{"id":925936,"date":"2021-02-16T11:35:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T10:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/?post_type=articles&p=925936"},"modified":"2021-03-08T17:53:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T16:53:48","slug":"how-to-have-a-niu-nian","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/articles\/how-to-have-a-niu-nian\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Have a Niu Nian"},"featured_media":925944,"template":"","meta":{"_has_post_settings":[]},"schools":[],"areas":[487],"subjects":[421],"class_list":["post-925936","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","areas-china","subjects-humanities"],"custom-fields":{"wpcf-article-body":["As my Chinese language teacher, Chen Xi, used to say, language helps you understand China \u2013 but idioms, colloquial expressions, and local slang provide the deepest insight. My lessons with her were like acupuncture: painful at first, then oddly beneficial for the unexpected pathways and connections they opened. We spent hours unpacking layers of meaning and references embedded in deceivingly compact expressions, usually only two to four characters in length. Ultimately, the process became so addictive that I still eagerly review, once a year, the newest words that enter the Chinese lexicon.\r\n\r\nTeacher Chen passed away five years ago, but I was reminded of her the other week as I reorganized my office ahead of the Lunar New Year. I came across a copy of the Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Slang of China<\/em><\/a>, which I helped edit in 1995. Leafing through the entries reminded me how \u2013 in much the same way phrases like \u201cfake news,\u201d \u201cmansplain,\u201d \u201cdoomscroll,\u201d \u201cMe Too\u201d \u201ccancel culture\u201d and \u201cOK Boomer\u201d capture the zeitgeist of today\u2019s divided America \u2013 there\u2019s no better way to track China\u2019s rapid changes than through its language.\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>\r\n\r\nIn memory of my late teacher<\/a>, and for the love of language that she imbued in me and all her students, I have pulled together some of the expressions that are shaping us in the year of the Ox.\r\n\r\nControlling the Narrative<\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\nNi xing zhe<\/em><\/strong> (\u9006\u884c\u8005) <\/strong>emerged during the pandemic to celebrate everyday citizens who heroically stepped up to serve on the frontline. Used to describe \u201ccounter marchers,\u201d those who go against traffic, Chinese speakers consider it the equivalent of a person who runs back into a burning building to save others. As one Chinese student, returning from college in the U.S., told me: \u201cNi xing zhe<\/em> captures the spirit of altruism and selfless help that had recently been lost in China.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe expression also describes the first doctors<\/a> and bloggers<\/a> who sounded the pandemic alarm in Wuhan, but these \u201ccounter-marchers\u201d criticized the government. Their stories, and the bigger story of the government\u2019s early failures<\/a> to contain the outbreak, have largely been erased from discourse and replaced by a new narrative of a bold government and ni xing zhe<\/em><\/a> restoring order in China.\r\n\r\nRewriting the narrative by casting patriotic heroes is nothing new in mainland China. Mao-era slogans exhorted people to study \u201cLei Feng<\/a>\u201d as a model worker (\u5b66\u4e60\u96f7\u950b\u597d\u699c\u6837). In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping encouraged<\/a> the Chinese to build socialism with Chinese characteristics. And in the 1990s, while working at the State-run China Daily<\/em><\/a> newspaper, I saw how the lede was routinely buried on sensitive stories. After a tragic accident at the Beijing railway station, for example, the story focused on how ambulance workers saved the day rather than shed light on the construction, management, and corruption that likely caused the disaster.\r\n\r\nHow darkly ironic, then (or darkly brilliant if you specialize in damage control and PR), that an expression that celebrates going against the grain could be co-opted so well by a country that persecutes most who do so (eg, Hong Kong<\/a>, Xinjiang<\/a>, activist voices<\/a> in Wuhan). It turns out that you can be a counter marcher in China as long as you don\u2019t counter State interests.\r\n
