1887
image of Flattery in historical China

Abstract

Abstract

In this study we examine how flattery was realised in historical Chinese interactions. We bring together ritual, speech acts and interaction, studying a corpus of interactions drawn from the late imperial satirical novel 官场现形记 (‘Officialdom Unmasked’). Many claims have been made about the prevalence of flattery in Chinese social interaction, in particular in historical China. Since little language-anchored research has been dedicated to flattery in historical Chinese, this study fills a knowledge gap. We conducted a tripartite analysis focusing on: (1) how flattery in historical Chinese can be defined, (2) how flattery was conventionally realised, and (3) how flattery was conventionally responded to. We also investigated how flattery relates to the phenomena of self-denigration/other-elevation and complimenting in Chinese.

Available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/prag.24076.liu
2025-05-06
2025-05-14
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/10.1075/prag.24076.liu/prag.24076.liu.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1075/prag.24076.liu&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Asirvatham, Sulochana
    2017 “Flattery, History, and the Πεπαιδευμένος.” InAncient Historiography on War and Empire, ed. byTimothy Howe, Richard Stoneman, and Sabine Müller, –. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Bahr, Samar, and Nawal Abbas
    2016 “Overlap of Meaning: Praise and Flattery in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.” International Journal of Humanities and Culture Studies (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Cavazza, Nicoletta
    2017 “The Tone Dilemma: Comparing the Effects of Flattery and Verbal Aggression in a Political Speech.” Journal of Language and Social Psychology (): –. 10.1177/0261927X17698186
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X17698186 [Google Scholar]
  4. Chen, Rong, and Dafu Yang
    2010 “Responding to Compliments in Chinese: Has It Changed?” Journal of Pragmatics (): –. 10.1016/j.pragma.2009.12.006
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.12.006 [Google Scholar]
  5. Culpeper, Jonathan, and Merja Kytö
    2000 “Data in Historical Pragmatics: Spoken Interaction (Re)Cast as Writing.” Journal of Historical Pragmatics (): –. 10.1075/jhp.1.2.03cul
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.1.2.03cul [Google Scholar]
  6. Danziger, Roni
    2020 “The Pragmatics of Flattery: The Strategic Use of Solidarity-Oriented Actions.” Journal of Pragmatics: –. 10.1016/j.pragma.2020.09.027
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.09.027 [Google Scholar]
  7. Danziger, Roni, and Zohar Kampf
    2020 “Interpretive Constructs in Contrast: The Case of Flattery in Hebrew and in Palestinian Arabic.” Contrastive Pragmatics (): –. 10.1163/26660393‑BJA10020
    https://doi.org/10.1163/26660393-BJA10020 [Google Scholar]
  8. Edmondson, Willis
    1981Spoken Discourse: A Model for Analysis. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Edmondson, Willis, and Juliane House
    1981Let’s Talk and Talk About It: A Pedagogic Interactional Grammar of English. Munich: Urban & Schwarzenberg.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Edmondson, Willis, Juliane House, and Dániel Z. Kádár
    2023Expressions, Speech Acts and Discourse: A Pedagogic Interactional Grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Fitzgerald, John
    1996Friendship, Flattery, and Frankness of Speech: Studies on Friendship in the New Testament World. Leiden: Brill. 10.1163/9789004267282
    https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004267282 [Google Scholar]
  12. Frandsen, Tove Faber, and Jeppe Nicolaisen
    2011 “Praise the Bridge That Carries You Over: Testing the Flattery Citation Hypothesis.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (): –. 10.1002/asi.21503
    https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21503 [Google Scholar]
  13. Goffman, Erving
    1967Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. New York: Pantheon.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. González-Lloret, Marta
    2010 “Conversation Analysis and Speech Act Performance.” InSpeech Act Performance: Theoretical, Empirical and Methodological Issues, ed. byAlicia Martínez-Flor, and Esther Usó-Juan, –. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/lllt.26.04gon
    https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.26.04gon [Google Scholar]
  15. Gu, Yueguo
    1990 “Politeness Phenomena in Modern Chinese.” Journal of Pragmatics (): –. 10.1016/0378‑2166(90)90082‑O
