Abstract:
 “Face” is a very interesting culture phenomenon. It contains a wealth of culture connotations. People in different culture shaped different “face” perceptions. Chinese “face” perception is dominated by collectivism and emphasizes the maintenance of other-face (the face of people with whom we interact). Western “face” perception is dominated by individualism and emphasizes the maintenance of self-face (our own face). As an essential culture feature, “face” culture actually is a reflection of people’s attitude towards communication. It is also called human relations. Through the Chinese and western “face” perception analysis and some examples about “face”, this paper tries to explain the main differences of human relations between Chinese and western culture from three perspectives : social structure, social codes and norms, and social communication. The analysis hopes to let people know more about the real meaning of face, act properly, and take care of both self-face and other-face so as to establish good human relations in the society. It also hopes to help people better understand the differences between Chinese and western human relations and avoid some misunderstandings and even unnecessary conflicts in intercultural communication.   

Key words：human relations; “face” perception; individualism; collectivism

摘  要：
“面子”是一个非常有趣的文化现象，包含了丰富的文化涵义。不同文化下的人们形成了不同的“面子观”。受集体主义的影响，中国人的“面子观”强调保护别人的面子不受侵害；西方人的“面子观”受个人主义的影响，强调保护自我面子不受侵犯。作为重要的社会文化特征之一，面子文化背后实际体现的是一种为人处世的态度，或叫人际关系。本文通过对中西不同“面子观”的分析以及实例的解释，从以下三方面讨论中西人际关系的主要差异：社会结构，社会约束力以及社会中人们的关系维护。这一差异性分析一方面可以让人们更深入了解“面子”的含义，充分照顾自己和别人的面子，在社会中建立良好的人际关系；另一方面也可以让人们对中西人际关系差异有更好的了解，从而避免在跨文化交际中出现不必要的误解和矛盾。

关键词：人际关系；面子观；个人主义；集体主义

1 Introduction
Differences in Chinese and western culture are remarkable. Influenced by the remarkable different culture backgrounds, people from different cultures may have different ways to define the relations between people. Human relations are essential in intercultural communication since they can guide people how to communicate and interact with others. Without a clear understanding of different human relations in different culture, people may act in an improper way and that may cause some obstacles and misunderstandings, or even cultural conflicts, especially during intercultural communication.