The term face may be defined as the positive social value a person effectively claims for himself or herself by the line others assume he or she has taken during a particular contact. Face is an image of self, delineated in terms of approved social attributes.[2]
Face is the respectability and/or deference which a person can claim for himself or herself from others, by virtue of the relative position he or she occupies in his or her social network and the degree to which he or she is judged to have functioned adequately in that position as well as acceptably in his or her general conduct. (Ho 1975:883)
[Face] is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced, and must be constantly attended to in interaction. In general, people cooperate (and assume each other's cooperation) in maintaining face in interaction, such cooperation being based on the mutual vulnerability of face. (Brown and Levinson 1978:66)
Face is a sense of worth that comes from knowing one's status and reflecting concern with the congruency between one's performance or appearance and one's real worth. (Huang 1987:71)
"Face" means "sociodynamic valuation", a lexical hyponym of words meaning "prestige; dignity; honor; respect; status". (Carr 1993:90)
"Face" has more meaning based on Chinese culture context.
By country[edit]
"The concept of face is, of course, Chinese in origin" (Ho 1975:867), yet many languages have "face" terms that metaphorically mean "prestige; honor; reputation". Marcel Mauss, who sociologically studied the Kwakwaka'wakw (formerly known as Kwakiutl) and Haida nations in British Columbia, interpreted the Kwak'wala word q'elsem ("rotten face") meaning "stingy potlatch-giver; one who gives no feast".
Kwakiutl and Haida noblemen have the same notion of "face" as the Chinese mandarin or officer. It is said of one of the great mythical chiefs who gave no feast that he had a "rotten face". The expression is more apt than it is even in China; for to lose one's face is to lose one's spirit, which is truly the "face", the dancing mask, the right to incarnate a spirit and wear an emblem or totem. It is the veritable persona which is at stake, and it can be lost in the potlatch just as it can be lost in the game of gift-giving, in war, or through some error in ritual. (1954:38)
Michael Carr (1992, 1993) lexicographically investigated "face; prestige" dictionary forms in Chinese, Japanese, and English. Within this sample, Chinese dictionaries include 98 forms, e.g., sipo lian 撕破臉 ("rip up face") "have no consideration for someone's feelings"; Japanese dictionaries list 89, e.g., kao o uru 顔を売る ("sell face") "become popular; gain influence"; and English dictionaries include 5 forms, e.g., lose face (borrowed from Chinese diulian 丟臉 "lose face"). Carr found that the Chinese and Japanese lexicons have roughly equal numbers of words for "losing face" and "saving face", while English has more for "saving face".
Chinese 臉．面 and 面子[edit]
Two influential Chinese authors explained "face". Lu Xun referred to the missionary Arthur Henderson Smith's (1894:16–18) interpretation.
The term "face" keeps cropping up in our conversation, and it seems such a simple expression that I doubt whether many people give it much thought. Recently, however, we have heard this word on the lips of foreigners too, who seem to be studying it. They find it extremely hard to understand, but believe that "face" is the key to the Chinese spirit and that grasping it will be like grabbing a queue twenty-four years ago [when wearing a queue was compulsory] – everything else will follow. (1934, 1959:129)
Lin Yutang considered the psychology of "face".
Interesting as the Chinese physiological face is, the psychological face makes a still more fascinating study. It is not a face that can be washed or shaved, but a face that can be "granted" and "lost" and "fought for" and "presented as a gift". Here we arrive at the most curious point of Chinese social psychology. Abstract and intangible, it is yet the most delicate standard by which Chinese social intercourse is regulated.[1]
Mianmu, which occurs in the Shijing, Guanzi, and other Chinese classics, is the oldest Chinese word for figurative "face" (Carr 1992:43). David Yau-fai Ho (1974:241) describes timian as "an expression without an exact equivalent in English", meaning "the social front, the ostensible display of one's social standing to the public. It is both a prerogative and an implicit obligation for the socially prominent to be particular about." Mianzi is a measurable and quantifiable concept of "face". Face, Hsien-chin Hu says,
can be borrowed, struggled for, added to, padded, — all terms indicating a gradual increase in volume. It is built up through initial high position, wealth, power, ability, through cleverly establishing social ties to a number of prominent people, as well as through avoidance of acts that would cause unfavorable comment. (1944:61)
Face is the respectability and/or deference which a person can claim for himself or herself from others, by virtue of the relative position he or she occupies in his or her social network and the degree to which he or she is judged to have functioned adequately in that position as well as acceptably in his or her general conduct. (Ho 1975:883)
[Face] is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced, and must be constantly attended to in interaction. In general, people cooperate (and assume each other's cooperation) in maintaining face in interaction, such cooperation being based on the mutual vulnerability of face. (Brown and Levinson 1978:66)
Face is a sense of worth that comes from knowing one's status and reflecting concern with the congruency between one's performance or appearance and one's real worth. (Huang 1987:71)
"Face" means "sociodynamic valuation", a lexical hyponym of words meaning "prestige; dignity; honor; respect; status". (Carr 1993:90)
"Face" has more meaning based on Chinese culture context.
