We investigated lay conceptions of modesty in China (x8c26;) using a prototype approach. First, a sample of Chinese participants spontaneously listed the characteristics of modest persons. Independent coders then edited these into 112 exemplars, and further grouped them into 34 categories (Study 1). Categories that subsumed more frequently occurring items were deemed more prototypical. Second, another sample of Chinese participants directly rated these categories for how well they corresponded with the concept of modesty (Study 2). Thereafter, frequencies and ratings were algorithmically integrated, permitting categories to be ranked into three broad divisions: central, peripheral, and marginal. Finally, the ordinal validity of divisions was confirmed by having a third sample of Chinese participants rate the modesty of individuals exhibiting traits from within each division (Study 3). Lay conceptions of modesty in China only partly corresponded to those in previous Western samples. Among those categories that were shared, some were central in both China and the West (FRIENDLY, NOT CONCEITED), others only in China (LOW-KEY, POLITE, EASYGOING, AUTHENTIC). Furthermore, several central categories were unique to China (TAKES-CRITICISM, STEADY, CAUTIOUS, ASPIRING). Our findings inform ongoing conceptualizations of modesty in a cross-cultural context.