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These Chinese Millennials Are ‘Chilling,’ and Beijing Isn’t Happy
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David P.
Jul 8, 2021, 2:07:13 PM7/8/21
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These Chinese Millennials Are ‘Chilling,’ and Beijing Isn’t Happy
By Elsie Chen, 7/3/21, New York Times
Five years ago, Luo Huazhong discovered that he enjoyed
doing nothing. He quit his job as factory worker in China,
biked 1,300 miles from Sichuan Province to Tibet & decided
he could get by on odd jobs and $60/month from his savings.
He called his new lifestyle “lying flat.”
“I have been chilling,” Luo, 31, wrote in a blog post in
April, describing his way of life. “I don’t feel like
there’s anything wrong.”
He titled his post “Lying Flat Is Justice,” attaching a
photo of himself lying on his bed in a dark room with the
curtains drawn. Before long, the post was being celebrated
by Chinese millennials as an anti-consumerist manifesto.
“Lying flat” went viral & has since become a broader
statement about Chinese society.
A generation ago, the route to success in China was to
work hard, get married & have kids. The country’s authori-
tarianism was seen as a fair trade-off as millions were
lifted out of poverty. But with employees working longer
hours & housing prices rising faster than incomes, many
young Chinese fear they will be the first generation not
to do better than their parents.
They are now defying the country’s long-held prosperity
narrative by refusing to participate in it.
Luo’s blog post was removed by censors, who saw it as an
affront to Beijing’s economic ambitions. Mentions of
“lying flat” — tangping, as it’s known in Mandarin — are
heavily restricted on the Chinese internet. An official
counternarrative has also emerged, encouraging young people
to work hard for the sake of the country’s future.
“After working for so long, I just felt numb, like a machine,”
Luo said in an interview. “And so I resigned.”
To lie flat means to forgo marriage, not have kids, stay
unemployed and eschew material wants such as a house or a
car. It is the opposite of what China’s leaders have asked
of their people. But that didn’t bother Leon Ding.
Ding, 22, has been lying flat for almost 3 months & thinks
of the act as “silent resistance.” He dropped out of a
university in his final year in March because he didn’t like
the comp sci major his parents had chosen for him.
After leaving school, Ding used his savings to rent a room
in Shenzhen. He tried to find a regular office job but
realized that most positions required him to work long hours.
“I want a stable job that allows me to have my own time to
relax, but where can I find it?” he said.
Ding thinks young people should work hard for what they
love, but not “996” — 9 am-9 pm, 6 days/week — as many
employers in China expect. Frustrated with the job search,
he decided that “lying flat” was the way to go.
“To be honest, it feels really comfortable,” he said.
“I don’t want to be too hard on myself.”
To make ends meet, Ding gets paid to play video games &
has minimized his spending by doing things like cutting
out his favorite bubble tea. Asked about his long-term
plans, he said: “Come back and ask me in six months.
I only plan for six months.”
While plenty of Chinese millennials continue to adhere to
the country’s traditional work ethic, “lying flat” reflects
both a nascent counterculture movement and a backlash
against China’s hypercompetitive work environment.
Xiang Biao, a prof of social anthropology at Oxford U. who
focuses on Chinese society, called tangping culture a
turning point for China. “Young people feel a kind of
pressure that they can't explain and they feel that promises
were broken,” he said. “People realize that material better-
ment is no longer the single most important source of
meaning in life.”
The ruling Communist Party, wary of any form of social
instability, has targeted the “lying flat” idea as a threat
to stability in China. Censors have deleted a tangping group
with more than 9,000 members on Douban, a popular internet
forum. The authorities also barred posts on another
tangping forum with more than 200,000 members.
In May, China’s internet regulator ordered online platforms
to “strictly restrict” new posts on tangping, acc. to a
directive obtained by The NY Times. A 2nd directive required
e-commerce platforms to stop selling clothes, phone cases
and other merchandise branded with “tangping.”
The state news media has called tangping “shameful,” and a
newspaper warned against “lying flat before getting rich.”
Yu Minhong, a prominent billionaire, urged young people not
to lie down, because “otherwise who can we rely on for the
future of our country?”
Luo decided to write about tangping after he saw people
heatedly discussing China’s latest census results in April
& calls for the country to address a looming demographic
crisis by having more babies.
