Tang Ping, the disillusionment of the Chinese youth

College graduation photo of a student lying down, covering her face with a bachelor’s hat. Photo was taken to depict the despair and pressure students are subject to. ❘ Jesssie Hu/Washington Post

The Rise of the New Trend ‘Tang Ping’

  Recently in China, the trend is ‘Youth Nursing Home’ services, where it is able to relax and enjoy

leisure in the middle of nature at minimal costs. The residents of such nursing homes are the young adults around their 20s or 30s who sought for ‘retirement’ from the strenuous working it was required to make up to the social standards. Such a movement is classified by the term ‘Tang Ping’ which means ‘Lying Flat’ in Chinese. ‘Tang Ping’ is defined as a social movement and lifestyle in China that rejects the rat chase of societal pressures and traditional terms of success, seeking a minimalist and stress-free way of living. The rise of ‘Tang Ping’ dates back to the period of worldwide  COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, a post was uploaded on China’s social media website ‘Baidu’ which also soon went viral. The title of the post was “Tang Ping(Lying Flat) Is Justice,” with the content conveying the message that stress originates from the rat race brought about by oppression and coercion of society and state and that lying flat is in fact a protest to be free from such coercions and regain the rightful subjectivity of men. Under the slogan that “3 months of not working will wear down the Communist Party and half a year of not working will lead to a brand new China” which clearly depicts ‘Tang Ping’ and its ideals, more and more Chinese youth happen to be refusing to work earnestly according to social standards. According to various interviews of Chinese graduates conducted by Washington Post, those participating in ‘Tang Ping’ seem to take such a movement as a step forward towards their rights for freedom and happiness, rather than simply giving up on one’s life as it could be easily taken.

 

The Disillusionment

 The spread of ‘Tang Ping’ in the Chinese youth is attributed to factors such as the high youth unemployment rate of China, low income compared to the effort spent, and repulsion toward the Communist Party’s measures to such a social problem. According to a research performed by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the unemployment rate of China’s young adults aged 16 to 24 was found to be at the rate of 21.3 in June 2023. It is an increase of around 5%p compared to the 16.7% of December 2022. Such a social phenomenon seems to have made the Chinese youth more and more skeptical towards the future prospects of the nation’s economy or future itself. The Chinese government’s standpoint toward such a problem is inclined toward more control and oppression rather than embracing such grievances of China’s young adults. In May 2023, Xi Jinping, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, urged college graduates to “Willingly bring trouble on oneself(自找吃苦)”. His words are in line with the solution of the Chinese government toward youth unemployment, which is to urge the young college graduates of China to participate in Blue-Collar jobs or find a place to work in in the rural areas. Such a stance of the Chinese government aroused repulsion amongst the millennials and Gen Zers who took it as compelling young people to make a sacrifice for the society. Finding a job is not the end. According to Numbeo, the PIR rate of China’s Shenzhen is 46.3 and Beijing 41.7 while other major global cities such as New York and Tokyo remain around 10 to 15. It means that a decent salaryman has to work for around 40 years, not spending any of his earnings, to purchase a home in cities such as Shenzhen or Beijing. According to Rain Xu, a Chinese college graduate at the Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, the rent is unaffordably high while her peers are receiving a monthly salary of only around $350. Many of the youth can’t even dream of having their own home later on in their lives, as seen from the PIR rates of China’s major cities compared to other countries.

 

Impact

 As the Chinese government considered ‘Tang Ping’ as an antisocial or an anti government movement, online censorship of the term ‘Tang Ping’ came to be conducted. The ‘Tang Ping’ group on the online  platform ‘Douban’, to which over 6000 members had signed up, was shut down as a result of such censorship. Also, searching the hashtag ‘#TangPing’ on China’s popular social media ‘Weibo’ was banned as well. Even so, the ‘Tang Ping’ movement is yet viral among the Chinese youth. China’s recent trend of college graduation photos is not vigor, enthusiasm, and beaming faces but rather zombie style, sprawled on the ground with their bachelor hats flopped on their faces in a worn out way. It’s a sort of a defiance toward the overcompetitve society they have to face after graduation: in short, the unfriendly job market. Indeed, ‘Tang Ping’ is sort of a cry and protest of China’s young adults who are sick of the meaningless, intense competition of the social standards.

 

 

By Staff Reporter Yun Seohyeon (2-8)