It\u2019s difficult to accurately judge social activism in China, with many people self-censoring out of legitimate fear.<\/blockquote>\r\nThe Malaise of Modern Life<\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe expression xia hai<\/em> (\u4e0b\u6d77),<\/strong> meaning to \u201cjump into the sea\u201d (of private business), best captures the period in the 1980s and 90s when China began to embrace the free market. Material comfort prevailed in that era, represented by phrases wan yuan hu<\/em> (\u4e07\u5143\u6237)<\/strong> (a 10,000 yuan or US$1,500 household, a sizeable annual income up until the late 1990s), and later da kuan<\/em> (\u5927\u6b3e)<\/strong>, meaning a very wealthy person.\r\n\r\nThe past 30 years have indeed been impressive in this manner: 300 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty, nearly the same amount have entered the middle class \u2013 and one\u2019s life expectancy is higher if born in Beijing today rather than in Washington DC. Yet, it\u2019s important to note that even with the pandemic aside, malaise has slipped into paradise. China\u2019s university graduates struggle to find jobs<\/a> or are woefully underemployed, resentment is rising against companies who overwork employees<\/a>, and the language of formal hierarchy, like calling someone \u201cBoss Joe Chen,\u201d has grown more prevalent.\r\n\r\nEnter da gong ren<\/em> (\u6253\u5de5\u4eba) <\/em><\/strong>to describe the plight of modern workers. \u201cGong ren<\/em>\u201d is a factory worker, but da gong ren<\/em> applies to any white-collar worker who has become the means of production, who lives under the incessant \u201c996\u201d culture<\/a> (work 9-9, 6 days a week). The term is a self-deprecating one among office workers and memes abound to show their awareness of being cogs in a capitalist system. Generation Z has taken up the art of slacking off at work or \u201ctouching fish\u201d<\/a> (mo yu<\/em> \u6478\u9c7c), and urge each other not to take things so seriously, to find pleasure in simple activities, like to \u201cgan fan<\/em>,\u201d to passionately enjoy a bowl of rice.\r\n\r\nA psychology student in Beijing told me: \u201cDa gong ren<\/em> resonates with senior executives and struggling new grads, it has established a commonality among people who are seemingly so different\u2026 It\u2019s hard to imagine that in a U.S. context.\u201d Kenny Wong, managing director of advertising agency WE Marketing<\/a>, pointed out how the Chinese character for liver (gan<\/em> \u809d) sometimes get substituted for the similar-sounding character for work (gan <\/em>\u5e72) \u2013 a visual reminder to take care of one\u2019s health when working overtime for the Man.\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDa gong ren<\/em> is neither a manifesto for workers of the world to unite<\/a> nor a total rejection of the market economy. It\u2019s more akin to the disillusionment of working McJobs, sarcastically captured by Douglas Coupland in his novel Generation X.<\/a> No word embodies the collective angst over modern life more than nei juan (\u5185\u5377)<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em> or literally \u201cinner roll,\u201d often translated as \u201cinvolution\u201d (in contrast to evolution). The anthropologist Xiang Bo provides a fascinating treatise<\/a> on this buzzword, which encapsulates the relentless competition in all aspects of life in China (and serves as a reminder of why my wife and I stopped living there full-time five years ago.)\r\n\r\nBu Zhong<\/a>, professor of communications at Penn State (USA), told me nei juan<\/em> is like watching a movie: \u201cWhen those in the front stand up to watch, the back must stand up too. When they all take this effort to stand up, do they enjoy it more? No. Everyone gets tired of standing up, but they have no choice.\u201d It is not that very different for millennials in the West.\r\n\r\nDistractions, Humor, and National Pride<\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhether they acknowledge it or not, many of my Chinese friends seem caught in a Faustian bargain in that they will accept less freedom and tight State control in exchange for safety, convenience, and better economic conditions.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s difficult to accurately judge social activism in China, with many people self-censoring out of legitimate fear. We are left, instead, with the entertainment and light humor that pumps through Chinese social media with such volume that even the bilingual dean of a renowned language institute confided to me, \u201cI can\u2019t even keep up with the words these days!\u201d Here\u2019s a selection of the more interesting ones:\r\n\r\nshen shou (<\/em><\/strong>\u795e\u517d)<\/em><\/strong> - mythical creatures.<\/strong><\/em> Vicky Xin Zhang<\/a>, a translator and interpreter trained at the Monterey Institute, told me that just like their counterparts in the western hemisphere, \u201cChinese parents didn't know how good they had it pre-COVID when they could just go to work and leave their children to school teachers.\u201d Forced to deal with their children 24\/7 at home, Chinese parents now refer to their unpredictable, ridiculous, naughty, dumbfounding children as shen shou<\/em>, or mythical creatures \u2013 a far cry from the beloved \u201csmall treasures\u201d (bao bei<\/em> \u5b9d\u8d1d) or little emperors (xiao huang di<\/em> \u5c0f\u7687\u5e1d) that Chinese children were once called.\r\n\r\nao Ii gei (\u5965\u5229\u7ed9) - you got this!