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Qiritan (Chinese: 《七日谈》), a book published by Xinhua press which is a publishing house with governmental background. is now selling well in China.

This book mainly tells about a dialogue from a Japanese student, Yoshikazu Kato (Japanese: 加藤嘉一), and a Chinese producer, Shan qi(Chinese: 山奇). that include many common think based on the view of ordinary Chinese and Japanese people.

Because history matters, there haven’t enough communications and exchanges between the people of the two countries. Although some Chinese and Japanese civil societies are trying to keep trust and friendship between China and Japan when some regretful things, such as the Japanese premier’s Yasukuni Shrine visits, have happened, the flame of nationalism will swallow up all of the before effort. How to face the future of Sino-Japanese relations, it is a big trouble and still need a long way to go. Maybe, this book will be a good beginning I hope.

Yoshikazu Kato (Japanese: 加藤嘉一), one of the author, after participating in Oriental Horizon, a famous TV program of CCTV, has been well known by more and more chinese people. Kato is now a student in International Relations at Beijing University. He is also a part-time Japanese teacher at a local high school and President of Beijing University’s Japanese Students Association (BUJSA). Here is his more introduction.

This story is similar to a Chinese Idiom “Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise”（Chinese:塞翁失马，焉知非福）.

There was a little boy, and on his 14th birthday, he gets a horse.
And everybody in the village says, “How wonderful! The boy got a horse.”
And the Zen master says, “We’ll see.”
Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg.
And everybody in the village says, “How terrible!”
And the Zen master says, “We’ll see.”
Then a war breaks out, and all the young men have to go off and fight, except the boy can’t cause his leg’s all messed up.
And everybody in the village says, “How wonderful!”
And the Zen master says, “We’ll see.”
……
From Charlie Wilson’s War

Everything may be a blessing or a misfortune, meaning that you cannot just judge whether something is a blessing or misfortune. Try not to be too complacent when things go smoothly and too discouraged and depressed when you run into troubles.

We should use the ideas of the changing, developing, and transforming of a contradiction to consider the law of the unity of opposites.

Like writing, when you decide to carve out your way, there are also 5W rules which can help you keep a clear head.

What
What do you want to do? That is very important, and refers to a goal to which you must be able to expect at the early stage. If you can keep your business and social development trend glued together, you will achieve more chance and long-term development. At the same, prospective insight improves the chances of success.

For whom
Bear in mind that your mission is to provide better service for your customers. If you put aside your customers and the society, just for money, them certainly will also abandon you.

How
How do you do? the critical point is how to fall into place. best view and perfect plan hardly seem enough unless them can be breaked down operable step.

Why you
Many are making efforts in venturing upon their business undertaking, but why will only you succeed? The answer is that you must have incomparably advantages to against competitors, or be able to detect the direction which can put you into an invincible position in advance.

By whom
Somebody think that recruiting and venture capital are necessary at the thought of starting undertaking. In fact, by and large, most enterprisers lay a solid foundation for the future by their own capabilities in the early. That is not only a condition, but also a self-confidence.

The term guanxi(Chinese:关系), A.K.A relationship, it refers to personal connection with appropriate authorities. In China, “whom you know is most important than what you know.” It is argued that guanxi is a scarce resource, and the more you can own, the more advantage you can get. Without exaggeration, guanxi is critical of working for the Chinese.

Guanxi is considered to be like nepotism where decisions are made regarding contracts or problems based on family ties or connections instead of an objective assessment of ability.

One may ask how to build guanxi? Many usually believe that the quicker way is through tendering favors. Gift-giving, lavish banquet, questionable payments, even overseas trip and so on. Another common method for outsiders to acquire guanxi is by hiring intermediaries, who use their connections to create contacts with establishment, for example, officials and businesspeople.

While Westerners see this as nothing short of bribery, the Chinese consider it essential for good business. As a common Chinese, I don’t approve that guanxi is a good way in business, but you have no choice.

In China, when a software programmer or developer just turned 30 year old, a sharp question he or she will be facing: “are you ready to change?”, the implication means that if you don’t want to change the role as a manager in your work, you will probably lose most of promotion opportunities in the future, even be eliminated, whether you like it or not.

In fact, being hard at work as a technologist was not appreciated in China. How do you make your choice, it seems that a sharpened sword hanging directly above everyone’s head.

In Confucian societies, it is a ultimate goal for every intellectual that become a official or a manager who has power, even a bit, from an early age through education. All this concept is deeply burned into those minds and become so ingrained, programmers or developers who as mental workers are no exception.