Chapter 6

Research on Banquet Etiquette of China

and America

Shanshan Hu, Yan Zhang, Bingshen Gao and Zhenkai Xie

Abstract With China’s development with other countries, no matter inland or on

board, it is usual for the Chinese to appear in a banquet. When people take part in a
banquet, the decent etiquette can establish people’s confidence; what is more, it also
can help many friends. Decent etiquette can cultivate people’s attainment in work
and daily life, especially to ladies, if they project themselves decently, then it may
make them look more charming. It is known that the banquet etiquette of modern
society assimilates and accede the fruit of the ancient. Some are enacted by people
through the social action, and the others are behaviors that come from the history.
Both of them have been approbated by people. To comply with the etiquette is a
kind of respect to others as well as to people themselves. This paper will stress on
introducing and analyzing the differences between China and America in banquet
etiquette. After writing this essay, the author has improved the refinement, and also
understands that how important the decent etiquette is to a Chinese. Besides, this
paper can also offer help to those who plan to take a job concerning foreign affairs.

Keywords Banquet • Etiquette • Comparison • Differences

6.1 Introduction

Since the policy of reformation and opening has been brought into effect in China,
this country has more chances to contact with other countries in the area of poli-
tics and finance, especially with the western countries. Because of the diversity of

S. Hu (*) · Y. Zhang
Department of Fundamental Courses, Xuzhou AirForce College,
XuZhou 221000, China
e-mail: ss874huw@126.com
B. Gao
China People’s Liberation Army Corps of Engineers Command College,
XuZhou 221000, China
Z. Xie
Department of AirForce Finance, Xuzhou AirForce College,
XuZhou 221000, China

Z. Zhong (ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Information 37

Engineering and Applications (IEA) 2012, Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 220,
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4471-4844-9_6, © Springer-Verlag London 2013
38 S. Hu et al.

background and history, there are a lot of differences among countries, especially
between China and America. As a state of ceremonies, China has the fine tradition
which is to treat others politely. China has joined the WTO for several years, and it
has a more close relationship with other countries. More often than not, this kind of
relationship is shown in a banquet. A banquet plays an important role in the social
association, and then the etiquette and behaviors in the banquet become crucial.
Since all the countries have different history and culture, they often behave dif-
ferently when communicating with others. If people do not understand this point,
it is easy to make mistakes and become the laughingstock of other countries. For
example, in the late Qing dynasty, China closed the country to international inter-
course, and it knew little about the west. In a western banquette, a Chinese dip-
lomatic envoy cleaned the knife and the fork with the dinner cloth, just doing it
as inside China. He did not know that action meant the knife and fork were not
clean, and it was extremely impolite in western countries. When looking at this,
the host ordered the waiters to clean all of the table ware, which had made the
Chinese envoy embarrassed. There is another example about the banquet etiquette
behaviors. Li Hongzhang was invited to a banquet once. Because he did not under-
stand the western banquet etiquette, he drank the water which was used to wash
hands after having eaten up the fruits. The foreigners did not understand why the
Chinese did so. But in order to avoid the discomfiture, others also drunk the water
as the Chinese did. From the situation listed above, it can be concluded that differ-
ent behaviors of banquet etiquette can lead to huge diversities.
It is known that the Chinese culture and the American culture both come into being
and develop under specific condition. They exist with reason, and there is not the prob-
lem about which one is best and which one is worse. Therefore, it is necessary to do
research on the etiquette and behaviors between China and America. In other words,
if the Chinese know little or nothing about the America etiquette and behaviors, they
may be in an unfavorable position internationally, no matter in politic or in finance.
This paper will stress on introducing and analyzing the difference between
Chinese and American banquet etiquette from the aspect of present in time orien-
tation, seat arrangement, and different tableware. All these will be effective to deal
with the Chinese and American banquets.