He described his original “lying flat” blog post as “an
inner monologue from a man living at the bottom of the society.”
“Those people who say lying down is shameful are shameless,”
he said. “I have the right to choose a slow lifestyle.
I didn’t do anything destructive to society. Do we have to
work 12 hrs/day in a sweatshop, and is that justice?”
Luo was born in rural Jiande County, in east Zhejiang
Province. In 2007, he dropped out of a vocational high
school and started working in factories. One job involved
working 12-hr shifts at a tire factory. By the end of the day,
he had blisters all over his feet, he said.
In 2014, he found a job as a product inspector in a factory
but didn’t like it. He quit after two years and took on the
occasional acting gig to make ends meet. (In 2018, he played
a corpse in a Chinese movie by, of course, lying flat.)
Today, he lives with his family and spends his days reading
philosophy & news & working out. He said it was an ideal
lifestyle, allowing him to live minimally & “think & express
freely.” He encourages his followers, who call him
“the Master of Lying Down,” to do the same.
After hearing about Luo’s tangping post on a Chinese
podcast, Zhang Xinmin, 36, was inspired to write a song
about it.
Zhang, a musician based in Wuhan, had quit his job in adver-
tising five years ago to pursue his music, and the idea of
lying flat resonated with him. He called his song
“Tangping Is the Right Way.”
Zhang uploaded the song to his social media platforms on
June 3, and within a day censors had deleted it from 3
websites. He was furious.
“Nowadays, only running forward is allowed, but not lying
down,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to me that they
deleted this song.”
He eventually uploaded the song as a video on YouTube,
which is blocked in China. The video shows him lying down
on his sofa, casually strumming his guitar as he sings in
a breezy voice:
Lying down is really good
Lying down is wonderful
Lying down is the right thing to do
Lie down so you won’t fall anymore
Lying down means never falling down.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/03/world/asia/china-slackers-tangping.html
By Elsie Chen, 7/3/21, New York Times
Five years ago, Luo Huazhong discovered that he enjoyed
doing nothing. He quit his job as factory worker in China,
biked 1,300 miles from Sichuan Province to Tibet & decided
he could get by on odd jobs and $60/month from his savings.
He called his new lifestyle “lying flat.”
“I have been chilling,” Luo, 31, wrote in a blog post in
April, describing his way of life. “I don’t feel like
there’s anything wrong.”
He titled his post “Lying Flat Is Justice,” attaching a
photo of himself lying on his bed in a dark room with the
curtains drawn. Before long, the post was being celebrated
by Chinese millennials as an anti-consumerist manifesto.
“Lying flat” went viral & has since become a broader
statement about Chinese society.
A generation ago, the route to success in China was to
work hard, get married & have kids. The country’s authori-
tarianism was seen as a fair trade-off as millions were
lifted out of poverty. But with employees working longer
hours & housing prices rising faster than incomes, many
young Chinese fear they will be the first generation not
to do better than their parents.
They are now defying the country’s long-held prosperity
narrative by refusing to participate in it.
Luo’s blog post was removed by censors, who saw it as an
affront to Beijing’s economic ambitions. Mentions of
“lying flat” — tangping, as it’s known in Mandarin — are
heavily restricted on the Chinese internet. An official
counternarrative has also emerged, encouraging young people
to work hard for the sake of the country’s future.
“After working for so long, I just felt numb, like a machine,”
Luo said in an interview. “And so I resigned.”
To lie flat means to forgo marriage, not have kids, stay
unemployed and eschew material wants such as a house or a
car. It is the opposite of what China’s leaders have asked
of their people. But that didn’t bother Leon Ding.
Ding, 22, has been lying flat for almost 3 months & thinks
of the act as “silent resistance.” He dropped out of a
university in his final year in March because he didn’t like
the comp sci major his parents had chosen for him.
After leaving school, Ding used his savings to rent a room
in Shenzhen. He tried to find a regular office job but
realized that most positions required him to work long hours.
“I want a stable job that allows me to have my own time to
relax, but where can I find it?” he said.
Ding thinks young people should work hard for what they
love, but not “996” — 9 am-9 pm, 6 days/week — as many
employers in China expect. Frustrated with the job search,
he decided that “lying flat” was the way to go.
“To be honest, it feels really comfortable,” he said.
“I don’t want to be too hard on myself.”
