Brown and Levinson defined face as “the public self image that every member wants to claim for himself”. They believed that “ face ties face up with notions of being emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced, and must be constantly attended to in interaction”. Positive face is come from inpidual personality,is the extension of inpidulism. Inpidulist hope their behaviors will be not interpreted by others. Positive face refers that inpidulist hope to receive appreciation and approvement from society. (Brown and Levinson, 1978:15)

Stella Ting Toomey considered that “face is a phenomenon that an inpidual reacts in a relational situation. It’s an identity that is conjointly defined by the participants in setting” (Ting Toomey, 1998:215). In interpersonal communication, people will be confronted with conflicts that will result in loss of face. How to solve the conflicts and how to save our face. Stella Ting Toomey put forward the Face Negotiation Theory. She believed that different cultures will produce different conflicts that choose different “face” strategies. For example, China is a collective society, collectivism pays more attention on positive face. However, America is an inpidualistic society. Inpidual’ s behavior has nothing to do with others, he should responsible for himself. Inpidulism pays more attention on negative face. 

There is no denying that “face” can constraint people’s behavior to some extent. “Face” provides valuable research materials for linguists and psychologist. This thesis studies cultural differences between China and the West and avoid conflicts of communiction.

The Western and Chinese scholars have studied the face from all aspects, However, due to the differences between China and the West, Chinese and the Western face theory are also different. For example, Chinese pay attention to formation and function in society,while the Western people put emphasis on discussing the practical function of “face” in social communication. Their common point is that they all want to define “face” in a proper way and show the essence and connotation of “face”. Thus, people can use “face theory” to solve these conflicts, avoid communication obstacles and save face effectively.

3. Face and Culture

3.1 Chinese Face Culture

Face enjoys a special place in Chinese culture, which is considered abstract and elusive by Lin Yutang. In traditional monarchy society, a person who obtained the monarch’s appreciation can receive glory from monarch. These glories are not only converted to the spiritual wealth, but also material wealth which is the reason why Chinese people pay more attention to face. Since face can bring a lot of unexpected benefits to the inpidual and the state, face enjoys a high status in the society. Ancient China had formed the face society and human society. But with the progress of society, face has more and more meanings. For example, “have face”, “leave face”, “give face” and “save face”.

Modern scholars Zhai Xuewei considered that Chinese people’s face is not only related to so-called “lian”, “mian”, but also can be extended to “light”, “gas”, “ugly” (Zhai Xuewei,1994:338-348). These words refer to an inpidual’s image and daily ritual of Confucian ethics and standards. 

3.2 Western Face Culture

For the West, they never interfere other people’s choices and decisions. Similarily, they do not like others who interfere with their personal affairs. They believe that respect the privacy of others is a manifestation of politeness. From this point of view, inpidualism is very important to the Western people. 

The West also avoid causing inconvenience to others, they will give people enough space to show respect. In communication, the Westerners would consider other’s face. At the same time, in order to avoid loss of face, they are independent and free. First, in the Western countries, except on formal occasions, they would directly call people’s name. If they make a mistake, they will make a direct apology. Formal occasions and informal occasions are same, after the formal introduction, they usually say , “If you can, call me Tom!” Second, they will treat their friends and relatives in a direct way. Furthermore, when you did well, they would not hesitate to praise you so that to maintain your face. When you get into troubles, they will be concerned about you, and exhaust their abilities to help you to go through the hardship.