Guanxi

Guanxi describes the basic dynamic in personalized networks of influence, and is a central concept in Chinese society. In Western media, the pinyin romanization of this Chinese word is becoming more widely used instead of the two common translations—"connections" and "relationships"—as neither of those terms sufficiently reflects the wide cultural implications that guanxi describes.^{[citation needed]}

Closely related concepts include that of ganqing, a measure which reflects the depth of feeling within an interpersonal relationship, renqing, the moral obligation to maintain the relationship, and the idea of "face", meaning social status, propriety, prestige, or more realistically a combination of all three.

Description

At its most basic, guanxi describes a personal connection between two people in which one is able to prevail upon another to perform a favor or service, or be prevailed upon. The two people need not to be of equal social status. Guanxi can also be used to describe a network of contacts, which an individual can call upon when something needs to be done, and through which he or she can exert influence on behalf of another. In addition, guanxi can describe a state of general understanding between two people: "he/she is aware of my wants/needs and will take them into account when deciding her/his course of future actions which concern or could concern me without any specific discussion or request".

The term is not generally used to describe relationships within a family, although guanxi obligations can sometimes be described in terms of an extended family. The term is also not generally used to describe relationships that fall within other well-defined societal norms (e.g. boss-worker, teacher-student, friendship). The relationships formed by guanxi are personal and not transferable.

When a guanxi network violates bureaucratic norms, it can lead to corruption, and guanxi can also form the basis of patron-client relations.

Usage examples

Someone is described as having good guanxi if their particular network of influence could assist in the resolution of the problem currently being spoken about.

The most common response to indicate acceptance of an apology in Standard Mandarin is meiyou guanxi (沒有關係 ) which literally translated to "doesn't have guanxi [implications]". This is however an homonym usage of the phrase "guanxi". In this instance, meiyou guanxi (沒有關係 ) actually means, "Don't worry about it."

Guanxi is most often used in the press when guanxi obligations take precedence over civic duties, leading to nepotism and cronyism ^{[1] [2]}.

Similar concepts in other cultures

Sociologists have linked guanxi with the concept of social capital (it has been described as a Gemeinschaft value structure), and it has been exhaustively described in studies of Chinese economic and political behavior, including those listed below.

In Russian culture, Blat is a similar concept.
In Middle Eastern culture, wasta is a similar concept.

See also

• Social network
• Chinese social relations
• Blat, the Russian equivalent
• Social capital

External links

• "Questioning Guanxi: Definition, Classification and Implications",

International Business Review, 11:5, 543-561, 2002. by Ying Fan, available at http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/1279

• Definition, meaning and application of guanxi in Chinese business life, scientific study on Guanxi in relation to business.
• China's modern power house, BBC article discussing the role of Guanxi in the modern governance of China.
• What is guanxi? Wiki discussion about definitions of guanxi, developed by the publishers of Guanxi: The China Letter.
• Guanxi, The art of relationships, by Robert Buderi, Gregory T. Huang, ISBN 0-7432-7322-2.
• China Characteristics - Regarding Guanxi GCiS China Strategic Research

References