Adapt your speech and behavior to your audience. It implies being flexible and strategic in communication, tailoring your words to the person you are dealing with, sometimes with a negative connotation of being insincere.
This saying reflects the Chinese emphasis on situational awareness and social intelligence. It is often used to describe skilled negotiators or diplomats, but can also criticize those who are two-faced.
Chinese society is highly context-sensitive, and effective communication often requires reading the other person's status, mood, and intentions. This saying captures the social skill of adaptability, but also warns of the moral line between flexibility and hypocrisy.
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