#guanxi

[moniehon]

Csm sketch sheet!

[leham-n-daavocado]

As a Chinese-Canadian, I sooooo relate to Guanyu reaching out to Marc being like "Lewis going to Ferrari for real??????" It's peak guanxi relationship behaviour.

[deepbluequill]

Tsz just called Christmas cards "westerner guanxi".

How does his mind work please.

[jovialbasementbouquetblr]

Rightist Memoir XXXVII: Workers Not Paid, SOE Factory Boss is Fired

Find other chapters listed at Kong Lingping’s Rightist Memoir I: “Blood Chronicle” By Long-time Prisoner of Mao Zedong The full Chinese text can be downloaded from bannedbook.org  3. The Agricultural Vehicle Factory in Desperation The agricultural vehicles had sold well for only six months.  The factory’s obsolete technology and poor product quality along with the end of the state program for…

[realityfragments]

Guanxi.

For someone with so little linguistic ability – I have references – I am a bit of a language nerd. Every now and then I come across words of different languages that I understand completely. It’s nice to be able to throw out a word that has a built in concept, like guanxi. Guanxi in modern practice seems a little bit nosey, but in the definition itself resides the balances. ‘Mutual trust’.…

[pebblegalaxy]

Tradition, Science, and Success in Contemporary China: Exploring the Tensions and Contradictions

‘Yes! Now it’s more about psychological comfort. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, you are not allowed to become a master, and you must believe in science, at least that’s the slogan! Whether they believe it or not… who knows! However, the more successful you are, the more you follow tradition!’ The quote above touches on several complex issues related to the intersection of…

[uh-mozzaza]

Fujimoto, I will not listen to your yuri propaganda, the lgbt+ community has not forgiven Fumiko

[pearwaldorf]

If you have Netflix and you're not watching The Brothers Sun, please do that. A triad leader's son goes from Taipei to Los Angeles to protect his mom and brother who had to flee the country. The vibe it gives me is Leverage: good and logical characterization, where characters can only make the choices they make because it's who they are.

It's also a lot like Leverage in that the humor can be kind of goofy but in a cute way. (In episode 1 assassins are disguised in dinosaur costumes because they're infiltrating a children's birthday party okay?) It is the type of cheesy, affectionate roasting only a lover of genre can do.

As an Asian person watching something about an Asian family, I will say it gets it right. (The showrunner Byron Wu is Chinese and the writers' room is all-Asian.) There's the little details like the calendar in the kitchen and the passive-aggressive mom bullshit. And the big things, all that duty to family stuff and parent-child relationships. It is accurate to my experience, and I am grateful for it.

The show is smart and expects you to be able to understand subtext, which is kind of incredible these days. The characters aren't lobotomized and actually think about shit. Mama is playing 5D chess in the most incredible way, and I love that about her.

The character interaction is fantastic, in that you can understand everybody's motivations and relationships with each other. Nobody's wrong, but not all those paths are compatible with each other. Occasionally they can intersect, but guanxi is a very real thing in this world.

I do have to give a content warning for kinda fat shaming? One of the brother's childhood nicknames was "Little Fatty" and I swear it sounds cuter & more affectionate in Mandarin. There is cultural-context I'm not sure I can really explain that it's not as bad as it sounds, but they also could have left it out.

Here's the trailer. I hope you'll give it a chance.

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

Breakfast foods in China

Since arriving in China my typical breakfast has changed quite a lot (hello baozi and mung bean paste!) so I decided to explore some common local breakfast foods eaten in China!

包子 - Bāozi (my love) These have been an almost consistent (excluding the lunar new year when the canteens and most cafes and restaurants closed) staple of my breakfast ever since I arrived in China. They come with several fillings such as veggie, pork, seafood etc. and they can cooked in different ways such as being steamed, fried etc. Here's a more in-depth post about the types of dumplings and bāo.

粥 - Porridge (zhōu) I sometimes have porridge for lunch instead and it's a really filling meal. I get the Century Egg Congee with Chicken - 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (Pídàn shòu ròu zhōu) and it's one of my all time favourite meals.