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(90)90082-O [Google Scholar]
  16. Guo, Yaping, and Wei Ren
    2024 “Responses to Self-Praise on Chinese Social Media.” Discourse & Communication (): –. 10.1177/17504813231222591
    https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813231222591 [Google Scholar]
  17. Herbert, Robert
    1989 “The Ethnography of English Compliments and Compliment-Responses: A Contrastive Sketch.” InContrastive Pragmatics, ed. byWieslaw Oleksy, –. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/pbns.3.05her
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.3.05her [Google Scholar]
  18. Holmes, Janet
    1988 “Paying Compliments: A Sex-Preferential Politeness Strategy.” Journal of Pragmatics (): –. 10.1016/0378‑2166(88)90005‑7
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(88)90005-7 [Google Scholar]
  19. Holoch, Donald
    1980 “A Novel of Setting: ‘The Bureaucrats.’” InThe Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century, ed. byMilena Doleželová-Velingerová, –. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 10.3138/9781442653856‑006
    https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442653856-006 [Google Scholar]
  20. House, Juliane, and Dániel Z. Kádár
    2023 “Speech Acts and Interaction in Second Language Pragmatics: A Position Paper.” Language Teaching: –. 10.1017/S0261444822000477
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444822000477 [Google Scholar]
  21. Howarth, Herbert
    1965 “Shakespeare’s Flattery in Measure for Measure.” Shakespeare Quarterly (): –. 10.2307/2867731
    https://doi.org/10.2307/2867731 [Google Scholar]
  22. Hu, Ying
    2016 “Late Qing Fiction.” InThe Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature, ed. byKirk A. Denton, –. New York: Columbia University Press. 10.7312/dent17008‑012
    https://doi.org/10.7312/dent17008-012 [Google Scholar]
  23. Huang, Yuhong 黄育红
    2010 “Gōngwéi yǔ de biǎodá fāngshì jí yǔ yòng gōngnéng — Yǐ “Hónglóumèng” nǚxìng gōngwéiyǔ wéilì恭维语的表达方式及语用功能—以 《红楼梦 》女性恭维语为例 [‘The expression and pragmatic functions of compliments — taking female compliments in ‘Dream of Red Mansions’ as an example’].” Yāntái dàxué xuébào (zhéxué shèhuì kēxué bǎn)w烟台大学学报 (哲学社会科学版): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Jia, Mian, and Guoping Yang
    2021 “Emancipating Chinese (Im)Politeness Research: Looking Back and Looking Forward.” Lingua: . 10.1016/j.lingua.2020.103028
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2020.103028 [Google Scholar]
  25. Kádár, Dániel Z.
    2024Ritual and Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781108624909
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108624909 [Google Scholar]
  26. Kádár, Dániel Z., Juliane House, Fengguang Liu, and Lin Jiao
    2022 “Self-Denigration in Chinese: An Interactional Speech Act Approach.” Language & Communication (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Kapust, Daniel
    2018Flattery and the History of Political Thought: Ghat Glib and Oily Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781107338258
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107338258 [Google Scholar]
  28. Kissine, Mikhail
    2013From Utterances to Speech Acts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511842191
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511842191 [Google Scholar]
  29. Knechtges, David
    1970 “Wit, Humor, and Satire in Early Chinese Literature (to A.D. 220).” Monumenta Serica (): –. 10.1080/02549948.1970.11744985
    https://doi.org/10.1080/02549948.1970.11744985 [Google Scholar]
  30. Levinson, Stephen
    2017 “Speech Acts.” InOxford Handbook of Pragmatics, ed. byHuang Yan, –. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria
    2001 “Compliment-Responses among British and Spanish University Students: A Contrastive Study.” Journal of Pragmatics (): –. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(99)00127‑7
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00127-7 [Google Scholar]
  32. Maclagan, Patrick
    2003 “Varieties of Moral Issue and Dilemma: A Framework for the Analysis of Case Material in Business Ethics Education.” Journal of Business Ethics: –. 10.1023/B:BUSI.0000004364.63317.73
    https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000004364.63317.73 [Google Scholar]
  33. Maíz-Arévalo, Carmen
    2012 “‘Was That a Compliment?’ Implicit Compliments in English and Spanish.” Journal of Pragmatics (): –. 10.1016/j.pragma.2012.04.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.04.004 [Google Scholar]
