🧵1/ #躺平 lying flat [thread in progress]
In #China Gen Y-Z are tired of the rat race
新不合作运动
"New Non-Cooperation Movement"
#Memes and Music
In #China Gen Y-Z are tired of the rat race
新不合作运动
"New Non-Cooperation Movement"
#Memes and Music
🧵2/ #躺人 "lying flat" – #censorship
"Lying Flat" was quickly censored on both Douban and Weibo.
Within 24 hours, four 'Lying Flat’-themed Douban groups were suspended.
For background: see @SixthTone
"Lying Flat" was quickly censored on both Douban and Weibo.
Within 24 hours, four 'Lying Flat’-themed Douban groups were suspended.
For background: see @SixthTone
https://twitter.com/SixthTone/status/1398519584861396992?s=20
@SixthTone 🧵3/ #躺人 lying flat
#LyingFlat is becoming a social movement of young people rejecting the #CCP's "Chinese Dream" 中国梦.
Xi Jinping announced this ideal in late 2012 to lead China's “great rejuvenation.”
nytimes.com/2013/06/05/opi…
#LyingFlat is becoming a social movement of young people rejecting the #CCP's "Chinese Dream" 中国梦.
Xi Jinping announced this ideal in late 2012 to lead China's “great rejuvenation.”
nytimes.com/2013/06/05/opi…
🧵4/ #躺人 lying flat movement - context:
"#XiJinping's Reform Agenda,"
video by Jessica Teets of @Middlebury:
&
"The #Chinese Dream: Still Dreaming?"
by Jessica Teets in @Diplomat_APAC:
thediplomat.com/2013/09/the-ch…
"#XiJinping's Reform Agenda,"
video by Jessica Teets of @Middlebury:
&
"The #Chinese Dream: Still Dreaming?"
by Jessica Teets in @Diplomat_APAC:
thediplomat.com/2013/09/the-ch…
@Middlebury @Diplomat_APAC 🧵5/ #躺人 即是正义
#LyingFlat is Righteous.
The term "lying flat" dates from at least 2011.
On Apr 17, 2021 "Kind-Hearted Traveler" (Luo Huazhong) used it in a post on a major online forum, Baidu Tieba 百度贴吧.
His defense of his low-desire lifestyle sparked heated debate.
#LyingFlat is Righteous.
The term "lying flat" dates from at least 2011.
On Apr 17, 2021 "Kind-Hearted Traveler" (Luo Huazhong) used it in a post on a major online forum, Baidu Tieba 百度贴吧.
His defense of his low-desire lifestyle sparked heated debate.
🧵6/ #LyingFlat is Righteous
既然这片土地从没真实存在高举人主体性的思潮，那我可以自己制造给自己，躺平就是我的智者 #运动."
"As our land has never had a real trend of thought exalting human agency, I can create one. Lying flat is my sage-like #movement."
– Kind-Hearted Traveler
既然这片土地从没真实存在高举人主体性的思潮，那我可以自己制造给自己，躺平就是我的智者 #运动."
"As our land has never had a real trend of thought exalting human agency, I can create one. Lying flat is my sage-like #movement."
– Kind-Hearted Traveler
🧵7/ #躺人 lying flat
“中国梦”之 #躺平主义
The #LyingFlat-ism of the "#Chinese Dream"
This manifesto presents direct opposition to the #CCP's National Dream (中共国梦).
via @Gnews202064 (in Chinese):
gnews.org/zh-hans/126156…
“中国梦”之 #躺平主义
The #LyingFlat-ism of the "#Chinese Dream"
This manifesto presents direct opposition to the #CCP's National Dream (中共国梦).
via @Gnews202064 (in Chinese):
gnews.org/zh-hans/126156…
@Gnews202064 🧵8/ lying flat means:
Don't buy an apartment.
Don't buy a car.
Don't get married.
Don't have children.
Don't be a consumer.
Maintain the lowest possible standard of living.
Don't become a machine for others to make money or a slave to be exploited.
rfi.my/7Rm0.T
Don't buy an apartment.
Don't buy a car.
Don't get married.
Don't have children.
Don't be a consumer.
Maintain the lowest possible standard of living.