煎饼 - Egg pancake (jiānbing) Popular also as a street food, this is a thin crepe type pancake with an egg, veggie, spice, sauce and sometimes meat filling. The actual filling varies as you can customize what veggies and spice level you'd like and whether or not you want meat.

热干面 - Hot and dry noodles (règānmiàn) I honestly had no idea about this dishes existence until a while ago, probably because it's a regional dish originating from Wuhan which is kind of far away from my location. These are spicy and dried noodles which are actually eaten without a broth unlike many other noodles. They seem pretty interesting so if anyone tried them before do share your experience!

桂林米粉 - Guilin Rice noodles (guìlín mĭfĕn) This appears to be another regional dish from Guilin, Guanxi as I had no idea that this was a also a pretty popular breakfast dish. Apparently it's not the noodles but rather the broth that they're cooked in that makes them special, with the actual recepie varying across the region. Someone should do a long weekend trip vlog (pondering on this) to Guilin where they just go from store to store trying these noodles and trying to determine the differences.

葱油饼 - Scallion oil pancake (cōngyŏubĭng) A tasty but heavy-ish pancake imo. These pancakes are cooked with scallions (green onion) and pan-fried to give it that crispy and chewy texture. Very tasty, but it's a little too heavy on the oil for me so I save these pancakes for special occasions instead.

豆浆油条 - Soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks (dòujiāng yóutiáo) I have tried the dough sticks, and I have tried soya milk but separately so far. The dough sticks are these long deep-friend dough sticks, reminding me slightly of breadsticks but more lighter and chewier.

茶鸡蛋 - Tea eggs (chájīdàn) I adore these, my canteen serves them along with regular eggs for breakfast and the tea eggs are usually the first to go. They actually don't really involve tea, instead these eggs are cooked in a mixture of chinese five-spice powder (pepper, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and fennel seeds), soy sauce, and black tea leaves, although some recipes leave out the tea leaves. They have a relatively strong smell so I usually grab some for breakfast on the weekends or in the canteen at lunch if there are any leftover after breakfast. They are also quite cheap, one egg is around 2 yuan so around 0.30 euro, making them a pretty filling and affordable breakfast food.

If there are any other common or specific breakfast foods that you know of, do share them please as I love trying out new things!

[milk5]

me most of the time: the issues occurring in my interpersonal life are so small and petty that they aren't worth stressing over in any form

me when my friend owes me $25 and hasn't returned the stockpot i let them borrow for a night: The west must immediately establish a culture of guanxi

[alectoperdita]

Oh hell, I am all about them drugged confessions. If/whenever you’re up for it. 💕

From Put That Guy in a Situation(TM) Ask Game

Jumped this one ahead in the queue since it's someone's birthday. 💜💜💜 Enjoy, my friend! I hope this has enough of the stuff you dig about them.

13. Drunken/drugged/sleepy confessions

content warnings: referenced non-consensual drug use and mildly spicy because Seto is thirsty

---

The city lights stabbed into Seto's eyes. The city's heartbeat—a frantic cacophony of bumper-to-bumper traffic, music spilling out of late-night shops and restaurants, and an overwhelming pulse of humanity—pulsed against the back of his head like a second migraine.

He lifted his heavy head and tried to get a better look at his surroundings. Not an easy feat when the world wouldn't stop spinning. Seto could feel the planet's rotational force itself.

In the sky, a bloated, sickly yellow moon hung on the black canvas, a dim bulb when compared to the Oriental Pearl Tower's neon blue and magenta on the opposite riverbank. The phalanx of lit skyscrapers behind the landmark formed a blinding wall that threatened to lighten the night sky.

No wonder they were sitting at a standstill in traffic. He was in the Bund. Shanghai. He was in Shanghai. Not for the first or second time, but the city's nightlife never failed to overwhelm.

It came back to him in bits and pieces. The Pan-Asia Duel Monsters Championship was in China this year, which KC was a sponsor of, along with a dozen international and domestic corporations. Seto wasn't here to compete, though. He was here to do business and build guanxi.

Which meant night after night of hard drinking and tedious back slapping as Seto endured their patronizing compliments about his passable Mandarin. Endless rounds of maotai until his blood must be 90% alcohol. That was the preferred poison of the old-school elites, the ones who built their wealth on the backs of a rapidly booming economy that outpaced everyone's wildest imagination. Not even Japan had sustained that kind of boom in the post-war years.

