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Chinese modesty， in all its self- effacing glory， is most likely a product of the country’s great philosopher/instant-noodlesupremo， Master Kong—or Confucius—as he was known to his Jesuit friends.
All Chinese schoolchildren learn how wise， yet humble， Confucius was， memorising such sound bite-friendly aphorisms of his， such as， “When three men walk together， my teacher must be among them，” （三人行， 必有我师焉。S`n r9n x！ng， b# y6u w6 sh～ y`n.） which Confucius used to show that even the most brilliant people always have something to learn from others.
“Modesty”， be it genuine or false， permeates Chinese culture. Even today， despite its gleaming metropolises and oh-so-obvious Olympic supremacy， China refers to itself as a developing country， a 发展中国家 （f`zh2n zh4ng gu5ji`）.
So what is “modesty” in Chinese？ Let’s look at the Chinese word： 谦虚 （qi`nx$）. The first character 谦 （qi`n） means humble， while the 虚 （x$） is short for虚心 （x$x～n）—self-effacing， literally“emptiness of heart”.
Unfortunately， there’s a thin line between modesty—being self-effacing—and being insincere. This distinction is even closer in Chinese， as the words for modesty （谦虚） and insincerity （虚伪 x$w0i） both share the character for emptiness， 虚. In the former， it is used to mean “without arrogance”， in the latter it is used to mean being “false and disingenuous”.
The line is so blurred that false modesty is expected （even required） on some occasions， although to overdo it can also be frowned upon. Nevertheless， when in doubt， being excruciatingly modest is almost always the best course of action.
So， it’s important to note that the following guide on how to be modest in a Chinese fashion is likely error-filled and lacking substance； therefore， dear reader， please accept my most humble and kowtow-filled apologies in advance， as I meekly surrender to your undoubtedly greater wisdom.
Before you do anything in China， whether it’s cooking up some greasy dongpo pork （东坡肉） for your friends or performing a virtuoso erhu solo on a street corner， it’s a good idea to lay the modesty groundwork—lower people’s expectations by professing ignorance or lack of ability in anything you are about to do.
The ironically self-perpetuating mantra of the Chinese learner of English： “My English is poor，” is a classic example of this stratagem. After all， you can’t be disappointed if your hopes have been crushed in advance.
We can convert this mantra into a Chinese statement that can be used whenever you have to make a speech in Chinese. even if your Chinese is actually good enough to recite Tang poetry while solving riddles written in oracle bone characters.
All Chinese schoolchildren learn how wise， yet humble， Confucius was， memorising such sound bite-friendly aphorisms of his， such as， “When three men walk together， my teacher must be among them，” （三人行， 必有我师焉。S`n r9n x！ng， b# y6u w6 sh～ y`n.） which Confucius used to show that even the most brilliant people always have something to learn from others.
“Modesty”， be it genuine or false， permeates Chinese culture. Even today， despite its gleaming metropolises and oh-so-obvious Olympic supremacy， China refers to itself as a developing country， a 发展中国家 （f`zh2n zh4ng gu5ji`）.
So what is “modesty” in Chinese？ Let’s look at the Chinese word： 谦虚 （qi`nx$）. The first character 谦 （qi`n） means humble， while the 虚 （x$） is short for虚心 （x$x～n）—self-effacing， literally“emptiness of heart”.
Unfortunately， there’s a thin line between modesty—being self-effacing—and being insincere. This distinction is even closer in Chinese， as the words for modesty （谦虚） and insincerity （虚伪 x$w0i） both share the character for emptiness， 虚. In the former， it is used to mean “without arrogance”， in the latter it is used to mean being “false and disingenuous”.
The line is so blurred that false modesty is expected （even required） on some occasions， although to overdo it can also be frowned upon. Nevertheless， when in doubt， being excruciatingly modest is almost always the best course of action.
So， it’s important to note that the following guide on how to be modest in a Chinese fashion is likely error-filled and lacking substance； therefore， dear reader， please accept my most humble and kowtow-filled apologies in advance， as I meekly surrender to your undoubtedly greater wisdom.
Before you do anything in China， whether it’s cooking up some greasy dongpo pork （东坡肉） for your friends or performing a virtuoso erhu solo on a street corner， it’s a good idea to lay the modesty groundwork—lower people’s expectations by professing ignorance or lack of ability in anything you are about to do.
The ironically self-perpetuating mantra of the Chinese learner of English： “My English is poor，” is a classic example of this stratagem. After all， you can’t be disappointed if your hopes have been crushed in advance.
We can convert this mantra into a Chinese statement that can be used whenever you have to make a speech in Chinese. even if your Chinese is actually good enough to recite Tang poetry while solving riddles written in oracle bone characters.