Guanxi is not a phenomenon unto itself. The component to “relationship” or “influence” is zeren, which we can translate as “duty” or “obligation”. To misapprehend this dynamic may lead one to dismissing the crucial role of guanxi in China as an outdated myth. The misinformed rationalize that, since influence peddling plays a universal role in acheivement, and China is doing such an admirable job of imitating Western institutions, that the importance of personal connections must surely be receding into the shadow cast by the virtuous light of individual merit.

Such a rationale is patronizing, if well intentioned, and erroneous. Guanxi plus zeren adds up to a harmonious, reliable system of interdependence that the Han and their cultural children, Japan and Korea, have been using for millennia. Condescending foreigners and go-getters with MBAs aren’t going to alter this dynamic anytime soon.

A connection in China is nothing without the manifest guarantee of honoring one’s bond with intimate service. The clearest example is the original paradigm – the Chinese family. The natural hierarchy sets the precedent for all Chinese groups with common interests. There is no horizontal democracy, consensus building or other such nonsense to disrupt the harmony Confucius himself ordered. Man is higher than woman, and elder is higher than junior. These are the conduits along which both guanxi and zeren flow. The son repays his parents for the kindness of giving him life by continuing the family line. Likewise, the family and fellow villagers repay the gods for a harvest with sacrifice.

This may sound fairly universal, until one considers the dire consequences for Chinese who violate the arrangement. A son who decides kids just aren’t for him is no individualist. Well, maybe he is, but he’s a disgrace first and foremost, for disregarding zeren. On a larger scale, the son of a powerful political family might well use his guanxi to obtain high office. But for him to engage in the kind of wanton malfeasance that casts his whole family in a bad light would be as unthinkable for him as it would be for George Bush to question his personal relationship with the Big Decider. The Japanese, ever ones to take a logical arrangement to its illogical extreme, still commit ritual suicide for flagrant neglect of zeren.

This conduit of guanxi and zeren flows in both directions, which explains why offering to pay for you and your boss’ lunches may be construed as a grave insult. It also leads to the principles of mianzi, face, a discussion for another post. As for zeren and guanxi, foreigners looking to make good in China disregard it at their peril. Those who would casually bash the system would do well to first consider the Kafkaesque quagmire of contract law and litigation by which Western obligations are maintained.