To make ends meet, Ding gets paid to play video games &
has minimized his spending by doing things like cutting
out his favorite bubble tea. Asked about his long-term
plans, he said: “Come back and ask me in six months.
I only plan for six months.”
While plenty of Chinese millennials continue to adhere to
the country’s traditional work ethic, “lying flat” reflects
both a nascent counterculture movement and a backlash
against China’s hypercompetitive work environment.
Xiang Biao, a prof of social anthropology at Oxford U. who
focuses on Chinese society, called tangping culture a
turning point for China. “Young people feel a kind of
pressure that they can't explain and they feel that promises
were broken,” he said. “People realize that material better-
ment is no longer the single most important source of
meaning in life.”
The ruling Communist Party, wary of any form of social
instability, has targeted the “lying flat” idea as a threat
to stability in China. Censors have deleted a tangping group
with more than 9,000 members on Douban, a popular internet
forum. The authorities also barred posts on another
tangping forum with more than 200,000 members.
In May, China’s internet regulator ordered online platforms
to “strictly restrict” new posts on tangping, acc. to a
directive obtained by The NY Times. A 2nd directive required
e-commerce platforms to stop selling clothes, phone cases
and other merchandise branded with “tangping.”
The state news media has called tangping “shameful,” and a
newspaper warned against “lying flat before getting rich.”
Yu Minhong, a prominent billionaire, urged young people not
to lie down, because “otherwise who can we rely on for the
future of our country?”
Luo decided to write about tangping after he saw people
heatedly discussing China’s latest census results in April
& calls for the country to address a looming demographic
crisis by having more babies.
He described his original “lying flat” blog post as “an
inner monologue from a man living at the bottom of the society.”
“Those people who say lying down is shameful are shameless,”
he said. “I have the right to choose a slow lifestyle.
I didn’t do anything destructive to society. Do we have to
work 12 hrs/day in a sweatshop, and is that justice?”
Luo was born in rural Jiande County, in east Zhejiang
Province. In 2007, he dropped out of a vocational high
school and started working in factories. One job involved
working 12-hr shifts at a tire factory. By the end of the day,
he had blisters all over his feet, he said.
In 2014, he found a job as a product inspector in a factory
but didn’t like it. He quit after two years and took on the
occasional acting gig to make ends meet. (In 2018, he played
a corpse in a Chinese movie by, of course, lying flat.)
Today, he lives with his family and spends his days reading
philosophy & news & working out. He said it was an ideal
lifestyle, allowing him to live minimally & “think & express
freely.” He encourages his followers, who call him
“the Master of Lying Down,” to do the same.
After hearing about Luo’s tangping post on a Chinese
podcast, Zhang Xinmin, 36, was inspired to write a song
about it.
Zhang, a musician based in Wuhan, had quit his job in adver-
tising five years ago to pursue his music, and the idea of
lying flat resonated with him. He called his song
“Tangping Is the Right Way.”
Zhang uploaded the song to his social media platforms on
June 3, and within a day censors had deleted it from 3
websites. He was furious.
“Nowadays, only running forward is allowed, but not lying
down,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to me that they
deleted this song.”
He eventually uploaded the song as a video on YouTube,
which is blocked in China. The video shows him lying down
on his sofa, casually strumming his guitar as he sings in
a breezy voice:
Lying down is really good
Lying down is wonderful
Lying down is the right thing to do
Lie down so you won’t fall anymore
Lying down means never falling down.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/03/world/asia/china-slackers-tangping.html
ltlee1
Jul 8, 2021, 7:47:15 PM7/8/21
to
One can easily writes article with title like:
These X [name of a country] millennials have constipation and Y [name of a capital] isn't happy.
And with statements like "They are now defying the country’s long-held prosperity [or whatever]
narrative by refusing to participate in it. "
If you want to discuss this kind of article, please lead the way.
Byker
Jul 8, 2021, 9:50:51 PM7/8/21
to
"David P." wrote in message
news:edf8e41c-e254-45a1...@googlegroups.com...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sot1xypiB8
The rising prominence of "DO NOTHING" philosophy among Sino-Millennials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elIy2DoYBF8
Is this a Sino-Hippie movement in the making?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elIy2DoYBF8
Anxious, Beijing?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4mFiU7Giu8
news:edf8e41c-e254-45a1...@googlegroups.com...
