Sincerity
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Two colleagues noticed that the PRC government often rebukes other countries for lacking sincerity, and they asked me if Chinese had a different understanding of sincerity that permitted / encouraged them to do so. "Sincerity" is so front and center in Chinese negotiations with other nations that one soon comes to realize, if you want smooth relations with the PRC, you must needs demonstrate to the Chinese representatives that you are utterly sincere, i.e., that you are willing to do exactly what they want you to do. Anything less opens you to the charge of being insincere.
My colleagues asked me if there is something special about the Chinese conception of sincerity, i.e., does it have special Chinese characteristics" (jùyǒu Zhòngguó tèsè 具有中国特色)? Just as it is an article of faith for the CCP that socialism in China comes with special characteristics (Zhōngguó tèsè shèhuì zhǔyì 中国特色社会主义).
I will say two things about the meaning of "sincere" in China.
First, it has an extraordinarily wide range of definitional translations in Chinese (30 by this count):
—–
zhēnchéng 真誠
- genuine
- sincere
- true
- melancholy
- sincere
- earnest
- grieved
- sincere
- sorrowful
- faithful
- sincere
- honest
- sincere
- expansive
- hearty
- sincere
- cordial
- sincere
- bare
- loyal
- red
- scarlet
- sincere
- single-hearted
- sincere
- earnest
- faithful
- honest
- reliable
- serious
- sincere
- honest
- kind-hearted
- sincere
- earnest
- sincere
- earnest
- sincere
- simple-minded
- sincere
- sincere
- guileless
- honest
- plain
- simple
- sincere
- genuine
- unadorned
- devout
- pious
- sincere
- sincere
- cordial
- sincere
- honest
- sincere
- solid
- agreeable
- blunt
- candid
- cheerful
- cheery
- sincere
- frank
- sincere
- straightforward
- earnest
- frank
- genuine
- heartfelt
- honest
- sincere
- heartfelt
- sincere
- sincere
- willing
- sincere
- unfeigned
- sincere
- straightforward
- unaffected
- heartfelt
- sincere
- whole-hearted
- cordial
- sincere
- sincere
- straightforward
—–
Han Yu’s (768-824) friend Li Ao (772-841) shared similar views and wrote a highly influential essay on human nature that sounded more of the philosophic themes that would dominate the Song Neo-Confucian revival. While Li’s vision of the self might be a bit too quiescent for the tastes of the more activist Song literati, it still captured the tone of the philosophical revival:
Therefore it is sincerity that the sage takes as his nature, absolutely still and without movement, vast and great, clear and bright, shining on Heaven and Earth. When stimulated he can then penetrate all things in the world. In act or in rest, in speech or silence, he always remains in the ultimate. It is returning to his true nature that the worthy man follows without ceasing. If he follows it without ceasing he is enabled to get back to the source (Barrett 1992: 102).
11. Cheng or sincerity, genuineness and the self-actualization of the moral virtues such that one achieves a morally harmonious life via various forms of xiushen or self-cultivation by means of such praxis as jing mindfulness or attentiveness; this praxis is the “how” of the moral self-cultivation of the five constant virtues.
- "'May your satisfaction sincerely aroused by me'" (2/16/23)
- "Thought panzers" (2/24/24)
bks said,
February 3, 2025 @ 10:17 am
"This, above all: to thine own self be true" (said by Polonius in Hamlet, act 1, scene 3)
GH said,
February 3, 2025 @ 11:22 am
I think to me the accusation sounds weird because I don't expect international diplomacy to be guided by "sincerity," but on the contrary to involve a lot of insincere assurances of deep friendship and respect, pro forma posturing, and "polite fictions."
Could it be that in context, "lack of sincerity" would be better translated into English as "in bad faith"? At least to me, that phrase has connotations that it would make more sense to complain about.
jin defang said,
February 3, 2025 @ 12:01 pm
"in bad faith" is as close as I think we'll get but, as Prof. Mair says, despite the sundry translations he's found, sincerity means doing exactly what the CCP wants. Thus Chen Shui-bian was accused of insincerity when he wouldn't accept the CCP's definition of the One China Policy .
Allen W. Thrasher said,
February 3, 2025 @ 12:41 pm
Could I jump this over to Japan? A Japanologist friend once told me she didn’t understand the Japanese idea of sincerity. To her when people said someone had been sincere, it was precisely when to her it seemed the were insincere.
Jerry Packard said,
February 3, 2025 @ 1:12 pm
“How can there be any ‘sin’ in ‘sincere’?”
Meredith Willson – ‘The Music Man’