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Tang ping (Chinese: 躺平; lit. 'lying flat') is a Chinese slang neologism that describes a personal rejection of societal pressures to overwork and over-achieve, such as in the 996 working hour system, which is often regarded as a rat race with ever diminishing returns.^[1][2][3][4] Tang ping means choosing to "lie down flat and get over the beatings" via a low-desire, more indifferent attitude towards life.

Tang ping can be considered as the Chinese equivalent of the American hippie counter-culture movement^[5] and the Japanese herbivore men phenomenon. Novelist Liao Zenghu described "lying flat" as a passive-aggressive resistance movement,^[6] and The New York Times called it part of a nascent Chinese counterculture.^[7] It has also been compared to the Great Resignation, a surge of resignations that began in the West at roughly the same time.^[8][9][10] The National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center, an institution affiliated to Education Ministry of China, listed the word as one of the 10 most popular memes for 2021 in the Chinese Internet. Chinese search engine Sogou also listed the word at the top of its list of most trending memes for 2021.^[11]

Unlike the hikikomori in Japan who are socially withdrawn, these young Chinese people who subscribe to "lying flat" are not necessarily socially isolated, but merely choose to lower their professional commitment and economic ambitions, simplify their goals, while still being fiscally productive for their own essential needs, and prioritize psychological health over economic materialism.^[12][13]

The phrase "quiet quitting", meaning doing only what one's job demands and nothing more,^[14] which became popular in the United States in 2022, was thought to be inspired by the tang ping movement.^[15][16] Another newer related phrase is bai lan (Chinese: 摆烂; pinyin: bǎi làn; lit. 'let it rot'), which means "to actively embrace a deteriorating situation, rather than trying to turn it around". Basically, it refers to a voluntary retreat from pursuing certain goals because individuals realize they are simply too difficult to achieve. ^[17]

Origin

The term first appeared around February 2020 (the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic) on the Chinese Internet.^[18] The movement began in April 2021 with a post by Luo Huazhong (username "Kind-Hearted Traveler") on the internet forum Baidu Tieba, in which he discussed his reasons for living a low-key, minimalist lifestyle. In 2016, 26-year-old Luo quit his factory job because it made him feel empty. He then cycled 2,100 km (1,300 mi) from Sichuan to Tibet, and now back in his home town Jiande in eastern Zhejiang Province, spends his time reading philosophy, and gets by doing a few odd jobs and taking US$60 a month from his savings.^[19][7] He only eats two meals a day.^[19]

Luo's post, entitled with "Lying Flat is Justice", illustrates:

I can just sleep in my barrel enjoying a sunbath like Diogenes, or live in a cave-like Heraclitus and think about 'Logos'. Since there has never really been a trend of thought that exalts human subjectivity in this land, I can create it for myself. Lying flat is my wise movement, only by lying down can humans become the measure of all things.^[1][2]

Luo's post and story quickly gained a following on social media, being discussed and soon becoming a buzzword on Sina Weibo and Douban. The idea was praised by many and inspired numerous memes, and has been described as a sort of spiritual movement.^[1] Business magazine ABC Money claimed it resonated with a growing silent majority of youth disillusioned by the officially endorsed "Chinese Dream" that encourages a life of hard work and sacrifice with no actual life satisfaction to show for it, spawning the catchphrase "a chive lying flat is difficult to reap" (躺平的韭菜不好割, Tǎng píng de jiǔcài bù hǎo gē).^[20]

Response

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) moved quickly to reject the idea. The CAC internet regulator ordered online platforms to "strictly restrict" posts on tang ping and had censors remove Luo's original Tieba post^[21] while a discussion group of nearly 10,000 followers on Chinese social media site Douban is no longer accessible.^[22] Selling tang ping-branded merchandise online is forbidden.^[7]

In May 2021, Chinese state media Xinhua published an editorial asserting that "lying flat" is shameful.^[23][24] In May, a video clip of CCTV news commentator Bai Yansong criticizing the low-key mindset circulated on the popular video-sharing website Bilibili,^[12] and had attracted thousands of mockeries and slurs on the danmu commentaries in response.^[25][26] The same month, a commentary of Hubei Radio and Television Economic Channel said, "you can accept your fate, but you mustn't lie flat."^[27] An October article by CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, published in the Communist Party journal Qiushi, called for "avoiding 'involution' [nei juan] and 'lying flat'".^[9][28]

However, there were official voices offering more empathic opinions on the tang ping phenomenon. Beijing's party-affiliated Guangming Daily newspaper added that tang ping should not be discounted without reflection—if China wants to cultivate diligence in the young generation, it should first try to improve their quality of life.^[12] Huang Ping, a literature professor who researches youth culture at East China Normal University, told Sixth Tone that official media outlets may be concerned about the tang ping lifestyle because of its potential to threaten productivity, but "humans aren't merely tools for making things... when you can't catch up with society's development—say, skyrocketing home prices—tang ping is actually the most rational choice."^[29]