>
> These Chinese Millennials Are ‘Chilling,’ and Beijing Isn’t Happy
> By Elsie Chen, 7/3/21, New York Times
>
> Five years ago, Luo Huazhong discovered that he enjoyed doing nothing. He
> quit his job as factory worker in China, biked 1,300 miles from Sichuan
> Province to Tibet & decided he could get by on odd jobs and $60/month from
> his savings. He called his new lifestyle “lying flat.”
And it seems to be catching on, much to Beijing's chagrin:
> These Chinese Millennials Are ‘Chilling,’ and Beijing Isn’t Happy
> By Elsie Chen, 7/3/21, New York Times
>
> Five years ago, Luo Huazhong discovered that he enjoyed doing nothing. He
> quit his job as factory worker in China, biked 1,300 miles from Sichuan
> Province to Tibet & decided he could get by on odd jobs and $60/month from
> his savings. He called his new lifestyle “lying flat.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sot1xypiB8
The rising prominence of "DO NOTHING" philosophy among Sino-Millennials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elIy2DoYBF8
Is this a Sino-Hippie movement in the making?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elIy2DoYBF8
Anxious, Beijing?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4mFiU7Giu8
Spiros Bousbouras
Jul 13, 2021, 1:44:26 PM7/13/21
to
> Anxious, Beijing?:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4mFiU7Giu8
--
vlaho.ninja/prog
Byker
Jul 13, 2021, 9:14:16 PM7/13/21
to
"Spiros Bousbouras" wrote in message news:wPGVyyJG...@bongo-ra.co...
he coined and popularized the catch phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out." In
other words, THINK FOR YOURSELF AND QUESTION AUTHORITY...
>
> The last 2 links above are the same. Is this what you intended ?
I take it you're too young to remember Dr. Timothy Leary. During the 1960s,
> The last 2 links above are the same. Is this what you intended ?
he coined and popularized the catch phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out." In
other words, THINK FOR YOURSELF AND QUESTION AUTHORITY...
wog wacker
Jul 13, 2021, 11:00:03 PM7/13/21
to
For one Chinese who wants to chill out, many more are warming up and many more still are all fired-up for achievements and successes.
Spiros Bousbouras
Jul 14, 2021, 7:50:37 AM7/14/21
to
posted 4 youtube links but 2 were identical so I was curious whether you
accidentally put in your post twice the same link.
bmoore
Jul 14, 2021, 3:18:05 PM7/14/21
to
Byker
Jul 14, 2021, 3:19:42 PM7/14/21
to
"Spiros Bousbouras" wrote in message news:m4GXtZtrVQjpRpB=A...@bongo-ra.co...
of which you obviously haven't figured out...
>
> I know who Leary is but I don't see what he has to do with my comment. You
> posted 4 youtube links but 2 were identical so I was curious whether you
> accidentally put in your post twice the same link.
It's because it contained two messages, one
> I know who Leary is but I don't see what he has to do with my comment. You
> posted 4 youtube links but 2 were identical so I was curious whether you
> accidentally put in your post twice the same link.
of which you obviously haven't figured out...
ltlee1
Jul 18, 2021, 1:36:24 PM7/18/21
to
A lot of writing advising people don't study, don't work too hard.
Emptiness is emptiness. Nothing new.
Even for grade school students. The following originated from modern day Taiwan.
”春天不是读书天，夏日炎炎正好眠；秋有蚊虫冬有雪，收拾书本好过年“
This famous Yuan dynasty poem for really high caliber and ambitious people:
布衣中，问英雄。王图霸业成何用！禾黍高低六代宫，楸梧远近千官冢。一场恶梦。
ltlee1
Jul 18, 2021, 2:10:05 PM7/18/21
to
> This famous Yuan dynasty poem for really high caliber and ambitious people:
> 布衣中，问英雄。王图霸业成何用！禾黍高低六代宫，楸梧远近千官冢。一场恶梦。
Ask those who successfully rose far above their commoner status. What's the use of seeking hegemony?
The place where the millets have grown high and low is previously the site of palaces of the Six Dynasties.
Among the Wu tree far and near lay the graves of thousands of high officials. All a nightmare.
A high caliber person turned "hippie" after he got tired of partisan fights during the Tang dynasty.
落魄江湖载酒行，楚腰纤细掌中轻。十年一觉扬州梦，赢得青楼薄幸名。
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