Identity in guanxi space: An indigenous pragmatic study from Chinese culture

Zhou-min Yuan and Xin Zhao
Nanjing University

This article argues that identity among the Chinese is operated and must be interpreted in guanxi space, which is the essence of identity in Chinese culture. This can be further summarized as identity in guanxi space, i.e., identity is regulated and operated in the sphere of the four-dimensional quadrants of vertical and horizontal axes. This article thus claims the following about the model of identity in the guanxi space: it embodies the interpersonal, pragmatic characteristics of Chinese culture; it overcomes (to some extent) the neglect of the third party in previous pragmatic analyses; and it constitutes the contribution of indigenous Chinese culture to international pragmatic studies.

Publication history

Date received: 13 April 2023

Date accepted: 5 September 2024

Published online: 25 April 2025

Table of contents

From a pragmatic angle, studies on identity have undergone a shift from essentialism toward constructivism, in which researchers have reached a rough consensus that the discursive process of identity and its construction — rather than the discourse product — should be emphasized (Chen and Zhao 2023). Following this vein, a variety of fruitful literature has been nurtured on linguistic realization and pragmatic motives of identity studies (Feng and Chen 2020). Indeed, recent Chinese-language corpus-based research on the dual sense of identity (Yuan 2018; Yuan et. al. 2024) and identity rhetoric (Yuan 2020) has advanced this trend. However, this type of research more or less neglects the characteristics of identity in different cultures. For instance, shenfen (pinyin of 身份 ) is often misunderstood as ‘identity.’ If shenfen is merely understood as ‘identity,’ some (or even a large) degree of misunderstanding may occur.

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