\/ awesome \/ cheer up. <\/em><\/strong>After being popularized by a humorous, high-energy migrant worker on the short-form video platform kuaishou<\/a>, ao li gei<\/em> became a rallying cry<\/a> that pumps everything from your sales to your spirit. It is reminiscent of the traditional saying jia you<\/em> (\u52a0\u6cb9) (add oil or \u201clet\u2019s go!\u201d) and the early 2010s mantra, gei li<\/em>\uff08\u7ed9\u529b) (give power!).\r\n\r\nfan er sai wen xue (\u51e1\u5c14\u8d5b\u6587\u5b66) - Versailles literature. <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0This trending expression represents a backlash against conspicuous consumption and elitism by gently mocking those who complain and humblebrag. An example of Versailles literature might be: \u201cMy boyfriend just bought me a Chanel bag, but it is a poor color and I\u2019m so upset.\u201d\r\n\r\ndong wang (\u61c2\u738b ) \u2013 all-knowing king<\/em><\/strong>. Two Americans living in China since the 1990s eagerly shared with me this moniker for Donald Trump. Trump may be gone, but I suspect his ability to shuai guo<\/em> (\u7529\u934b) \u2013 an expression that means dumping the wok, or refusing to admit blame and to shirk responsibility \u2013 will continue to be used amongst the Chinese as the West pins their problems on China.\r\n\r\nIP <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 intellectual property.<\/em><\/strong> Victor Mair<\/a>, sinologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, steered me to the word IP<\/em>, which is just as it sounds in English and is shorthand for intellectual property. It is used to relay the preserving of cultural identity (the \u201cIP of Xi\u2019an, the city\u201d for example), one\u2019s personal brand, or trade secrets (valuable or original corporate IP). UPenn has an informative language log<\/a> where Mair and others reflect on how English has increasingly entered Chinese speech. The expression IP is particularly interesting in how it shows a term which was once largely disregarded and violated in China is now embraced.\r\n\r\nWhat\u2019s Next <\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\nThis past year of the Rat had us all looking inward \u2013 re-evaluating our values and identities, individuals and nations alike. Thus, it is no surprise that we are all desperate to break into the year of the Ox.\r\n\r\nThe young generation in China has begun to lay claim to the future, calling themselves the next wave, hou lang (<\/em><\/strong>\u540e\u6d6a)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em> The expression comes from the longer saying \u201c\u957f\u6c5f\u540e\u6d6a\u63a8\u524d\u6d6a\u201d that means the rear waves of the Yangtze River drive on those that precede them \u2013 a rather Zen-like way of saying the new is constantly replacing the old.\r\n\r\nI discussed the topic with the young online influencer Wish Wang<\/a>, who is herself caught between these metaphorical waves \u2013 and our WeChat discussion aptly captured this life. Wang was describing to me how she volunteers, travels, focuses on herself and her health, and just as she was telling me all this, she quickly changes gears and excuses herself to pop out of our conversation in order to host a short streaming sell session with her online followers. Little wonder her word for the Year of the Ox is yu zhi<\/em> (\u9608\u503c)<\/strong>, meaning threshold: \u201cif you can\u2019t see any progress, don't give up, coz maybe you haven\u2019t broken through the threshold.\u201d\r\n\r\nNo doubt, my late Teacher Chen would have truly loved all these new expressions. I imagine her giving them a thumbs up, in accordance with the word for Ox, niu<\/em> (\u725b).<\/strong> Niu<\/em> has long been used colloquially to mean \u201cawesome!\u201d <\/a>\u00a0So, until 2022, we should have ourselves an Awesome (Ox) Year (\u725b\u5e74)!\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Top photo: The author (right) with his teacher, dated 1992.\r\nBottom photo: The author and his teacher along with one of the most famous comedians of the era, Chen Peisi.<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\u00a9 IE Insights."],"wpcf-article-leadin":["Michael Wenderoth shares the Chinese expressions which are shaping the Year of the Ox as he fondly looks back at his time learning the language and its myriad sayings."],"wpcf-article-extract-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-extract":["Michael Wenderoth shares the Chinese expressions which are shaping the Year of the Ox as he fondly looks back at his time learning the language and its myriad sayings."]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/925936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"schools","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/schools?post=925936"},{"taxonomy":"areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/areas?post=925936"},{"taxonomy":"subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subjects?post=925936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}