ABSTRACT

In his influential treatise From the Soil written in 1947, the famous sociologist Fei Xiaotong (1910–2005, Ph.D. in anthology from the London School of Economics) defined China as a society of acquaintances, where one thrives in complex social networks based on personal relationships. In this society of acquaintances, backgrounds and relationships (or Guanxi) are foundational. More than six decades later, the Chinese people continue to cultivate and thrive on such personal relationships, although for different reasons. Such social networks are now commonly known as circles, although they have unique characteristics compared to social circles elsewhere in the world. In this chapter, we discuss the reason why Chinese circles exist, their types, rules, structures, and maintenance. We conclude in the Road Ahead section by making predictions about the future utility (or lack thereof) of Chinese circles.