Emily’s estate. However, in part IV it is suggested that the narrator for the townspeople is a woman worrying keening about Emily’s relationship, her material purchases, and the details of her decaying looks. The pronoun â€Å"we† is used instead of â€Å"I† proposing that the opinions stated are the general consensus of the entire town – such as â€Å"we believed that she was fallenâ⠂¬  – the entire town sees her as a failure of what she could have been. When the pronoun â€Å"I† is utilized, this typically expresses that the speaker using â€Å"I† is against the wants of the townsperson speaking or possibly the entirety of the town. â€Å"I† is primarily used by Miss Emily, proving her to be an outcast in the eyes of her society. Judge Stevens also speaks in the first person singular when he fight to defend Miss Emily’s respect – feeling the actions suggested are not â€Å"necessary (790).† The different citizens mold the reader’s thoughts and emotions towards Emily - being as the townsfolk are the reason the story exists. They are an essential part of Emily’s story and thusly their views, whether fully believable or not, must be taken into account on the mystery case that is Miss Emily’s life. The people of Jefferson have always held a certain curiosity for the events in Emily’s life and despite the years the curiosity continued.

Gender Inequality: Why the comparison? Essay

We have entered a century that can be defined by advanced technology, people expressing themselves in ways that one cannot imagine and doctors acting as God. A hundred years ago, it would take days before a telegram will reach its destination. But now all you need is a computer and an internet connection and you would not think that the person that you are talking to is 10,000 miles across the globe. Before, women cannot get a job and must stay at home to take care of the household; they were not even allowed to go to school. But now, the females are competing in the same league as the males. More women are finishing high school and pursuing college, getting into their respective professions. A couple years back the newborn screening was not yet developed and hence, a lot of newborns were not able to be screened for such diseases. But now that this method is working in full force, you can actually detect your infant’s diseases earlier and have higher chances of prevention. There are also a number of machines that can actually make doctor’s works easier, decreasing the mortality rate, prolonging life. If a group wants to express their hatred and anger, they can have a strike, and the media will expose them and they will be heard. That is why the media is one of the powerful agents in today’s modern world. Not only are the technologies more advanced, so are the minds of the people. Today you can do the unthinkable and even immoral way back in the medieval times. You can choose not to believe in God without getting sacrificed or stoned to death, you can change your gender, even the anatomical constructions can be changed, provided you have the money and the courage to go through with. But unlike those times, people now have changed. Our minds are broader, our acceptance more tolerating. Which puts me in a position to think that maybe what Judith Butler, the author of Gender Trouble, wants to voice out is not really a big deal today as when compared to the time she published this book. In my opinion Butler is trying to figure out how we got to define what a man and a woman is, what their differences are, and what our culture and norms want them to be. How an individual determines the nature of their femininity or masculinity is a question that she wants to answer. And she concluded by saying that we do not really know what our gender is. What we have come to know is what we were told to become. Our gender is defined by how we portray the roles of a female or a male. And how we further develop these performances, how stabilized we are with it that we do not change it anymore. But I do not think that you will get that answer anymore if you ask any person in the streets. Yes, we may have our own theories, our own definitions of what a man and a woman is, but all these are deeply rooted from the anatomical structures that we possess plus the environment that we grew up in. I do have high respects for Butler’s work, especially in her in-depth discussion of the theories of Simone de Beauvoir, Luce Irigaray and Sigmund Freud. And the mere fact that she wrote a book about it tells of her wisdom on the subject matter. But to be honest, only one thing comes to my mind about people who try to determine these kinds of things: gender gap. Admit it or not, a person’s gender highly differentiates and molds one person from the other gender. Gender gap, according to Gertrude Abramson as mentioned in her article, â€Å"Has the gender gap closed? † is a disproportionate difference or disparity between the sexes. Maybe that is why Judith Butler wants to know if a person is made to be male or female, to also solve gender equality problems. Because I think if you get to agree that both gender came out equally and was made equally, then the differences will be treated as minor ones and will be eventually be ignored. How bad has the gender gap been to everybody? A target of scrutiny is the gender gap in economics wherein the males are the dominating ones. â€Å"Statistics show that in 1890 the percentage of married white women who reported an occupation outside the home was extremely low—just 2. 5 percent for the entire United States. The figure increased to 12. 5 percent by 1940, 20. 7 percent by 1950, and then by about 10 percentage points for every decade since then. By 1990 the labor participation rate for all married women had climbed to almost 60 percent, versus 78 percent for married men. † (Gender Gap) But these statistics definitely turn the other way around when it comes to school. In college, according to the U. S. education department, women reign, earning an average 57% of all BAs and 58% of all master’s degrees in the U. S. alone. There are 133 girls getting BAs for every 100 guys — a number that’s projected to grow to 142 women per 100 men by 2010. (The New Gender Gap) So the question is, why all this comparison? I do not think there should be any, as this is the reason why there is inequality in the first place. I think that there should be no more distinction between the capabilities of men and women, only in their biological differences. Because the reality is that whatever the success of the female is, they are also the success of the males. Everything, every law, every bill has been passed so that all sexes, whether it be gay or lesbian, male or female have been heard in court to give equal opportunities to everybody. If you do not have the right to get a same sex marriage in this state, you go to the state that accepts that. And compared to a century ago that colleges do not accept females, nor some companies do not get female employees, now they are accepted. One cannot really tell of how this happened, it just did. What I am trying to say here is that maybe, if we do not pay as much attention to the gender differences, the world will be a better place. With all due respect to those theorists and their constant search and exploration for knowledge, but I stand by my own opinion. ReferencesThe Library of Economics and Liberty. (2002). Gender Gap. Retrieved December 31, 2007, from http://econlib. org/library/Enc/GenderGap. html Business Week. (26 May 2003). The New Gender Gap. Retrieved December 31, 2007, from http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/03_21/b3834001_mz001. htm International Society for Technology in Education. (May 2006). Has the Gender Gap Closed? Retrieved December 31, 2007, from www. iste. org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume_33_2006_2005_/May_No_8_/33806a. pdf

The Human And Non Human Mentality Essay - 1859 Words

Rene Descartes â€Å"Methods on the Method† focuses on distinguishing the significant difference of the human mind, and how he does through separating how neither animals nor machines don’t possess the same mental capabilities as the human rational. For Descartes distinguishes the human rational apart from non-humans, even though he does agree the two closely resemble each other because through their sense organs. However, it is because the mechanical lacks a sufficient aspect of the mind that makes it necessary for them to be on par with humans. Throughout Descartes â€Å"Discourse on the Method,† he argues that the significant differences between humans and both non-humans is they’re limited ability to respond to the world through external causes which react to their sense organs they recognize. This significantly creates a dividing ‘line’ which separates humans from non-humans. Furthermore, this paper will at first distinguish the differenc e between the human and non-human mentality in regards from Descartes â€Å"Discourse on the Method†. Then in which I will theorize a modern AI that could possess the concept of a human mind. As well as theorize a powerful AI that lacks the ability to understand its own intelligence. Lastly, I will argue why I believe there are no such machines that could possess the fundamental ability to understand knowledge, rather they are merely entities that react to the world instead of acting with it. 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