Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact

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Why Is It so Easy for the Chinese to Lie?

By KITAMURA MINORU, Lin Siyun,

Abstract

Abstract: Why Is It so Easy for the Chinese to Lie?
Kitamura Minoru, professor at Ritsumeikan University and Lin Sinyu, who holds a Ph.D. in engineering, discuss Chinese psychology and how it relates to Chinese interaction with Japan. Chinese thinking of course can apply to countries beyond Japan. Understanding the Chinese way of thinking is critical not only in understanding their current and past actions, but to forecast their future actions.
The key behavior is "bihui," preserving stability of the state and the good name of the group: "the reputation of your group can't be dishonored". For this purpose, facts can be easily ignored. In other words, lying is allowed and even patriotic. Drs. Kitamura and Lin's paper explains this behavior at length and in depth.

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