Case 1 Xiao LI and Xiao Wang were colleagues. Xiao LI gave a lot of help to Xiao Wang financially and socially. Recently Xiao LI would get married. But he forgot inviting Xiao Wang attend his wedding. Later Xiao Wang got information about Xiao LI’ wedding and sent RMB 500 Yuan to Xiao LI. Question: What cultural phenomenon can be reflected? Why? In Chinese culture influenced by Confucianism, if someone does a favor for you, you should return the favor to them. This is very common for Chinese people..In the philosophy of Confucianism Reciprocity are the base of relationships. Gratitude and indebtedness are important parts of Chinese culture. If a person feels uneasy to be indebted of someone, payback is necessary to achieve balance in the relationship. Case 2 An English guest: Each time a new dish arrived his parents would lean over and load my plate with tasty morsels. As they had taken all the trouble to cook it I just had to polish it off. As soon as my plate was empty they would put more on. Of course, I felt duty-bound to eat that too. A Chinese guest: Can you imagine how many dishes I had? Only one -- a stew with meat and vegetables. The meat was over done and too hard to eat; green vegetables were no longer green. They never put food on your plate but just ask you to help yourself. If you, as a guest, are shy or modest, waiting for the food to be put on your plate, you will remain half-starved. Question: Are there any differences in hospitality between a Chinese and English? What are the reasons? Yes. The Chinese student felt disappointed at British hospitality because she used the Chinese way of showing hospitality to judge the British one. In the story taki...
