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As China’s Lunar New Yr vacation continues all through this week, CDT Chinese language editors have collected and republished over a dozen essays, articles, and different content material reflecting the zeitgeist of the transition from 2023’s Yr of the Rabbit to 2024’s Yr of the Dragon. As blogger Xiang Dongliang famous, this yr’s vacation was notable for fewer pink envelopes—however extra commercials on CCTV’s annual televised Lunar New Yr’s Gala. It was additionally notable for the sheer variety of individuals touring (610 million practice tickets have been offered within the two weeks earlier than Lunar New Yr) and disruptions attributable to heavy snowstorms and blizzards in lots of cities and provinces of central and japanese China, together with Chongqing, Guizhou, Hubei and Anhui.
The Lunar New Yr’s content material archived right here might be divided into a number of broad classes: hometowns and household life, winter climate, the challenges that lie forward, and language and tradition.
Hometowns and Household Life
A query posted to the Q&A web site Zhihu (“Why achieve this many households struggle throughout Lunar New Yr?”) drew quite a few detailed responses, a few of them fairly darkish, masking the gamut of household dysfunction, psychological well being points, strictures of custom and patriarchy, and parental strain to marry, reproduce, or earn extra money. Zhihu consumer WDKYMYS answered that they hate going house for Chinese language New Yr due to their dad and mom’ dysfunctional marriage and fixed bickering, and confided that they typically wished their dad and mom would simply break up and be completed with it. One other Zhihu consumer, writing anonymously, noticed that youthful individuals dwelling within the metropolis are inclined to put up a false entrance and revert to ossified gender roles when visiting dad and mom or in-laws within the countryside, which might result in arguments. Respondent 笑百步 (xiàobǎibù) listed 4 components fueling familial battle throughout the New Yr: elevated monetary burdens, tight quarters shared with family members, standing competitions, and lack of religion sooner or later.
An article from Weibo account 书生意气看世界 (shūshēng yìqì kàn shìjiè, “trying on the world from a scholarly temperament”) notes that for a lot of middle-aged employees, this Lunar New Yr is a time of tension because of the widespread drawback of unpaid wages. However for youthful individuals returning to their hometowns at New Yr, writes the creator, the principle supply of tension is familial strain to quiet down, get married, or have youngsters. Many discover themselves heading off parental strain to get arrange on dates, go on blind dates, or settle for the companies of a matchmaker; some would slightly keep away from this by not going house in any respect.
WeChat account 3号厅检票员工 (sānhàotīng jiǎnpiào yuángōng, “the ticket-taker in theater three”), which covers present occasions from a cinephile’s perspective, wrote a New Yr’s essay concerning the invisible sacrifices and contributions of ladies. Per the account’s give attention to movie, the creator dissects two feminine cinematic characters whose unwavering help of the male protagonist is neglected and ignored: Qin Cairong from the quirky 2021 sci-fi movie “Journey to the West” (Chinese language title:《宇宙探索编辑部》Yuzhou tansuo bianjibu) and Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer from the 2023 biopic “Oppenheimer.” The creator additionally mentions the movies “Barbie” and “Every thing All over the place All at As soon as,” in addition to “Inform Me, Mother—Why Would I Trouble to Get Married?,” a spoken-word video that has been seen over a million occasions on Bilibili. Addressing her mom, the video’s narrator says, “Dad loves Lunar New Yr, however I do know you hate it, Mother, as a result of whereas he and his mates are consuming and ingesting and speaking huge, basking in familial heat and affection, you’re slaving within the kitchen alone. And after all of the dishes have been eaten, in any case the buddies have left, you’ve obtained extra work to do, selecting their rubbish up off the ground and cleansing up their mess.”
Winter Climate
For a lot of touring house for Lunar New Yr, the enjoyment of household reunion was tempered by journey delays and disruptions attributable to intense snow and rainstorms in lots of areas of the nation. A Sanlian Lifeweek Journal characteristic described among the nightmare journey situations: fliers stranded at Wuhan’s Tianhe Airport for 30 hours; drivers navigating icy roads, sleeping by the roadside, or caught up in a six-mile-long visitors jam on the Shanghai-to-Chengdu part of Wuhan’s Outer Ring Expressway; and a household trapped of their automobile for 18 hours on the ultimate 50 miles of their journey house to Hubei. The Beijing Information WeChat account targeted on human curiosity tales revealed an identical characteristic, with pictures of visitors jams, timber and crops lined in ice, individuals pushing automobiles by means of snow, and distributors promoting noodles and different snacks to stranded motorists.
