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and upon a good showing in this capacity he may win further good opinion and treatment from fellow neighbours or, in short, bigger face. But on the other hand, if he throws rubbish casually in the district, he may be despised, his neighbours may refuse to talk to him until he changes his behaviour.
In short, the dynamic quality of face does not reside solely in individuals. It varies with the status and performance of an individual, the treatment he receives and the performance of individuals relevant to the interaction. The possession of and the amount of face predicate on the judgments of his total condition in life, including his actions, those of people closely associated with him, and the social expectations that others have placed upon him (Ho, 1975: 883),
The Attributes of Face: Honour, Influence And Deference
The dynamic qualities of face can be seen in the light of honour, influence and deference. If a person has a lot of face, he would have a lot of honour, influence and deference, or any one of these. An actor who wins a lot of fans is successful in his career. His status in the movie business and role performance belong to the higher rung. He will have face or big face, and thereby honour, influence and deference (for illustration, please refer to Figures 1 and 2).
Take Jacky Chan of Hong Kong as an example. His movies often see full house in cinemas and top audience rating lists, which means that others' reactions are also favourable. With success in the movie business, he has won places in Most Achieving Youth Awards, he has been named to honorary chairmanship in various organisations etc. This is honour for him, since his success is being recognized by people in other fields.
His influence may be felt in society. A person may go to a hairdresser and tell him to cut a Jacky Chan's style for him. Some people may dress themselves in a special way just because 'Jacky Chan does that'. If he illegally parks his car on the road, he may be stopped by a policeman. But upon recognizing him as Jacky Chan, the policeman may not fine him. In short, honour, influence and deference can be purchased or obtained by a person with face (King and Myers, 1977: 9-10). Bigger face would mean greater purchasing power for honour, influence and deference. Hence it would be more advantageous to have a bigger face than a smaller one.