Scrutinizing the inscrutable Chinese has been the aim of this inquiry. Its sociolinguistic analysis has brought to light some vital areas of discord and distortion in the cultural interchanges between Chinese and Americans. Using different empirical examples and drawing together scraps of information from a wide variety of sources, we were able to look at the puzzle of Chinese inscrutability from a variety of perspectives, and form a coherent analysis of its origins and resilience. Our intent was not so much to scuttle the image of Chinese inscrutability but, rather, to see how such stereotypes can unwittingly arise, subtly sabotage interactions, and quickly establish cultural barriers.

We saw that Chinese on the one hand and Americans on the other bring to their face-to-face interactions certain unstated cultural expectations and customary ways of perceiving and responding which do not coincide at all. The two cultures differ crucially in their approach to talk, what they expect from talk, and how they respond to talk. This arises in large part from their different ways of viewing the world, their different ways of relating to people, their different communication goals and politeness strategies, their different sets of communicative conventions and signalling devices, their different ideals and strategies of rhetoric, and their different methods of generating meaning and eliciting response. As we have seen, many of these differences go unrecognized or undergo serious misreadings in the routine of talk, sometimes in an obvious fashion, sometimes more subtly.