By country[edit]
"The concept of face is, of course, Chinese in origin" (Ho 1975:867), yet many languages have "face" terms that metaphorically mean "prestige; honor; reputation". Marcel Mauss, who sociologically studied the Kwakwaka'wakw (formerly known as Kwakiutl) and Haida nations in British Columbia, interpreted the Kwak'wala word q'elsem ("rotten face") meaning "stingy potlatch-giver; one who gives no feast".
Kwakiutl and Haida noblemen have the same notion of "face" as the Chinese mandarin or officer. It is said of one of the great mythical chiefs who gave no feast that he had a "rotten face". The expression is more apt than it is even in China; for to lose one's face is to lose one's spirit, which is truly the "face", the dancing mask, the right to incarnate a spirit and wear an emblem or totem. It is the veritable persona which is at stake, and it can be lost in the potlatch just as it can be lost in the game of gift-giving, in war, or through some error in ritual. (1954:38)
Michael Carr (1992, 1993) lexicographically investigated "face; prestige" dictionary forms in Chinese, Japanese, and English. Within this sample, Chinese dictionaries include 98 forms, e.g., sipo lian 撕破臉 ("rip up face") "have no consideration for someone's feelings"; Japanese dictionaries list 89, e.g., kao o uru 顔を売る ("sell face") "become popular; gain influence"; and English dictionaries include 5 forms, e.g., lose face (borrowed from Chinese diulian 丟臉 "lose face"). Carr found that the Chinese and Japanese lexicons have roughly equal numbers of words for "losing face" and "saving face", while English has more for "saving face".
Chinese 臉．面 and 面子[edit]
Two influential Chinese authors explained "face". Lu Xun referred to the missionary Arthur Henderson Smith's (1894:16–18) interpretation.
The term "face" keeps cropping up in our conversation, and it seems such a simple expression that I doubt whether many people give it much thought. Recently, however, we have heard this word on the lips of foreigners too, who seem to be studying it. They find it extremely hard to understand, but believe that "face" is the key to the Chinese spirit and that grasping it will be like grabbing a queue twenty-four years ago [when wearing a queue was compulsory] – everything else will follow. (1934, 1959:129)
Lin Yutang considered the psychology of "face".
Interesting as the Chinese physiological face is, the psychological face makes a still more fascinating study. It is not a face that can be washed or shaved, but a face that can be "granted" and "lost" and "fought for" and "presented as a gift". Here we arrive at the most curious point of Chinese social psychology. Abstract and intangible, it is yet the most delicate standard by which Chinese social intercourse is regulated.[1]
Mianmu, which occurs in the Shijing, Guanzi, and other Chinese classics, is the oldest Chinese word for figurative "face" (Carr 1992:43). David Yau-fai Ho (1974:241) describes timian as "an expression without an exact equivalent in English", meaning "the social front, the ostensible display of one's social standing to the public. It is both a prerogative and an implicit obligation for the socially prominent to be particular about." Mianzi is a measurable and quantifiable concept of "face". Face, Hsien-chin Hu says,
can be borrowed, struggled for, added to, padded, — all terms indicating a gradual increase in volume. It is built up through initial high position, wealth, power, ability, through cleverly establishing social ties to a number of prominent people, as well as through avoidance of acts that would cause unfavorable comment. (1944:61)
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