Don't become a machine for others to make money or a slave to be exploited.
rfi.my/7Rm0.T
@Gnews202064 🧵9/ lying flat #躺平 (tǎngpíng)
有也行，没有也行
To have or not; it's all good.
一切随缘 . . .
Go with the karmic flow
不争不抢
Don't fight or grab [at things]
不求输赢
Don't seek to win or lose.*
人生苦短 . . .
Life's too short
___
*i.e., outcomes
s.weibo.com/weibo?q=%E4%B9…
有也行，没有也行
To have or not; it's all good.
一切随缘 . . .
Go with the karmic flow
不争不抢
Don't fight or grab [at things]
不求输赢
Don't seek to win or lose.*
人生苦短 . . .
Life's too short
___
*i.e., outcomes
s.weibo.com/weibo?q=%E4%B9…
🧵10/ #躺平
Banned in China:
《#躺平是王道》躺平即正义
词曲：张不三
"#LyingFlat is the Way*":
Lying Flat is Righteous
lyrics & music: Zhang Busan
2:51 min @YouTube:
____
*see 11/ below
Banned in China:
《#躺平是王道》躺平即正义
词曲：张不三
"#LyingFlat is the Way*":
Lying Flat is Righteous
lyrics & music: Zhang Busan
2:51 min @YouTube:
____
*see 11/ below
🧵11/ Best intro to lying flat 躺平 is @YouTube:
《#躺平是王道》
"#LyingFlat is the Way [of the Benevolent Ruler]*"
- full Chinese lyrics
- rich comments with full English translation & notes pinned at top.
__
*as opposed to 霸道, the Way of the Hegemon
《#躺平是王道》
"#LyingFlat is the Way [of the Benevolent Ruler]*"
- full Chinese lyrics
- rich comments with full English translation & notes pinned at top.
__
*as opposed to 霸道, the Way of the Hegemon
@YouTube 🧵12/In her comments on Zhang's song @aliagoehr gives A+ notes, e.g:
"Competition's inward spiral" (nèijuǎn 内卷):
"#involution" has come to denote areas of extreme toxic social or professional #competition, such as #China's college entrance exams or office workers' overtime...
"Competition's inward spiral" (nèijuǎn 内卷):
"#involution" has come to denote areas of extreme toxic social or professional #competition, such as #China's college entrance exams or office workers' overtime...
🧵13/ Lying flat is a considered response to "#involution."
內卷 (nèijuǎn, "inside rolling," a curling inward) now denotes entrapment in competition.
"#Sisyphus spinning the wheels of a perpetual-motion @peloton." @yilingliu95
newyorker.com/culture/cultur…
內卷 (nèijuǎn, "inside rolling," a curling inward) now denotes entrapment in competition.
"#Sisyphus spinning the wheels of a perpetual-motion @peloton." @yilingliu95
newyorker.com/culture/cultur…
🧵14/ #躺平哲学
Lying flat #philosophy
《子曰躺平》孔子让我躺平的
"The Master says: Lie Flat"
Confucius has me lie flat
Lyrics: *The Analects* 论语
Music: Zhang Bosan 张不三
Lying flat #philosophy
《子曰躺平》孔子让我躺平的
"The Master says: Lie Flat"
Confucius has me lie flat
Lyrics: *The Analects* 论语
Music: Zhang Bosan 张不三
🧵15/ Confucius said:
贤哉，回也！
So virtuous was Hui!
一箪食
A single basket of food,
一瓢饮
a single ladle of drink
在陋巷
in a lowly lane.
人不堪其忧
Others couldn't have endured his distress.
回也不改其乐
Yet his joy was not affected.
贤哉，回也 …
Virtuous was Hui indeed!
贤哉，回也！
So virtuous was Hui!
一箪食
A single basket of food,
一瓢饮
a single ladle of drink
在陋巷
in a lowly lane.
人不堪其忧
Others couldn't have endured his distress.
回也不改其乐
Yet his joy was not affected.
贤哉，回也 …
Virtuous was Hui indeed!
🧵16/ #躺平 #marketing & #censorship
T-shirts, sweaters and other products drew buyers* who identify with the "lying flat" philosophy.
Then the products were recalled, or at least disappeared from shelves and online.
__
* ironic given that the movement is anti-materialistic
T-shirts, sweaters and other products drew buyers* who identify with the "lying flat" philosophy.
