Keqi (客气) in historical Chinese: evidence from metapragmatic comments

In: Journal of politeness research: language, behaviour, culture, Band 18, Heft 2, S. 403-422

Abstract

Abstract

Keqi is a politeness1-related metalexeme in both historical and contemporary Chinese. It is often understood as synonymous to the etic metalexeme "polite". This article explores the meaning of keqi in historical Chinese by delineating the shared characteristics of the verbal and non-verbal behaviors that are interpreted as keqi in participants' metapragmatic comments (99 cases of bubi keqi, 66 cases of buyong keqi, and 16 cases of bie keqi) in historical Chinese and by analyzing how the practice of keqi impacts the ongoing interaction. We find that the practice of keqi should be understood as a type of relational ritual and that it can be understood as a ritual frame indicating practice which indicates an emergent standard situation. As a metalexeme, keqi is different from politeness in that it is associated with the operation of ritual frame indication in a behavioral act, while politeness is associated with the operation of other-attentiveness. In cases where both the operations are possible, the interpretation of a behavior as keqi or polite depends on which operation is more salient to the recipient.