Hospitality and host–guest paradigm in China: a rejoinder to Chen
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 5 August 2021
Issue publication date: 20 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This rejoinder aims to critique some of the perspectives in Chen’s (2018) study on hospitality and host–guest paradigm in China.
Design/methodology/approach
In this preliminary probe into Chen’s study, critical analysis is performed on Chen’s approaches, whereas document analysis is applied to the relevant ancient Chinese writings. Translations are the author’s own unless indicated otherwise.
Findings
Chen’s views are problematic and supported by patchy evidence. “Hierarchy principle” and “host-centric foundation” do not hold up. In a series of asymmetrical comparisons, Chen goes a bit too far in arguing for uniqueness.
Originality/value
This rejoinder presents valid critiques of Chen’s study, thus directing future research in the right direction. It is of some significance to clarify Chen’s misrepresentations and offer a truer and fuller account of Chinese hospitality, given the difficulty for international scholars to validate Chen’s views because of language barrier and cultural unfamiliarity.
Keywords
Citation
Qi, C. (2021), "Hospitality and host–guest paradigm in China: a rejoinder to Chen", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 33 No. 10, pp. 3296-3305. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-02-2021-0221
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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