Showing a false face?



The Chinese have a long tradition with masks, as this gorgeous gold funerary mask of a young woman attests.

The latest mask news from China is the adoption of a “faceless” day for some office workers. Each month on a designated day, staff are allowed to wear masks to conceal their emotions. No more smiling amicably through a colleague’s boring anecdote. No more hiding yawns while the boss drones on and on. No more suppressing that look of disgust when the client fails to meet a deadline. A mask—in this case, of a character known as “No Face” from the Japanese film Spirited Away—could be the best workplace deflection tool since email.       —Diane Richard, writer, July 22

Image: AP Source: Lisa Wright, “Workers in China wear masks to hide facial expressions,” Toronto Star, July 14, 2015