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Resisting the Rat Race: From China’s Buddhist Youth to Lying Flat Movement


‘Lying flat’, tǎng píng , became a hot social trend in China in 2021. It received a lot of attention since, with some media calling it an “act of resistance.” Recently, especially in the light of China’s fight against Covid-19, there seems to be more resistance against this movement, with official media claiming that China’s dedicated, patriotic youth should never choose to ‘lie flat.’


In March of 2022, the term tǎng píng (躺平), ‘lying flat’, was trending on Chinese social media. Since the word became popular online and was selected as a 2021 buzzword of the year, it has become part of everyday internet language in China and often pops up in online discussions.


By now, ‘lying flat’ has been adapted by Chinese state media and is painted in a different light from how it initially emerged when it was used by young people to address their views on life.


What actually is ‘lying flat’? How has its meaning shifted, and what does it have to do with Covid19, a ‘Buddhist-like mindset’, and the problem of so-called ‘involution’? Here, we will explore these terms and zoom in on discussions surrounding China’s ‘Lying Flat’ movement.


“Buddhist Youth” and Other Tribes

Every year, the Chinese language magazine Yǎo Wén Jiáo Zì (咬文嚼字) selects the most popular new words and expressions that often reveal trends among young people and also shed light on China’s rapidly changing society.


One of the Chinese top ‘buzzwords’ of 2018 was fó xì (佛系), a term from Japanese that started to be used in China to describe a “Buddha-like mindset.” In Japan, the term emerged in the media in 2014 to describe a specific type of male, “Buddhist men” (佛系男子), who are solely focused on their own hobbies and interests and self-indulgence without wasting any time on dating or love. The term also became popular among Chinese web users in late 2017 after a viral essay1 by WeChat account Xin Shixiang (新世相) used it to describe the lifestyle and mindset of many Chinese born in the 1990s (Sun 2017; Wu & Ren 2018, 15).


In the Chinese context, fó xì youth (佛系青年) mainly refers to people in their twenties or thirties who are pursuing a peaceful lifestyle in a fast-paced society. Despite being labeled as a “Buddhist mindset,” the term does not have a lot to do with Buddhist traditions. Instead, it refers to a laissez-faire attitude where one does not take on any responsibility and just goes ‘with the flow’ in order not to waste any time on trivial things.


According to an analysis by Hongjuan Wu and Ren Ying (2018), the term is not a ‘positive’ one per se, but more one of anxiety and negativity where people are merely divulging in their own interests due to a lack of motivation and loss of willingness to interact with others and function in a highly competitive environment. The authors claim that China’s “Buddhist youth” are looking for ways to escape the pressures they face in an everyday life where so much is expected of them, while they still struggle to pay for housing, medical care, and education – even if they work very hard.


Read More at https://www.whatsonweibo.com/resisting-the-rat-race-from-chinas-buddhist-youth-to-lying-flat-movement

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