#025 Mianzi isn't something like honor.
What the Han Chinese call mianzi is often called face-saving in English. When one tries to grasp the meaning of mianzi, they may feel mianzi sounds like honor. But it isn't.
Mianzi is impression manipulation caused by a culture of hostility and bullying, and intended to look like a bully, not someone that could be bullied. It isn't what honor means.
Why couldn't a race of mianzi fight to death for their mianzi when invaded? Why couldn't a race of mianzi stand their ground for mianzi, but lick invaders' boots and still want mianzi?
Bizarre?
Because, unlike honor, (mianzi sounds like honor but isn't honor,) mianzi is what criminals, bullies want when they commit crimes, to make themselves look like right, good. Even when they are attacked, what they want is not just "I can't be bullied without consequences", but still they want to say "I can bully." People who want honor don't want that. Honor could be used to defend oneself, but mianzi isn't used to defend, it can only be used to commit crimes, do something wrong, attack, bully. That's why when they are attacked, their desire to survive becomes their prominent concern, and concern over mianzi disappears, in order to survive, they could do anything, lick invaders' boots, let invaders take anything, let invaders rape their women, no problems with it. Their mianzi concern disappears. Mianzi isn't honor, only looks like it. Mianzi concern is the result of the culture of hostility, malicious intention, taking every opportunity to attack, and following Confucian li of "who can bully". Yes, Confucianism is a major contributor to mianzi concern.
People don't feel honored if they bully a member of their own society. Instead, it's dishonorable. Honor could help one defend oneself. You'd rather die for honor than live in dishonour. But nobody dies for mianzi no matter how much they are concerned about mianzi. Honor is totally different from mianzi.