The purpose of this paper is twofold :(1) to introduce the concept of self-construal,to describe how it could affect Chinese people's cognitions,emotions,and motivations,and to discuss how these,in turn,could influence Chinese people's leisure (e .g .,motivations for,constraints to,and participation in) .And (2) to call for Chinese leisure researchers to use caution when introducing and applying leisure concepts and theories developed in the West . To achieve the above,we first review some of the key Western leisure concepts and theories that have been introduced and extensively cited in the Chinese leisure literature .These include,for example,the definition of leisure and leisure constraints theory . Secondly,we discuss the concept of self from both a philosophical and a psychological perspective .In terms of the former,for thousands of years people have tried to answer the question″Who am I″and to address other issues associated with the″self .″European thinkers such as Descartes said Cogito ergo sum (i .e .,″I think,therefore I am″),while Kant advocated for″self-consciousness .″Asian thinkers have likewise done so .Confucius,for instance,believed that one should explore thoroughly the rules of the universe,understand totally the nature of human being,and then know that one should observe Nature and can never disobey Him . Similarly,according to Daoism,returning to one's nature,then Heaven,Tao and eternal self are combined together,while Buddhism claims that,if you know your true self,you can become a Buddha .In terms of the latter,one of the most often-cited psychological self-concepts is Markus and Kitayama's (1991)″self-construal .″These researchers held that there are two types of self-construal-independent and interdependent-with the former placing greater emphasis on being unique and expressing one's inner attributes,whereas the latter placing greater emphasis on belonging,relatedness,and maintaining harmony .It is important to note here,however,that a person is not one or the other,but rather both,with a tendency toward either independence or interdependence .Also noteworthy here is that Markus and Kitayama proposed that independence was more common in Western cultures and interdependence was more common in Eastern cultures and,further,that this in turn would have important implications for how each thought,felt,and was motivated to act . Thirdly,based on Markus and Kitayama's (1991) conceptualization,the authors argue that self-construal is instrumental in understanding Chinese people's leisure cognitions,emotions,and motivations .For example,because Chinese are more likely to be interdependent,they are also more likely to view leisure as an important means for maintaining relatedness and harmony among family,friends,and relatives,rather than a means of self-growth or being oneself .Also affected are Chinese people's leisure choice and constraints in that they are more likely to choose collective leisure activities,such as group dancing in open spaces and public squares,to be with others and establish harmonious relationship between friends .Lastly,Chinese people are also more likely to sacrifice their own leisure time and opportunities because of family obligations,thus experiencing more constraints to leisure . Chinese people's emotional responses during leisure could also be influenced by their interdependent self-construal . Tsai,Knutson,and Fung (2006 ) suggested that having an interdependent self-construal could be associated with preferring low arousal emotions,controlling and regulating one's emotions in order to maintain social harmony .This tendency could help explain why the majority of modern Chinese people prefer passive leisure activities . This argument is also congruent with the passive aspect of traditional Chinese leisure activities,such as the four accomplishments of the old scholars (lyre-playing,chess,calligraphy,and painting) and other leisure activities including tea and wine drinking,visiting festival temple fairs,bird and fish watching,fishing,hawk-flying,kite-flying,shuttlecock kicking,riddle guessing,gardening,opera,epigraphy,get-togethers for couplet and poet writing and appreciating,the gathering on March the third (lunar calendar) sitting around a winding canal and drinking the cup of wine while it stops from floating,and slow and peaceful exercises like Tai chi and sword dancing . Chinese people's motivation for participating in leisure activities could also be impacted by the type of self-construal they hold .For example,independent self-construal individuals may be more likely to favor″freedom of choice″or″autonomy,″and these two variables are core features of leisure concepts and theories in Western literature .Because leisure research in China has been influenced by Western leisure studies,many Chinese researchers may regard these two variables as essential part of Chinese leisure too . However,existing studies suggest that,for interdependent self-construal individuals,relatedness may be more important than freedom of choice or autonomy . In summary,this paper makes an important contribution to the literature in two ways .The first involves identifying the important role that the concept of self-construal plays in understanding Chinese people's cognitions,emotions,and motivations and how these in turn can influence their leisure motivations,leisure constraints,leisure participation,etc . This knowledge,we contend,could help Chinese leisure practitioners in terms of designing programs,selecting promotional and advertising material,etc .The second contribution is that it indicates caution is called for when blindly importing Western leisure concepts and theories into non-Western countries such as China .After reviewing the extant literature,the authors propose that the two important defining features of leisure-freedom of choice and autonomy-might not necessarily be as important for Chinese people,who are more likely to have an interdependent self-construal and thus emphasize belonging .Thus,Chinese researchers should be careful when borrowing leisure concepts and theories and applying them in China without taking Chinese culture into account .