Qingke

Having a multiplicity of meanings in Chinese culture, the term qingke (guest hospitality) refers both to an overt strategy employed in guanxi (interpersonal relationships) management and, more generally, to the entertainment of guests. The former sense denotes a mundane social phenomenon, while the latter has positive connotations that evoke the notions of pride, group identity and superior warm feelings, personal flavor, and hospitality that the Chinese associate with their culture.

Literally, qingke signifies either an invitation or a polite overture of goodwill. An offer to qingke can be an expression of the acceptance of the responsibilities associated with the role of host ("I will entertain you") or can simply be a gesture employed to maintain harmonious social relations ("We should get together sometime"). Although occasionally there is difficulty in assessing whether such statements are genuine invitations, contextual cues such as specific times and locations inform listeners. As a genuine invitation, qingke is a display of hospitality, warmheartedness, and a desire to deepen the bonds of the relationship.

Among the multitude of occasions associated with qingke are tea dates, trips to the movies, holidays, festivals, weddings, birthdays, promotions, seeing someone off or welcoming someone back from a journey, requesting assistance, conducting social transactions, and maintaining guanxi. The nature of qingke activities is dictated by the closeness of the relationships among participants, with a major distinction being made between in-groups and out-groups. Frequently occurring in private, in-group events tend to be more relaxed, are often held because something good has happened to the host, and are focused on the exchange of feelings. The more formal out-group occasions take place in public settings, are characterized by stricter adherence to codes of etiquette, involve large amounts of resources, and are frequently motivated by personal gain.

As early as the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BCE), the Book of Rites recorded in extensive detail that social activity among virtuous men was governed by strict codes of protocol and that without an understanding of ritual and etiquette, one could not become a functional member of society. Culturally defined norms of etiquette have since delineated an intricate web of social roles, spelled out responsibilities associated with those roles, and shaped public behavior and hospitality in China.

As China moves into the twenty-first century and social relationships continue to deepen in complexity, acknowledging hierarchy, knowing one's place in the social dynamic, reciprocating, exchanging ganqing (feelings), and maintaining social harmony are still behaviors recognized and maintained through the Chinese system of etiquette. These behaviors constitute a large part of the repertoire of skills that socially competent Chinese draw on to manage interpersonal relationships and are, therefore, an integral part of hospitality.

Due to its vast size and enormous population, contemporary China is characterized by tremendous cultural variation and regional diversity. The degree to which traditional protocol in the entertainment of guests is adhered to in developed urban centers such as Beijing and Shanghai varies drastically from that found in conservative rural areas such as Shandong and much of inland China. Moreover, China is made up of numerous ethnic and cultural subgroups that often maintain distinct social practices. Although notions of what is involved in hospitality differ across region and subculture, most Chinese share an intense pride in their complex systems of etiquette and hospitality. This pride is reflected in the use of such phrases as liyizhibang (nation of ritual and etiquette) to refer to China.

Invitations to attend private homes signify the trust and closeness assigned to a relationship. Hosts expend tremendous time and energy cleaning, cooking, and preparing food and spirits before the arrival of guests. However, these qingke events are relatively relaxed because they occur in the private setting of the home and involve small numbers of intimate friends and family. As a result, private events are normally focused on strengthening existing bonds.

After greeting guests, primary hosts, often men, begin with a period of hanxuan (small talk) that may take place on a couch in a sitting room. While one host, usually the lady of the house, prepares the meal, a second host offers tea, cigarettes, fruit, and candy between assisting in the preparation of the food. Although more relaxed than public banquets, private meals proceed in a similarly prescribed manner. After the meal is completed, hosts escort guests from the eating area to a more comfortable setting to relax, chat, smoke, eat fruit, or sing karaoke. Qingke events end with hosts seeing guests off while urging them to stay longer and to visit again.

In the public arena, qingke may be realized as an invitation to attend a movie with a friend on the least formal level or as an invitation to a banquet that takes place in a large hotel or restaurant on the most formal level. Informal qingke events are viewed simply as opportunities for friends to spend time together chatting, eating, or doing something interesting.

Formal banquets, on the other hand, are large-scale cultural performances involving vast quantities of food and drink, which serve as the primary venue for both social interaction and guanxi maintenance. Banquets, a microcosm of Chinese society, are conducted with particular emphasis placed on conforming to the proper norms of etiquette, with themes of modesty, sincerity, and mutual respect framing behavior. Because many Chinese organizations exhausted significant amounts of public resources to finance extravagant banquets during the 1980s and 1990s, banquets and the notion of qingke are sometimes associated with waste and corruption.

During formal qingke occasions, hosts are subdivided into primary hosts, assistant hosts, and escorts, while guests are hierarchically differentiated as main and secondary guests. Participants must conduct the ritual behaviors and fulfill the responsibilities associated with the roles they are assigned. The standard rule that underlies all hospitality events is ke sui zhu bian ("guests follow the host's wishes").

Thus, hosting involves a significant burden of responsibility and affords enormous interactional power. Hosts are responsible for arranging a suitable location, sufficient food and spirits, an interesting and harmonious group of guests, transportation, seating assignments, and entertainment. Hosts also have the duty to maintain the hierarchy of the event, create a festive atmosphere, lead conversation, maintain harmony, facilitate the exchange of feelings, and ensure a pleasant experience for every guest.

Hosts often feel obligated to spend prodigious amounts of time planning the event, preparing the site, and learning guests' tastes before the event. In addition to bearing all costs, hosts arrange everything and accompany guests at all times, a practice many Western visitors to China find stifling. They arrive early, welcome guests, lead toasts, order dishes, issue self-deprecating remarks, serve food, pour drinks, and control every aspect of the interaction. Hosts often make offers with particular vigor, because the default assumption is that guests will politely decline offers of hospitality even if they plan to accept.

In Chinese culture, where strict norms of etiquette dictate public interaction, human relationships are emphasized, and a balanced social ledger is the ideal, qingke events hold special significance. Entertaining guests is a skill that plays a vital role in social, political, and economic life. With varying degrees of frequency and formality, qingke is used as a tactic in the flow of social capital, a mechanism in the exchange of feelings, a means of displaying status, a key to accessing the group, a strategy for managing social relationships, an instrument of reciprocity, and a method for balancing social harmony.

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