The Confucian Value of Harmony and its Influence on Chinese Social Interaction

As the cardinal cultural value in Chinese society, the Confucian harmony presupposes the coexistence of different things and implies a certain favorable relationship among them. In social interaction, Confucianism puts weight on “harmony but not sameness”, “harmony without mindlessly following others” and “harmonization of various kinds of people by observing rituals of propriety”, under the influence of which Chinese interpersonal relationships are characterized by emphasis on group orientation, the Doctrine of the Mean, giving or making face for others, guanxi (social connections), and reciprocity.