Chinese Culture in General - Research Paper Example

Chinese Culture in General Introduction; Overview of Chinese Culture in general The first emperor was Qin Shi Huang and in 221 B.C; he established unified and multinational relationships are centralized between upper classes. This period of feudalism system in Chinese society continued until about 1840 after the War. China's economy and culture continued to develop during these 2,000 years until this time( Li 1). Statement of Purpose: Today I am going to discuss using of culture in the relation of a client and customer. Before that, I would like to explain what culture is and use of culture. The purpose of this interpersonal group project is to demonstrate a culture through the exploration of one occupation. The occupation we will be looking at is a clerk/customer. The description of culture is the way of living of a group of people and these includes their mode of dressing, customs in marriage, various religious activities, and habits of the families, recreational and occupational pursuits.A clerk is a  worker who is a white collar and a worker who performs similar sales tasks in a retail environment (a retail clerk) or conducts general office tasks, or. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include filing, staffing services counters, record keeping, screening solicitors, and other administrative tasks. In their daily activities, they interact with various customers and therefore they are supposed to observe the Chinese culture. Importance and Value of Culture The importance of culture cannot be ignored and should be respected. Respecting culture shall earn your respect and proves the protection of culture and can have impact likelihood of success in life.We are always practicing culture daily in life, and its identification is in conversation, greetings, public conduct and hand shaking. CulturalValues/Elements used in this Occupation Greeting Contentions In the first place wherever you are, the first thing during a conversation is greetings. The Chinese always does not greet those especially close to them with greetings that can results to a negative slant such as ‘you're looking tired or ‘‘you’re looking sad': this looks improper. In formal contexts when the clerk is addressing an elderlycustomer it should be with high status. Customers are addressed according to their designation, for example ‘Mr Tang, Doctor Liu, Chairman Lee’ if they are known to the clerk ( Li 1). Exchanging Business Cards Business cards are omnipresent are always exchanged in Chinese business culture upon meeting a stranger customer by the clerk in such a context. The card is normally held in both hands when offered to the customer or clerk: offering it with one hand is considered ill-mannered. Bowing down is often used by the lower like subordinates, as a sign of respect. It is common social practice to introduce familiar to the unfamiliar or the junior to the senior. When clerk talks to a stranger customer, the topics such as food, hobbies, and weather are good choices to break the ice( Li 11). Audibility during Greetings Chinese conversations in public tend to be very audible and loud. However, Chinese ways of code of behaviour states that the very best way to talk is softly and with the slight bowing head down. Attempting to answer back to those older than you is considered ill-mannered: Therefore, the advice of elders should be accepted and not replied back. In other words, the best way of greeting a Chinese person is very significant in Chinese culture: greetings deemed to be inappropriate are considered very undesirable and unpleasing. Among strangerscustomers that clerks meet acquaintances or at formal occasions the greeting ‘Nin Hao is used. Ni Hao' (or meant Hao if much respect) meaning, literally ‘are you good?' is preferred. The term ‘Have you eaten?' is used more oftenly as normal greeting and testify the centrality of Chinese food in culture. Chinese culture mostly considers rude to meet someone like a customer and notwelcoming him/her to eat: he/she may be hungry( Li 12). Handshake Handshaking is one of the most elements of greetings.The Chinese traditional handshake' consists of waving up and down several times and interlocking the fingers of the hands. Nowadays, this is rarely used (except during weddings, festivals, and birthdays of the elder people). During greeting, a slightly bowing often accompanies the handshaking. Bow can be deeper and deeper if respect is being shown to the person by the clerk, for example, an elderly person or someone of high social status( Li 12). Conversation When the clerk is conversing with the customer, negative replies are considered impolite. Instead of saying 'no,' the clerk or the customer answer 'maybe,' ''We'll see or 'I'll think about it', or and get into specifics later. Customer may be asked questions that seem to be intrusive concerning level of income or marital status. If they rather don't want to give this information, either the customer or clerk remain polite and give an unspecified answer. None of them should show signs of irritation to the person who has either asked the question; 'losing face' has negative implications in this Chinese Culture. On the other hand, unless the customer is very familiar friend, clerk should not ask about their family. Whenever a customer is invited for a meal, expressing enthusiasm about the food he/she is eating is a welcomed in Chinese culture, and usually expected, topic of conversation( Li 12). Addressing customers with respect Chinese names appear in a different order. Each person has a name, in this order, a generational, first and a family. Given names and generational can be separated by a hyphen or a space, but are mostly written as only one word. The generational designation is frequently the first word of a two worded first name. It is still very popular in some families, especially among the overseas Chinese and southern Chinese from the south. The recent names of Chinese people are single terms. The first name of those born during the Revolution era of culture usually there is hidden political meaning that shows support toward Chairman Mao and his wife, known as Jiang Qing. The clerk or customer is addressed with a title and their last name. If the customer does not have a professional title, using “Mr.”, “Madam”, “Miss”, plus the last name is always noticed. A married Chinese woman customer mostly retains their maiden name; she will use the last name of her husband's on occasions for formal addressing by clerk. Customers are always addressed using their official titles such as Bureau Chief”,“General” or “Committee Member”, . It is customary to address the deputy by skipping the term 'deputy,' such as, 'Chief' for 'Deputy Chief,''General Manager' for 'Assistant General Manager 'Chairman' for 'Vice Chairman' ( Li 13).' Public conduct Clerks acknowledge their seniors as well as customers if they are in a group first. Clerks do not put their hands in their mouth and vice-versa as it is considered vulgar. Consequently, they do not bite their nails, removing food from their teeth using a toothpick or sharp objects and other practices.Cut and push ahead is common in lineups among Chinese, but Chinese do not appreciate being cut in front.Spitting is also not acceptable. It is subject to a heavy fine. Blowing your nose with a handkerchief is merely accepted, but it is advised to turn away from the customer or clerk while doing so( Li 14-15). Conclusion Culture has been noticeably identified in explaining the clerk and customer occupation. Their conversation, greetings contention, and respect have played a major role during their interaction and showed how the Chinese culture has been observed. The culture needs to be observed by every person. It is impossible to relate if the culture is not observed. Work cited Read More