Pure gift is defined as something given with no expectation or thought of a return. In the textbook, some people argue that it does not exist because there must be some gains through the gift-giving action. The photo is the invitation of Chinese Embassy to a Charity Dinner on February 8th. Those people who are in the dinner donate a significant amount of money and discuss how to eliminate extreme poverty in China. It is true that they could gain something through the dinner—reputation, feelings of generosity, and network. While I do not think it is contradictory to the definition of pure gift. For those who are used to devoting in charity, they have no expectations or thoughts of a return--they also have experienced the feelings of generosity enough through previous activities. The only reason for them to keep donation is the wish for the world being better, the wish for a desirable future for those children who live in extreme poverty in China. Their pure motivation cannot be judged by those who are so pessimistic about the world.
Different from the pure gift, expected reciprocity is defined as an exchange of approximately equally valued goods or services, usually between people roughly equal in social status. I took this photo at Ambassador’s Spring Festival Reception. Note that all the lights appearing in the photo are donated by one Chinese person who runs the business at Washington, DC. It is not likely for him to have the wish for the embassy to be better—as discussed above. There must be some other reasons for him to donate. In the textbook, it said that returns were expected sometime. The return of donation of lights may not appear as long as he donated, while it must somehow help the person to gain the network within the embassy, and get more connections through actively participating the activities of the embassy. The people in the reception exactly perform the Chinese culture suggests: they greet each other, talk a little bit about something involved in daily life, and then they start talking about how they can cooperate to gain some benefits/profits in the coming year. The embassy created the perfect platform for expected reciprocity.