On February 4, 2024, heavy rain and snow triggered a six-mile lengthy visitors visitors jam on the Shanghai-Chengdu part of the Wuhan Outer Ring Expressway in Hubei Province. (supply: Sanlian Lifeweek/Visible China Group)
Pushing a cart by means of heavy snow (supply: interviewee/Beijing Information/WeChat)
Upon arriving house after a protracted journey, a weary traveler drew a smiley face within the snow. (supply: interviewee/Beijing Information/WeChat)
In Hubei, the place as many as a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals have been stranded on ice- and snow-covered expressways, the native authorities’s anemic response to the climate was broadly criticized. It was solely after a large public outcry and mockery on social media that native officers lastly despatched crews to take away ice and snow from motorways and permit visitors to circulate freely. As one on-line commenter joked, “Whereas the encompassing provinces are clearing snow and ice, Hubei is busy educating individuals about pure disasters.”
The unusually harsh climate has impressed some wild conspiracy theories about this yr’s ice- and snow storms being “local weather weapons” (气象武器, qìxiàng wǔqì) deployed towards China by its enemies. In her Lunar New Yr’s put up, WeChat blogger Princess Minmin deplored the anti-intellectual currents fueling such unfounded conspiracy theories, and urged her readers to maintain their wits about them and never succumb to stupidity or concern.
The Challenges Forward
Of their Lunar New Yr’s posts, many on-line writers targeted on the challenges—social, financial, political, or religious—dealing with China within the yr forward.
Whereas some employees have been worrying about their unpaid wages, others have been denied time without work throughout this yr’s vacation. An article from WeChat account 温州家长 (Wēnzhōu jiāzhǎng, Wenzhou dad or mum/s) decried the meaningless formalism of forcing already beleaguered lecturers to work throughout Chinese language New Yr, when lessons will not be in session. Lecturers are sometimes assigned to “guard” empty college campuses, although many of those campuses have safety guards and switch off the warmth and water throughout college holidays. Some lecturers who complained about having to work throughout the vacation have been ridiculed on-line, and a reporter who known as one college district to inquire concerning the observe was instructed that there was “no obligatory requirement” that lecturers keep on obligation throughout the vacation—a declare that was met with incredulity by lecturers pressured to surrender their Lunar New Yr vacation. (For extra on overworked lecturers, see earlier CDT posts on lecturers pressured to work as on-line “optimistic power” commentators, or as “bit gamers” to bolster numbers and police the conduct of others throughout inspection visits by high-level cadres.)
Author and political commentator Ye Kefei highlighted socio-political challenges in a Lunar New Yr’s letter urging mates and readers to “keep alert and keep indignant”:
Since historical occasions, Chinese language society has confronted an issue: there’s far more discuss society than concerning the particular person. Particular person emotions are at all times subservient to the emotions of society or the emotions of these in energy. There’s a restricted vocabulary for expressing real private feelings or ache, and the channels for this type of expression are much more restricted. This offers rise to huge inhibition, thus prohibiting regular expressions of human nature and emotion.
[…] For the person, hypocritical “optimistic power” is meaningless. Staying alert always, assessing the longer term, staying indignant always, and making calls for of each your self and society—these are the one methods to save lots of your self.
I hope that every one my mates will keep alert and indignant, and can take motion, as an alternative of simply speaking. [Chinese]
WeChat blogger Wei Chunliang revealed a put up acknowledging that the final yr had been a tough one, and affirming the Chinese language individuals’s proper to fireworks, freedom, dignity, and normality:
Individuals setting off fireworks and watching fireworks (no matter whether or not or not they’ve been given official permission to take action) isn’t nearly having enjoyable, however concerning the elementary proper to dwell a traditional life. It represents a tiny victory within the struggle for the fitting to regulate our personal lives.
Should you learn the information in any respect, you’ll be conscious that there are too many issues we’re “forbidden” to do: we’re forbidden from burning coal, or forgetting to fold our quilts, or posting commercials in entrance of shops, and on and on and on. These “forbidden” actions are all backed up by fine-sounding logic, and we’ve turn out to be habitually docile.
Having accepted a lot else, the Chinese language individuals who have labored exhausting all yr must have the fitting to look at fireworks. Should you’re not keen on fireworks, be happy to exchange that phrase with the rest you take pleasure in. That is about greater than fireworks, greater than Chinese language New Yr. In sum, all of us need to be allowed to dwell regular lives in a traditional society in a traditional age. [Chinese]
The individuals deserve fireworks (picture: Wei Chunliang/WeChat)
Many on-line essayists, bloggers, and citizen journalists have discovered it more and more tough to put in writing about subjects of their selecting with out having their social media accounts suspended, banned, or attacked in a polarized period. Prolific Wechat blogger 海边的西塞罗 (hǎibiān de Xīsāiluó, “Cicero by the ocean”) addresses this in a Lunar New Yr’s message of gratitude to readers:
Regardless of my finest efforts, I really feel like societal opinion is (very visibly and quickly) turning into extra polarized. Practically each information merchandise appears to encourage solely two uncompromising responses—both fanatical help or vitriolic hatred. In catering to those two kinds of voices (and maybe that is because of the recognition of short-form video as a automobile for expressing such uncompromising feelings), self-published media discourse may additionally turn out to be divided into two factions, with nary any center floor, or room for compromise or reconciliation.