Potential liver failure was the price of doing business in this country.

That was last night, though. Seto was sure of that much, even if the passage of time seemed theoretical at best. Tonight, he'd been swept into a gaggle of their children, mainly the sons of the previous night's party officials and business moguls.

The fuerdai. His "peers."

Ha! Gozaburo had handed him nothing. Everything Seto owned, everything he accomplished, was through his own sweat and blood.

Seto will give them one thing: their tastes were decidedly less provincial. While their fathers drank baijiu like fish drinking water, they preferred cocktails, or at least pitchers of iced green tea mixed with Crown Royal.

Maybe that was his first mistake. Maybe he shouldn't have underestimated how fucked up he could get on such a simple mixture.

That was the last thing he could remember. He drew a yawning gap between the afterparty at the club and this taxi cab.

Seto sank into the seat and squeezed his eyes shut. His stomach lurched. Perhaps it was a good thing that they were stuck in traffic. He might not be able to keep it down in stop-and-go traffic.

An abrasive—a familiar abrasive voice—encroached from the fringes, though. An equally combative voice shot back in a different language.

Seto's head lolled to the side, away from the window and toward the other passenger in the backseat. Reluctantly, he pried his heavy eyelids open. God, why was he so tired? It felt like he'd pulled several all-nighters in a row.

His fellow passenger was Jounouchi, locked in a heated conversation/argument with the cab driver.

Right. Jounouchi was also in Shanghai this week. Except he was here to compete in the tournament. And unlike Seto, he didn't speak a lick of Chinese.

Not that his laughable grasp of English fared any better.

"Fuck, I'm telling ya, it's the other Marriott!" Jounouchi groaned in Japanese, running a frustrated hand through his bird's nest hair. It looked softer than it had any right to be, though. The strands ought to be bleached to hell and back after this many years.

But Jounouchi had been updating his wardrobe and his deck in recent years. Every victory advanced his look and style, and even netted him some media training like someone deserving of media notice, which was why he was playing in the Pan-Asian championship. Seto couldn't ignore him like he once did, like he still tried to in vain sometimes.

(And sometimes, he very much didn't want to ignore Jounouchi, wondering if he could catch the other man's attention in return...)

None of that explained why they were in the same cab, though.

Jounouchi tried again to communicate. It hurt to listen to him butcher English to that extent. The cab driver appeared to grow even more irate, threatening to eject them entirely.

Giggles spilled uncontrollably out of him. Of course! Of course, Jounouchi's incompetence got them stranded on the opposite end of the city from their hotel.

Fortunately, he was a snack to look at, even if his brains were nothing to write home about.

Seto's words croaked out of him, repeating in Mandarin what Jounouchi had been trying to convey. God, why did it hurt so much to speak? But even his drunken slur sufficed, earning a grousing retort from the driver that Seto should've just said so sooner while shooting a death glare at his other passenger through the rearview mirror.

At the sound of Seto's voice, Jounouchi jolted in shock, releasing the driver's headrest he had been clinging to. After several awkward moments of staring, he inched closer to Seto, stopping short of touching him. But the proximity and the tight enclosure made Seto's skin crawl. Not in an unpleasant way, though. His body tingled and felt a touch flushed.

How would Jounouchi's skin feel against his?

"You alright there, Kaiba?" asked Jounouchi, seemingly floating closer. He waved a hesitant hand in Seto's face.

Base urges welled up in him. He wanted to grab Jounouchi's hand and bite it, no better than a dog, as he once mocked the other man for being. Better yet, he could drag his tongue across the rough palm and lap at his knuckles. Suck his thick fingers into his mouth and learn contentment from how they could fill his mouth.

Seto was never drinking green tea mixed with whisky ever again.

He managed a small noise of confirmation before he twisted away, curling as best as he could around the seatbelt. Something like a whimper pushed at the back of his throat, but he refused to release it. He wouldn't humiliate himself any further. Just as he wouldn't crawl across the middle seat and cuddle into Jounouchi's lap.

But god, he wanted that so much it hurt.