  34. McLean, Donald James, Gerasimos Cassis, David W. Kikuchi, Gonzalo Giribet, and Marie E. Herberstein
    2019 “Insincere Flattery? Understanding the Evolution of Imperfect Deceptive Mimicry.” The Quarterly Review of Biology (): –. 10.1086/706769
    https://doi.org/10.1086/706769 [Google Scholar]
  35. Nikou, Farahnaz, and Marzieh Nikou
    2012 “Language of Flattery in Iranian Letter Writing Discourse.” Academic Research International (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Park, Sun Hyun, James Westphal, and Ithai Stern
    2011 “Set Up for a Fall: The Insidious Effects of Flattery and Opinion Conformity Toward Corporate Leaders.” Administrative Science Quarterly (): –. 10.1177/0001839211429102
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839211429102 [Google Scholar]
  37. Pomerantz, Anita
    1978 “Compliment-Responses: Notes on the Co-Operation of Multiple Constraints.” InStudies in the Organization of Conversational Interaction, ed. byJim Schenkein, –. New York: Academic Press. 10.1016/B978‑0‑12‑623550‑0.50010‑0
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-623550-0.50010-0 [Google Scholar]
  38. Qiu, Jia, Xinren Chen, and Michael Haugh
    2021 “Jocular Flattery in Chinese Multi-Party Instant Messaging Interactions.” Journal of Pragmatics: –. 10.1016/j.pragma.2021.03.020
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.03.020 [Google Scholar]
  39. Shanshool, Ashwaq
    2024 “A Pragmatic Analysis of Flattering in Some Selected Literary Texts.” International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (): –. 10.32996/ijllt.2024.7.7.5
    https://doi.org/10.32996/ijllt.2024.7.7.5 [Google Scholar]
  40. Sparks, Judith
    2001 “The Gift of Flattery: A Social and Biological Analysis of Deceptive Practices.” MA thesis. Carleton University.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Vonk, Ross
    2002 “Self-Serving Interpretations of Flattery: Why Ingratiation Works.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (): –. 10.1037/0022‑3514.82.4.515
    https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.4.515 [Google Scholar]
  42. Williams, Rachel
    2020 “Yawning Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Exploring Contagious Yawning and Empathy in Dogs.” BA thesis. ISN Psychology Institute for Social Neuroscience Ivanhoe.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Wolfson, Nessa, and Joan Manes
    1980 “The Compliment as a Social Strategy.” Language and Social Interaction (): –. 10.1080/08351818009370503
    https://doi.org/10.1080/08351818009370503 [Google Scholar]
  44. Xia, Dengshan, Caiyan Yin, and Chun Lan
    2017 “A Study on Compliment Responses in Triadic Contexts.” Foreign Language Teaching and Research: –.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. 2021 “Article in Translation: Chinese Compliment-Responses in Triadic Contexts.” Journal of Pragmatics: –. 10.1016/j.pragma.2020.10.009
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.10.009 [Google Scholar]
  46. Xia, Dengshan, and Zhoubinzi Jiang
    2022 “An Empirical Study of Chinese Microbloggers’ Explicit Self-Praises.” InSelf-Praise Across Cultures and Contexts, ed. byChaoqun Xie, and Ying Tong. New York: Springer. 10.1007/978‑3‑030‑99217‑0_7
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99217-0_7 [Google Scholar]
  47. Yang, Jie
    2013 “The Politics of Pai Ma Pi: Flattery as Empty Signifiers and Social Control in a Chinese Workplace.” Social Semiotics (): –. 10.1080/10350330.2012.752159
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2012.752159 [Google Scholar]
  48. Yu, Ming-Chung
    2003 “On the Universality of Face: Evidence from Chinese Compliment-Response Behavior.” Journal of Pragmatics (): –. 10.1016/S0378‑2166(03)00074‑2
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(03)00074-2 [Google Scholar]
  49. Zhou, Ling
    2022 “Self-Denigration in Mandarin Chinese: An Alternative Account from Sincerity.” Language and Communication: –. 10.1016/j.langcom.2022.05.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2022.05.002 [Google Scholar]
  50. Zhou, Xiaoting 周小渟
    2021 “Lìshǐ yíshì lǐmào shìyù-xià wǎn-Qīng zòushū gōngwéi yányǔxíngwéi yánjiū历史仪式礼貌视阈下晚清奏疏恭维言语行为研究 [‘A study on the speech act of compliment in late Qing Dynasty memorials from the perspective of historical ritual politeness’].” Wàiyǔ yǔ wàiyǔ jiàoxué外语与外语教学: –.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.24076.liu
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.24076.liu
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: flattery ; speech acts ; interaction ritual ; interaction ; historical Chinese
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error