[…] I feel these are the the explanation why I persist in doing this, why I proceed to put in writing. For us peculiar individuals, our current tranquil lives are depending on the tranquility, tolerance, and rationality of society as an entire. To safeguard these, I’ll proceed to put in writing, taking it day-to-day. If one individual understands, meaning I’ve received over one individual. I’ll proceed to do that to the very best of my potential, till demise do us half.
I’m additionally grateful to all these mates who perceive me. I’m however a mere mortal, a fragile being. These occasions I’ve been at risk, I thanks for lifting me up. [Chinese]
Language and Tradition
Lastly, a few of CDT’s archived Lunar New Yr content material revolves round language and tradition. One put up dissects the pattern of utilizing uncommon, archaic, variant Chinese language characters in Lunar New Yr’s greetings, whereas one other delves into the current controversy over Chinese language dragons vs. Western dragons, and whether or not the usual English translation for this yr’s Chinese language Zodiac animal ought to be the acquainted “dragon” or the unfamiliar “loong.”
The WeChat account 读宋史的赵大胖 (dú Sòngshǐ de Zhào dàpàng, “Fatty Zhao, scholar of Track Dynasty historical past”) takes intention at this yr’s on-line pattern of utilizing complicated variant characters for Lunar New Yr’s greetings. The creator explains the which means, pronunciation, and derivation of a few of these complicated and repetitive characters, however concludes that he dislikes the pattern. The aim of language is to speak with readability, he writes, to not exhibit one’s information or depart the reader baffled.
The Chinese language textual content of the message above reads:
龙行龘龘 lóng xíng dá dá
前程朤朤 qiánchéng lǎng lǎng
生活䲜䲜 shēnghuó yè yè
事业燚燚 shìyè yì yì
An approximate translation of the greeting is:
Might the dragon soar—
Wishing you a shiny future,
an ample life,
and a blazingly profitable profession!
The ultimate two characters in every line are shaped by repeating the identical radical three or 4 occasions. Within the first line, the character 龘 (pronounced dá, and which means “the looks of a dragon in flight”) is shaped by repeating the traditional-form character for “dragon” (龍, lóng) 3 times. Within the second line, the character 朤 (lǎng, which means “shiny future”) is shaped by 4 repetitions of the character 月 (yuè, “moon” or “month”). Within the third line, the character 䲜 (yè, “many fish”) is shaped by repeating the character 鱼 (yú, “fish”) 4 occasions. And within the fourth line, the character 燚 (yì, “a fireplace burning fiercely”) is shaped by 4 repetitions of the character for “fireplace” (火, huǒ).
The Propaganda Division of the Zhejiang Provincial Social gathering Committee kicked up a storm just lately when it got here out in favor of the English phrase “Yr of the Loong,” slightly than “Yr of the Dragon.” The logic appeared to be that “dragon” as a translation for the Chinese language character 龙 (lóng) didn’t adequately categorical the variations between the Jap and Western variations of those legendary creatures:
(supply: WeChat account 晨枫老苑)
WeChat account 晨枫老苑 (chénfēng lǎoyuàn) revealed a blistering takedown of the brand new variant loong, arguing that apart from being virtually, linguistically, and traditionally suspect, it was additionally a colossal waste of time:
I hope that that is simply the non-public opinion of sure individuals within the Zhejiang Provincial Social gathering Committee’s Propaganda Division, as a result of frankly, this nation has many different issues that demand our consideration, and expending power on it is a waste.
In the event that they wish to use pinyin to “Chinese language it up,” 龙 must be rendered into pinyin as lengthy, however that might inevitably be confused with the present English phrase “lengthy,” in order that’s no good. And what’s loong, anyway? It conforms to neither Chinese language pinyin nor English-language spelling conventions. It’s only a phonetic romanization utilized by some missionary approach again when. It’s baffling and incomprehensible to the overwhelming majority of contemporary English audio system, and for Chinese language individuals, it doesn’t embody Chinese language tradition, cultural confidence, or discourse energy. It’s not even a Chinese language invention in any respect! And regardless of sharing an approximate pronunciation with 龙 (lengthy), it doesn’t mirror any inherent traits of Chinese language dragons. It’s actually nothing greater than a relic of a semi-colonial period! [Chinese]
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