Contracts v. hétong, redux

Today we're revisiting the topic of contracts versus hétong. There's rich territory to explore here. I was recently revisiting Lin Yutang's classic book, My Country and My People, and it spurred some more thinking on this issue.

I've quoted from the book before: it was Lin Yutang who referred to China as "a nation of individualists" in this book, published in 1935. Lin addresses what he calls Chinese "indifference," which, he argues, is a function of the world's unpredictability, especially with regard to (lack of) legal institutions to protect citizens:

Chinese youths are as public-spirited as foreign youths, and Chinese hot-heads show as much desire to "meddle with public affairs" as those in any other country. But somewhere between their twenty-fifth and their thirtieth years, they all become wise, and acquire this indifference, which contributes a lot to their mellowness and culture. Some learn it by native intelligence, some by getting their fingers burned once or twice. All old people play safe because all old rogues have learned the benefits of indifference in a society where personal rights are not guaranteed and where getting one's fingers burned once is bad enough. (pp. 48-9)

This connects directly to what Americans sometimes perceive as an indifference to the "letter of the law":

In one word, we recognize the necessity of human effort but we also admit the futility of it. This general attitude of mind has a tendency to develop passive defense tactics. "Great things can be reduced into small things, and small things can be reduced into nothing." On this general principle, all Chinese disputes are patched up, all Chinese schemes are readjusted, and all reform programs are discounted until there are peace and rice for everybody. (p. 56)

No wonder Americans, laser-focused as we are on "honoring our word," sometimes get up in arms. Contracts are about "honoring our word"; hétong are about reducing differences and working together to create "peace and rice for everybody."

A caricature, to be sure, but one to bear in mind — and really think through — as you continue to develop your relationships in China.