A warm hand landed on his back, and he nearly surrendered as Jounouchi rubbed soothing circles between his shoulder blades.

"It's okay." Jounouchi spoke softly, but somehow it rang louder than the many decibels of Shanghai traffic. "We'll be back at the hotel in time. Just hang in there."

Seto spent the rest of the journey folded into himself, wedged firmly against the side of the taxi, trying and failing not to tremble under Jounouchi's caring touch. With a hushed tone, Jounouchi explained what had happened. It was pure coincidence that he ran into Seto and his "party" at that particular club. (Coincidence is giving chance too much credit. There were only so many high-end nightclubs in the city.) Jounouchi had wandered over to say hi before rejoining his own group. But out of the corner of his eyes, he'd noticed that Kaiba was acting unlike himself. In fact, the entire group seemed a bit off.

Seto was coming to his own conclusion before Jounouchi shared his.

Seto had been drugged. And since he knew better than to take random shit handed to him by strangers, it must've been slipped into his drink. Or maybe it was in the communal cocktail pitcher to begin with.

"They were trying to drag you off to someplace else. Don't ask me where. But you didn't look like you wanted to go, so I stepped in," Jounouchi trailed off. He'd yet to remove his hand, but it sat unmoving, a steadying weight on Seto's back helping to ground him to reality.

"I can't imagine they were happy," Seto muttered.

Jounouchi chuckled. "Not one bit. Acted like I was trying to kill the party. One chick threatened me with her stiletto heel."

"My knight in shining armor." Seto found himself laughing, then regretted it when his head throbbed.

"Don't worry, I didn't hit any of 'em. Mighty tempting, though. I just kinda threw you over my shoulder and high-tailed it outta there. That was how I knew you were really outta it. You barely cursed me out."

Heat associated with both shame and arousal rushed through him. It turned out those biceps he secretly admired weren't just for show.

"Finally, we're here!" exclaimed Jounouchi. His hand also regrettably retreated.

Seto watched blearily as Jounouchi overpaid the driver and leaped out the door. He didn't go far, though. He jogged around the vehicle to Seto's side and yanked open the door. As he leaned in and over Seto to undo the seatbelt buckle, the woody scent of Jounouchi's cologne flooded Seto's nostrils. And his strength was plainly evident as he braced his arms around Seto's shoulders and hip.

"Alright, up we go," urged Jounouchi.

Under any sober circumstance, Seto would've never allowed this to happen. To let Jounouchi touch him, especially as a caretaker. But Seto was the farthest thing from sober, fucked up on whatever combination of alcohol and party drugs he had been unwittingly fed. He didn't have the strength to stand on his own two feet.

So he relied on Jounouchi and his strength. Clung to the man's sweat-slicked neck.

The doorman didn't give them a second glance. Why should he? Seto was simply the latest in an endless stream of drunken guests stumbling back into the five-star hotel.

A lobby concierge approached and tried to help, though. Both Jounouchi and Seto waved him off. Jounouchi likely because he didn't want another stressful not-conversation, and Seto didn't want anyone but Jounouchi touching him right now.

"Hey, what floor?" Jounouchi asked after propping him against the wall of the elevator carriage.

Seto patted down his pockets and was relieved to find his wallet. He didn't expect the fuerdai to rob him blind like a common mugger, but you never knew. He tossed the leather wallet to Jounouchi and croaked, "Key card."

The tournament competitors were provided with single-bed guest rooms. Seto, on the other hand, occupied the Vice Presidential Suite for the week. Their elevator shot toward the top floors, bypassing the dozens of floors between the ground and the suites.

As they ascended, Seto snuck covert glances at the other hand. Despite the air conditioning running at full blast, Jounouchi was still huffing and sweating. Who could blame him? Summer in Shanghai could be blistering.

"Can you walk?" asked Jounouchi when the elevator doors finally parted.

Struck muted, Seto shook his head. His heart raced as Jounouchi wrapped a burly arm around his waist, and together, they hobbled down the hall to the suite's door.

The lights flicked on automatically as they entered, drawing an impressed whistle from Jounouchi as he took in the room.

"Yeah, guess I should've known. You wouldn't be caught dead living like us commoners. Where's the bed in this joint?"

