In early 2021, a meme format called “high EQ versus low EQ” (高情商 VS 低情商) was popular on the Chinese internet. Each meme takes a blunt remark that is unpleasant to hear and rewrites it in words that make the listener feel good.
In January 2021, the tech site ifanr wrote that everyone knows the “high EQ” versions are not really high EQ. It said the format could be called “an advanced version of sarcasm” (阴阳怪气的进阶版本).
In October 2018, China Education Daily reported on new local rules for teachers in WeChat groups with parents. The education bureau of Hengshui said that teachers may not post students’ rankings or “negative information” about students in the group. Weifang ruled out naming or criticizing students, and publishing scores or rankings. A middle school in Hangzhou stated: “Teachers may not criticize anyone by name in the group.” (教师不得在群内点名批评)
In Chinese work chats, a common reply to a message from a leader is shoudao (收到), “received.” In December 2023, the business site Jiemian quoted an office worker: “Do not reply OK to a leader. Reply ‘received’ or ‘all right.’ That is better.”
A worker also told Jiemian: “When I reply ‘received,’ it means I know. It does not necessarily mean I will do it.”
In July 2021, after floods in Henan, the sportswear maker Hongxing Erke announced a donation of 50 million yuan, though it had been losing money for years. Shoppers rushed to its stores and livestreams in what was called 野性消费, “wild consumption.” In one week, the company sold more than 100 million yuan through its livestreams alone.
The Zhengzhou Charity Federation later said that its agreement with an Erke subsidiary covered 30 million yuan, mostly in goods. The Beijing News concluded that the donation was real, but that the amount might end up below the figure announced.
In March 2019, Chinese programmers started a project on GitHub called 996.ICU. Its slogan was gongzuo 996, shengbing ICU: “Work 996, get sick, end up in the ICU.” 996 means working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.
Within weeks, the page had almost 200,000 stars. Its list of companies said to demand such hours had grown to 123.
In November 2020, the term Fanersai wenxue, Versailles literature, went viral on Chinese social media. The name comes from the Japanese manga The Rose of Versailles. It describes posts that “first lower, then raise,” pretending to complain while really showing off. The Paper defined it as “a way of speaking that shows off in a low-key manner.”
On December 4, 2020, the language magazine Yaowen Jiaozi named it one of the ten top buzzwords of the year.
On Chinese messaging apps, the yellow smiling face (微笑) can be read as contempt, not as friendliness. A 2023 commentary in The Paper wrote that among young people the smile has taken on the meaning of 呵呵, a dry “heh heh.” It stands for “disdain, mockery and speechlessness.”
The same commentary reported that a court had ruled that the smile “cannot simply be understood as mockery.” Its meaning, the court found, is ambiguous.
On April 17, 2021, a post titled Lying Flat Is Justice appeared on the forum Baidu Tieba, written by a user called “the good-hearted traveler.” Tangping, lying flat, came to mean withdrawing from fierce competition and no longer striving. It made the lists of the top words of 2021.
In May 2021, Southern Daily answered with a commentary titled “Lying Flat Is Shameful. Where Is the Justice in It?” Xinhua reprinted it.
In early December 2020, the language magazine Yaowen Jiaozi named its ten buzzwords of the year. Neijuan, involution, was one of them. The historical sociologist Philip Huang had used the word for “growth without development” in the peasant economy.
The dictionary Handian now defines it as excessive competition among peers or individuals for limited resources or opportunities.
On October 11, 2006, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party adopted a Decision on Major Issues Concerning the Building of a Socialist Harmonious Society. From 2007, China’s new high-speed trains carried the name Harmony (和谐号).
Chinese internet users found another use for the word. 河蟹, river crab, sounds like 和谐, harmony. It came to stand for blocking and covering up negative news and for controlling speech. Users also call the Harmony trains the River Crab.