I have been thinking about the process of pursuing cross-cultural research. Often time, when there is a 'cross-cultural' research conducted in China, we saw 'findings' like Chinese like red, Chinese government are autocratic, Chinese are collectivists, Chinese are bonded by guan-xi, and so forth. However, these terms, rather than telling us anything, are merely a coat of paint we smeared on the same piece of paper to make it more colorful. Not knowing what drives guanxi or autocracy, we turn to the mysterious state and point figures to human rights and arcane policies. But how do we see beyond the paint and below into the acts?

First, I think it is vital to see that humanly actions are not always conscious and visible by the society at large. That is, if you were to visit a Chinese, she would bring you to nice restaurant, being very hospitable to your needs, keep you away from danger, and other Chinesey things. And perhaps you may report that Chinese are hospitable and develop guanxi through dines and politeness. However, I would like to say, still, those are too on the conscious surface of the society. They are things people are still able to TELL you, can be observed, found in everyday discourses, and thus well aware by everyone. What is more important is what is not said, assumed and unexpressed, taken for granted (bad expression here for what is not expressable cannot be 'taken'), and when someone broke these assumptions, other might react with a sense of bewilderment - a 'huh?'

I would argue that in cross-cultural research, it is vital to penetrate into this level of dynamics within a society. For instance, how do Chinesey behaviors maintain the structure of guanxi. How do people conduct themselves, without guidance from meta-perspective, in a way that builds guanxi between individuals? What are the roles within a guanxi network, what are the responsibilities, hierarchies, and outcome?

Blogs are not meant to be long so I will give one last example using American culture. US has a very open, individualistic culture, with high resistance to failure, that allows Americans to keep trying. We all know that. But why US alone? When we pay attention to the discourses between Americans, we start realizing repeated and shared, individualized, cultural notions being passed on, and reinforced between individuals. So much so that they were taken to be real, uncontestable - the holy grail. Something when broken equates to blasphemy. A common phrase people said to each other is 'such things happen,' especially when something important went wrong. A mistake is a mistake., but we learn to see it differently. I would argue that in Chinese culture, a typical discourse would be to find the culprit and get him to repent, reassuring everyone it would not happen again, questioning 为什么你没有问我就这么做 or why didn't you ask me before you do it? 'Such things happen' leaves all blames behind, just like the bankruptcy act allowing businessmen to start anew. When everyone embraces 'such things happen,' the society equips itself with a collective cognitive characteristics that allows creativity to happen. And 'why didn't you ask me before you do it' culture type embraces a consolidation and standardization behaviors.