6.2 A Comparison on Banquet Etiquette Between

China and America

6.2.1 Present in Time

Punctuality seems to be an universal concept to everyone. However, just like other

issues in cross-cultural communication, the idea and use of time in different countries
are different. In other words, cultures vary widely in their conception of time. Even
within the same culture, the conception can vary with different activities. Hall, who is
well known for his discussion of time across cultures, proposes that cultures organize
time in one of two ways: either monochromic (M-time) or polychromic (P-time) [1].
6 Research on Banquet Etiquette of China and America 39

He also points out that M-time is the characteristic of people from English speaking
countries, while P-time is the characteristic of people from Asia [2].
According to Hall, P-time (Lateness) cultures deal with time holistically [3].
People in such kind of cultures do not emphasize scheduling by separating time
into discrete, fixed segments. They treat time as a less tangible medium so that
they can interact with more than one person or do more than one thing at a time.
They do not perceive appointments as iron-clad commitments, therefore, in these
cultures; personal interaction and relationship development are far more important
than making appointments or meeting deadlines.
Since China is a country that falls into the category of P-time, Chinese people
are inclined to be a little later than what is scheduled when participating in ban-
quets. Normally, they would be half an hour later or even longer. In order to fill in
this “blank” period of time, some entertainment, such as playing cards or chatting
with others, etc., is arranged, and tea and some snacks like watermelon seeds or
a variety of sweets are served for those who have arrived “earlier” to “kill” the
time. Both host and guest get used to that and would not interpret this kind of late-
ness, whether consciously or unconsciously, as the disrespect to the invitation or
an impolite behavior. Sometimes, a host even deliberately set the time earlier, pro-
viding more “space” for guests’ lateness.
By contrast, people in M-time (Punctuality) cultures like from English speak-
ing countries live their lives quite differently. As a matter of fact, “People in the
Western world find little in life exempt from the iron hand of M-time” [4]. Hall
writes that, “People of the Western world, particularly Americans, tend to think of
time as something fixed in nature, something around us and from which we can
not escape; an ever-present part of the environment, just like the air we breathe”
[5]. As the word monochromic implies, this approach sees time as lineal, seg-
mented, and manageable. Time is something we must not waste, we must be doing
something or we feel guilty [6].
Therefore, appointments and schedules are very important to them. Unlike
Chinese people, people in M-time cultures such as Americans tend to follow precise
scheduling. Once the time is set, it is rarely changed, and people should take it seri-
ously. Usually everyone is supposed to arrive on time when attending a formal ban-
quet or meeting appointments. Sometimes, it is also acceptable that people can be a
little later, but not more than 10 min; otherwise his behavior will be regarded as inap-
propriate or insulting to both the host and other guests. In west, if someone is late for
20 min, he has to mumble some apologies. And if he is late for more than 30 min he
is thought to be impolite or to have met some emergencies. In a word, in M-time cul-
tures one who violates the rule of punctuality shall be punished seriously [7].

6.2.2 Seat Arrangement

Seating arrangement is an important means to show different interpretations on

social status or interpersonal relations by making use of space. With regard to seating
arrangement in banquet, there exist two major distinctive disparities between China
40 S. Hu et al.

and America [8]. China focused on the direct of south and north and the principle of
men first, while America stresses on right and left and the principle of ladies first.
It is a common phenomenon in China that there are many four-character
expressions referring to seat arrangement. For example, “mian nan cheng gu”,
“nan zhou guan mian” and “bei mian cheng chen” and so. These expressions
are closely related to Chinese traditional culture. It is known that China is an old
country with a long history of more than 5,000 years. There used to be many king-
doms, dynasties, and emperors. Whatever the kingdom or the dynasty was, during
the ceremony of the royal inauguration or in the process of discussing govern-
mental affairs with ministers, the emperor was always seated with his face toward
south. On the other hand, when ministers met the emperor, their faces were all
toward north. Therefore, these phenomenons were reflected in the expressions
mentioned above. As time passed by, in China, the seat facing south is usually
considered as the most honorable, while the seat facing north is comparatively less
important. It can be drawn that south has become the symbolizing of the supreme
authority, power, and position in Chinese eyes’. Then comparatively speaking the
position of the word “bei” (north) is much lower. This kind of cultural phenom-
enon can be found even in Chinese other idioms. If the two words “nan” and “bei”
coexist in the same idiom, the word “nan” (south) usually appears in front of the
word “bei” (north), such as “nan qiang bei diao”, “nan yuan bei zhe”, “nan zheng
bei zhan”, “nan lai bei wang”, and so on. As a matter of fact, it is just because of
this reason that the word “nan” (south) has been gradually elevated into a position
relatively high in Chinese people’s minds, Therefore, as for dining, the seat facing
south undoubtedly is reserved for those who are respectable or powerful. However,
in America, the situation is quite different from that in China. The most honorable
seat is on the left of the host. In ancient times, people used to hold a dagger in his
right hand to assassinate his enemies sitting on his left. Only when the guest was
arranged to sit on the left side of the host, was it inconvenient for an assassin to
perform the action, but much easier for the host to subdue the assassin and protect
the guest [9]. Therefore, the most distinguished guest was arranged to sit on the
left side of the host. With the progress of human civilization, this kind of old style
of assassination has long become extinct. Nowadays, when Americans arrange
seat, they do no longer concern about security, but is from protect of psychological
need. Influenced by this, it is widely taken in America that the seat at the right side
of the host is much honorable than the one at the left side.
What’s more, the phenomenon of “Men is superior to women” can be found in
Chinese seat arrangement; while “lady first” can be seen in American seat arrange-
ment. Influenced by the Chinese traditional belief that women should obey to the
three obedience and four virtues, men are expected to be dominant in the soci-
ety and superior to the women. In ancient China, women could hardly appear in
the public and they were considered as no morality if they showed their face in
the public. Thus, since the image of the female was hardly found in formal occa-
sions, there was no need at all to think about women’s seating arrangement. At
present, the situation of Chinese women has been greatly improved and their posi-
tions have also been remarkably elevated. Today, women in China are getting out
6 Research on Banquet Etiquette of China and America 41

