Current location:world >>
China's disenchanted youth 'lie flat' to cope with modern life
world7People have gathered around
IntroductionBy Beiyi SeowGround down by the sapping realities of modern city life, China’s youth are ̶ ...
By Beiyi Seow
Ground down by the sapping realities of modern city life, China’s youth are “lying flat”, the latest buzzword for those tapping out of a culture of endless work with little reward.
With growing inequality and rising costs of living nudging traditional markers of success out of reach, some young people are choosing to do the bare minimum at work, dialling back the go-getting aspirations their parents once harboured.
‘Lying flat’ appears to have emerged from a now-deleted post on Chinese forum Tieba after an anonymous poster wrote “lying flat is my wise men’s movement”.
A debate on the meaning has attracted hundreds of millions of hits on Weibo, while the term has provoked admonishments from academics and state media.
Subscribe to HKFP's twice-weekly newsletter for a concise round-up of local news and our best coverage. Unsubscribe at any time - we will not pass on your data to third parties.
Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.For 24-year-old human resources worker Lin, “lying flat” has caught the mood as “young people can’t become ‘winners in life’ who buy cars, apartments, get married and have children”.
“So they choose to lower their goals and reduce their desires,” she added, giving only a surname.
Others praise the concept of reclaiming more attainable goals while stopping to smell the roses.
“Isn’t it wonderful if basic needs are met and people live in a more relaxed way?” said 47-year-old freelancer Lucy Lu.
‘Sang Culture’
Last year’s buzzword for the burgeoning ranks of dispossessed was “involution” — a tag describing a student at Tsinghua University who was videoed riding a bicycle while using his laptop.
It is now part of the daily vernacular covering the treadmill of modern life, especially in hyper-competitive cities.
The average recruitment salary for fresh graduates is around $1,000 a month, yet rent in Beijing can easily exceed half that amount.
The mood of disenchantment is covered by an umbrella term — “Sang culture” — which began as a self-deprecating subculture for post-90s youth expressing a sense of defeatism.
It is has entered the mainstream with millenials increasingly aware of a “glass ceiling obstructing their upward mobility”, according to K Cohen Tan, an academic at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.
An early Sang icon was Pepe the Frog, called “sad frog” in China, whose memes conveyed their disillusionment — unlike its adoption as an alt-right symbol in the US.
By April, a new Sang culture anti-hero emerged from a boyband reality show.
Russian Vladislav Ivanov, 27, joined the show by accident and made it to the finals despite pleading with fans to vote him off.
Unable to leave without breaching his contract, he performed limply in contrast to the fame-getting format, telling fans: “Don’t love me, you’ll get no results.”
But his on-screen persona captured the widespread feeling of wage-slavedom — and brought fame and endorsements.
Tan believes the malaise sweeping across the urban youth ultimately ties back to an age-old search for value in life.
“The difference lies in whether one feels they are grist to the corporate mill by creating value for others,” he said.
‘Roll up your sleeves’
‘Lying flat’ seemingly runs counter to the dynamic society cajoled in the rhetoric of President Xi Jinping, whose mantra for society is to “roll up your sleeves and work hard”.
The connotations of defeatism or docility also clash with generational values in a country whose elders have experienced extremes of poverty, hunger and violence and have often clawed their way up the social ladder.
The ‘lying flat’ concept is “an extremely irresponsible attitude that not only disappoints one’s parents but also hundreds and millions of taxpayers,” said Tsinghua University professor Li Fengliang.
He argued that people can still achieve social mobility through competition.
A widely circulated clip showed host Bai Yansong questioning if young people just wanted “very low property prices, to find work anyhow, and to have no stress whatsoever”.
“Surely not?” he asked.
State-run Xinhua news agency took a swing at “tang ping” culture, publishing a video of a scientist’s 12-hour workday, accompanied by a now-removed hashtag “the 86-year-old scientist who rejects lying flat”.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Earth Encounters news portal”。http://cyprus.carpetcleaningepping.com/html-84b599839.html
Related articles
Yu Darvish extends scoreless innings streak to 25 in Padres' 9
worldATLANTA (AP) — Yu Darvish dominated a slumping Braves offense and extended his career-high scoreless ...
【world】
Read moreHong Kong's exhibition centre axed booking for concert without reason, says pro
worldThe Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) has refused to lease its venue to pro-democra ...
【world】
Read moreHong Kong down to earth designer Niko Leung crafts ceramics from construction waste
worldWhen Niko Leung first asked to take some soil from a Hong Kong construction site in 2021, she came a ...
【world】
Read more
Popular articles
- Saudi Arabia is going to sponsor the WTA women's tennis rankings under a new partnership
- LAUSD investigating inappropriate photos being shared amongst students at Fairfax High School
- Pressure grows on Angela Rayner to quit as Labour deputy leader over housing row police probe
- Clarifications and corrections
- Messi in and Dybala out in Argentina squad for pre
- Iceland violent volcanic flare
Latest articles
Tom Brady and Jay
Hong Kong down to earth designer Niko Leung crafts ceramics from construction waste
VOX POPULI: Celebrating the arrival of spring the same way as in ‘Tale of Genji’
Iceland violent volcanic flare
Inquiry slams UK authorities for failures that killed thousands in infected blood scandal
US Treasury Secretary Yellen visits China for high
LINKS
- Hostile intention hides in US “support” for WHO
- Poverty eradication with Chinese characteristics
- Wildfire destroys prized mushrooms, income source for Tibetans — Radio Free Asia
- Commentary: Why will Chinese economy "genetically" rebound?
- Commentary: Why will Chinese economy "genetically" rebound?
- Guardians of rails: Powering safe journeys for all
- China achieves high
- Farewell to China's homecoming motorbike fleets
- Bundy family standoff: 10 years on, cattle graze disputed Nevada land
- Commentary: U.S. needs to honor commitments with actions to improve ties with China