Two distinct kinds of standing: prestige built on achievement, and moral character granted by the group, lost differently and repaired differently.
Hu Hsien Chin's 1944 analysis separated mianzi, reputation accumulated through success, from lian, the moral standing a community extends and can withdraw. Losing mianzi is an embarrassment; losing lian makes it impossible to function in the group at all. Later Western face-work drew on the distinction and largely flattened it.
In practice
- A manager publicly overruled loses standing he can rebuild by succeeding; one caught falsifying a figure loses something no success repairs.
- A negotiator who wins every point and leaves the other side humiliated has bought a term and lost the renewal.