of the former subjection to men. Although it has already been widely accepted that
their images appear in many formal banquets and the Western principle of “Ladies
first” has been gradually acknowledged in China, Chinese women still prefer to sit
together on many social occasions. Besides, when the principle of respecting the
old contradicts the principle of “Ladies first”, the choice of most Chinese people is
the former rather than the latter [2].
However, in America, the principle of “Ladies first” is their traditional belief
as well as an important social manner. This principle comes from Christianity and
it is a dominant religion in America and other Western countries. In America, it is
estimated that 86 % of the U.S. population is Christian. Therefore, the Christian
tradition is prevalent in this country. In Christianity, the God was named as Jesus.
And he was worshiped by the Christians. And meanwhile, his mother, Virgin
Mary, is also highly worshiped and deserves much respect. The Christians con-
sider the concept and action of respecting women as a noble virtue. In addition,
during the period of twelfth and thirteenth centuries, with the expedition of the
Crusaders a special class, the class of knights formed and developed. Because of
the great influence of knights and their illustrious positions at that time, they set
a series of social manners which were called knighthood or chivalry. These man-
ners were used to guide their behaviors. Then the knighthood was soon spread out
among the people and imitated by others as the standard of civilization, from the
aristocracy to the folk. Among those chivalry manners, one of the most distinc-
tive features was to respect women, and it has been passed down from generation
to generation and still today people like to obey it. Therefore, it is not surpris-
ing at all to find the images of women in banquets since the ancient times. Thus,
when the seating arrangement for the male and the female is concerned, China and
America have to follow different principles.

6.2.3 Tableware Setting

Tableware in Chinese banquet has chopsticks, plate, bowl, spoon and saucer, and
so on. There are several things should be paid attention to on the tableware setting.
First, the wineglass is put on the upper right. The number of wineglasses should be
the same as the variety of the wines. Second, the dinner cloth is fold to flower-kind
and put into the water cup, or lay on the plate. When playing host to foreigners,
there should be fork and knife, saucer, vinegar and oil, and so on, in addition to
chopsticks. What’s more, there still should be ashtray and toothpick on the table.
Tableware in an American banquet has a fork, knife, spoon, plate, cup and dish,
and so on. Compared with Chinese table ware, it is more difficult. For example,
the knife can be divided into main course knife, fish knife, butter knife and fruit
knife, and so on. And there are main course fork. fish fork, and so on. Both the
knife and the fork should be put with the blade and edge inside. There are also
soup spoon and tea spoon, tea cup, coffee cup, water cup and wineglass, and so on.
Usually, the number of wineglasses should be the same as the variety of the wines.
42 S. Hu et al.

The table setting for a western dinner is very dainty. The soup plate is put right
in front of the guest. The forks are put on the left, and the knives are on the right.
The spoons should be put on the plates. Then put the wineglass. From right to left,
there is glass for hard drinks, champagne, beer, or water glass. The napkin is put
into the water cup, or lay on the plate. The plates for bread and butter are put on
the top left corner.

6.3 Conclusions

This paper stresses on introducing and analyzing the difference between China and
America on the banquet etiquette. In this paper, the author introduces the etiquette
during dinning, including present on time, seat arrangement, and tableware setting,
and so on. The author strongly hopes that this paper can help people in both China
and America to understand and acquire the differences in order to make associa-
tion between the two countries proceed smoothly and successfully.

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