The rising China has become a major player in the world stage. Its large population and successful economic accomplishments in the last three decades now give China a great advantage to influence almost every aspect of international affairs. To understand the way Chinese think and act therefore becomes an important step in maintaining a stable and peaceful world. The purpose of this book is to help people better understand the Chinese from a communication perspective. More specifically, this is a book about Chinese communication behaviors.

　The book is a collection of 21 papers published between 1994 and 2009, which is comprised of four parts: conceptual explication, empirical research, theory building, and future development. 

　The first part, Conceptual Explication, includes seven chapters aiming to delineate the nature of Chinese communication from its cultural root and philosophical foundation. The second part, Empirical Research, also includes seven chapters dealing with various aspects of Chinese communication behaviors through empirical tests. The third part, Theory Building, includes three chapters attempting to develop a theory of Chinese communication based on the concepts of harmony, relationship development, and I Ching. The last part, Future Development, includes four chapters raising the problem, ferment and future of Chinese communication study.

　It is hoped that the book can not only make a meaningful contribution to the literature of Chinese communications study, but also help to unveil the mysterious face of the Chinese who traditionally and stereotypically were mistreated as an enigmatic people by the Westerners.

　Finally, I would like to express my special appreciation to the coauthors of those chapters in this book. They are Drs. Rueyling Chuang, Hsueh-hua Chen, Jensen Chung, Richard Holt, Yoshitata Miike, Mei Zhong, and especially Shuang Liu (the first author of chapters 13 and 14), as well as Christine Ryan and Chaichin W. Chen. Without their valuable inputs, this book would be impossible to create.  

GuoMing Chen

March, 2010

University of Rhode Island & 

South China University of Technology