The mention of bed caused something hot and heavy to coil in Seto's navel. Without meaning to, his arm tightened around Jounouchi's neck, which only prompted the other man to grip him tighter, mistaking the action as a plea for more support.

"Bedroom," he moaned, knocking his head against the side of Jounouchi's. He might be imagining it, but he swore Jounouchi shivered and pink flooded down to his neck.

Seconds later, they stumbled into the adjoined bedroom. The spacious room apparently didn't warrant any comments, because Jounouchi deposited Seto on the bed and disappeared from sight.

To say Seto was disappointed was an understatement.

It may be a blessing in disguise. Jounouchi had already done the "decent" thing: extracted him from a dicey situation and brought him to safety. Seto didn't need to embarrass himself in front of the other man any further.

He jumped when a hand grabbed his shoulder, kicking a leg out blindly.

"Relax, it's me."

Silly though it was, Seto did relax as soon as he registered Jounouchi's voice. His firm but careful touch.

"Here. I got you water from the minibar and a cool towel. It's unopened. I promise."

Seto stared helplessly at the two items being offered to him. Jounouchi made no moves, either. They were at a stalemate. At least until the other man sighed and pressed the moist towel to Seto's sweat-dampened forehead. His eyes fluttered closed, and he unleashed a faint moan at how good and chilly it felt.

"C'mon, you gotta drink the water, too. The whole bottle, then I promise to leave you alone."

Panic spiked through Seto's system. Being alone, something he never minded before, suddenly sounded unbearable. He didn't want Jounouchi to leave.

He reached out. Not to take the proffered bottle, as refreshing as its content may be, but to grab Jounouchi's forearm. Jounouchi froze under his clutch.

"You can't leave. I won't let you," said Seto before he could stop himself.

Jounouchi's breath hitched. As he stared at Seto's face, his eyes darkened with something unspeakable. He licked his lips. "Okay, not leaving. Not tonight. Guess someone's gotta keep an eye on you and make sure things don't take a turn for the worse. But you gotta at least let go of my arm. I'll take the couch outside."

Seto slid closer. "I want you—"

Jounouchi gasped. Seto could kiss him at that instant, but his head spun.

He wanted Jounouchi in every conceivable way. Wanted to feel his naked skin against his skin. Wanted to feel his weight pressing down on him as his cock pushed into Seto's hole. Wanted to shatter apart and then let Jounouchi piece him back together in the afterglow, warm and content.

He thought Jounouchi might grant him those things. If only he'd ask for them. But the words remained stubbornly lodged in his throat as sobriety started to creep in on the edges.

"I want you to stay with me," he whispered, holding Jounouchi's shell-shocked gaze.

Tonight and tomorrow. Maybe even for the rest of their lives. One day, Seto would give voice to the whole truth.

Read other prompt fill ficlets here

[kingsandbastardz]

Re WIP Title Game: I want to know EVERYTHING related to your WIP about My Journey to You's Gong family economics and their position in the jianghu and regular society. Personally, I always felt there was a lot of sketchiness about that family (starting with their whole bride ritual) so would love to hear from someone more knowledgeable about the genre's worldbuilding tropes!

my write up for this was originally pending a rewatch but it's taking awhile to organize it. Anyway i'm gonna need to simplify this down because I think some information from some categories will cross over and others are probably best left out -- but I've transferred a tree I wrote down on paper for the planned topics:

the family skill sets/offerings of exportable goods plus limitations they would impose on it + reasons for limitations

how those goods (And thereby the gong family) would traditionally be seen in a wuxia-world jianghu

implications of selling what they sell and what that would mean -- including how would that cause all of jianghu and regular society to structure itself around their catalogue

gong shangjue's role as the only person allowed to go outside - and therefore must control the customer-facing side of the gong family

how the gong family handles inherently uneven distribution of favor/power/access to Things

extrapolation on what customers the gong family must be selling to and how they would be able to maintain the power that allows them to continue to have autonomy

what it might be like for shangjue to somehow straddle both jianghu and regular society at a high level AND lever control over both worlds' power levels via what he allows to be sold - imagine a single representative for company that's essentially the monster amalgam of lockheed martin and the beyer corporation. Now imagine that guy having access to all the world's leaders at every layer of society