Then the products were recalled, or at least disappeared from shelves and online.
__
* ironic given that the movement is anti-materialistic
🧵17/ Some "#LyingFlat Youth" #躺平青年 both (a) reject materialism & (b) buy products with #躺平 slogans with which they identify.
The movement presents a telling case of both (a) resistance to conformity & mimetic desire and (b) mimetic desire at work.
The movement presents a telling case of both (a) resistance to conformity & mimetic desire and (b) mimetic desire at work.
https://twitter.com/SangBina/status/1415656283806519297?s=20
🧵18/ Precursor trends have been leading up to the "lying flat" #躺平 movement for yrs.
The 1993 sitcom "I love my home" later inspired a #meme of its protagonist, played by actor Ge You 葛优.
By 2016 the slang term "Ge You slouch" #葛优躺 * was trending.
*Ge You #lying around
The 1993 sitcom "I love my home" later inspired a #meme of its protagonist, played by actor Ge You 葛优.
By 2016 the slang term "Ge You slouch" #葛优躺 * was trending.
*Ge You #lying around
🧵19/ *Sang* culture #丧文化 is also a precursor to the "lying flat" #躺平 mindset.
"A coping mechanism similar to #stoicism," *sang* 丧 (lit. mourning) bespeaks a sense of disenfranchisement.
See Zeng Yuli @SixthTone (2017): sixthtone.com/news/1000407/t…
"A coping mechanism similar to #stoicism," *sang* 丧 (lit. mourning) bespeaks a sense of disenfranchisement.
See Zeng Yuli @SixthTone (2017): sixthtone.com/news/1000407/t…
🧵20/ Lying flat #躺平 trends also draw on Buddhist chill culture (佛系文化).
#Buddhist #chill (佛系): a neologism for "chill about everything," used by & about youth who don't buy into the Chinese Dream.*
* See 🧵3-4.
____
Buddhist chill youth (佛系青年)
Feel the tranquility!
#Buddhist #chill (佛系): a neologism for "chill about everything," used by & about youth who don't buy into the Chinese Dream.*
* See 🧵3-4.
____
Buddhist chill youth (佛系青年)
Feel the tranquility!
🧵21/ For more on "#Buddhist #chill," see thread below.
This Lying flat thread continues in 🧵22/.
This Lying flat thread continues in 🧵22/.
https://twitter.com/SabinaKnight1/status/1419770376708628483?s=20
🧵22/ @emilie_chrx skillfully puts #tangping 躺平 in the context of #economic precarity.
(She shows images of tweets 17-18 from this thread.)
__
"In #China more and more youth are 'lying flat' to write another national narrative" (in French) @USBEKetRICA
usbeketrica.com/fr/article/com…
(She shows images of tweets 17-18 from this thread.)
__
"In #China more and more youth are 'lying flat' to write another national narrative" (in French) @USBEKetRICA
usbeketrica.com/fr/article/com…
🧵23/ Some "lying flat" youth see themselves as "#chives" (韭菜) to be harvested by exploitative employers and the state.
“If we chives lie flat, then it’s hard for them to cut or chop us.”
___________
🎨 Capitalists can no longer chop us down!
Lying flat chives
“If we chives lie flat, then it’s hard for them to cut or chop us.”
___________
🎨 Capitalists can no longer chop us down!
Lying flat chives
🧵24/ Some "lying flat" youth call themselves "#chives" (韭菜) or "loosers" (屌丝) because they don't identify with the privileged group known as the "rear wave" (后浪).
The "rear wave" refers to the new generation that excels beyond its forebears.
___
"Rush on, rear waves!"
The "rear wave" refers to the new generation that excels beyond its forebears.
___
"Rush on, rear waves!"
🧵25/ To motivate #China's youth, video platform Bililbili posted a lecture for Youth Day, May 2020.
“A nation’s most beautiful scenery is its youth. Kind, brave, selfless, fearless .... Surge ahead, rear waves!”
Actor He Bing 何冰, “Rear Waves”《后浪》
“A nation’s most beautiful scenery is its youth. Kind, brave, selfless, fearless .... Surge ahead, rear waves!”
Actor He Bing 何冰, “Rear Waves”《后浪》
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