What would gong shangjue's personal limitations be in this situation? Where does he draw the line? (will probably refile this under gong family limitations)

what it must be like to come home and suddenly have to let go of that power and be completely under someone else's control (see section about how the gong family handles uneven distribution of favor/power/things)

Supply Chain Management - logistics for sourcing of raw materials and movement of goods when no one is allowed to leave the compound

the bridal selection and currying favor and what it means when the gong family accepts and expects tribute

the gong family as an ancient conglomerate and how they handle guanxi

also - economic conglomerate as a feudal family (think korean chaebol families, esp. Samsung) with some sort of mysterious lore that even they have forgotten about - and how they will be able to pivot. Also what are they going to do about their birth rate??

It's a lot that I have swimming around in my head. I'm basically trying to power slam my way through every shorter fanfic and meta I can to create brain space for my monster writings - of which I count this one to be. LMAO

[jovialbasementbouquetblr]

2019: PRC Official Drinking Culture: County Officials

Social science research by Chinese scholars at its best combines the best of world analytical tools with the cultural understanding of ‘native speakers’ of the local political and social cultures and traditions. Much of this work is encrypted in the Chinese characters and so not so available to sino-illiterates [中文文盲] in the rest of the world. Fortunately Susan Finder of Peking University and the…

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Hi

Why do people say cultural and contest wise the wen remands death wasn’t wrong cuz blood revenge how does that work? Tried asking someone who said and they called me white American even though I’m neither like they’re the once saying agent China didn’t have morals but I’m the uncultured one for some reason

Because they're pulling excuses out of their bum.

Now, there WAS a system called "Family Extermination" or the Execution Of the Nine Guanxi (The principles that dictated calling others as kin by confucian concept) Or 诛连九族 zhulian ju zu, guilt by association. This was done in mass as Lingchi 凌迟 (I doubt I need to remind this fandom what this is now do I?)

The punishment of death went as so:

The criminal's living parents

The criminal's living grandparents

Any children the criminal may have, over a certain age (varying over different eras, children below that age becoming slaves) and—if married—their spouses.

Any grandchildren the criminal may have, over a certain age (again with enslavement for the underaged) and—if married—their spouses.

Siblings and siblings-in-law (the siblings of the criminal and that of his or her spouse, in the case where he or she is married)

Uncles and aunts of the criminal, as well as their spouses

The criminal's cousins (in the case of Korea, this included up to second and third cousins)

The criminal's spouse

The criminal's spouse's parents

The criminal (The first offender)

But even historically, this was almost unheard of to implement and was all but nulled by the time of the Shang dynasty's (1600–1046 BC) rise in China and "post-modern" East Asian society.

With that out of the way, The text of the work condemns what was done to the remaining Wens as cruel and unusual punishment, and hypocritical for the cultivation world as a whole. There is no cultural excuse given in the work for the justification that killed the Wens, remaining cultivators or not. MXTX also did not condem Wei Wuxian for being radical for standing against the persecution of the remaining Wens. What was done to the Wens was anachronistically influenced by this historical process, but as with everything else in the book, is written as a heinous act.

There is no such thing as blood revenge within Family Extermination as it was only used in regards to treason, of the divinity of the Imperial Court, and Emperor. The Cultivation world is neither divine, or imperial within MDZS. It is a separate political entity in that universe. They have no reason to logically claim this punishment, and it was not used on the Wens. They were brutally beaten instead and left to rot in a pool. Lingchi, was a very public execution as a warning of what happens when you go against the divine right and rule. Those children left alive due to "statutes" lost any previous status their family name once held and were all but nameless slaves. The Wens, was just a senseless murder under the veneer of righteousness for a nameless concept that was different for all involved with the deaths. Family Extermination was for the Divine Family, and them alone to establish as a sentence.

[iseo58]

Guanxi Ganzou, China

[smokefalls]

My mom always talked about the concept of “guanxi,” which doesn’t have a clear cultural translation. It’s basically the way in which our human connections instill interpersonal influence and obligation, how we both leverage and honor our human ties.

Tessa Hulls, Feeding Ghosts