“躺平”是什么意思?
What does 躺平 (lying flat) mean?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 篇 | piān | piece of writing; chapter |
| 文章 | wénzhāng | article; essay |
| 正式 | zhèngshì | formal; official; officially |
| 顿 | dùn | suddenly; immediately (as in 顿时) |
| 任何 | rènhé | any; whatever |
| 活 | huó | work; job |
| 引起 | yínqǐ | to cause; to give rise to; to arouse |
| 讨论 | tǎolùn | discussion; to discuss; to talk over |
| 躺 | tǎng | to lie (down); to recline |
| 态度 | tàidu | attitude; manner |
| 工资 | gōngzī | wages; salary; pay |
| 心情 | xīnqíng | mood; state of mind |
English (for the teacher)
In April 2021, a young man posted an essay online titled “Lying Flat Is Justice”. The name he went by was “Kind-Hearted Traveller”. He said he hadn't had a proper job for over two years, spent only about two hundred yuan a month, ate two meals a day, and did odd jobs for just a month or two a year. He didn't want to wear himself out for anyone, and felt that people didn't have to live such exhausting lives.
The essay quickly got a lot of people talking. Before long, the word “lying flat” had spread across the whole Chinese internet.
The literal meaning of “lying flat” is simple: lying there and not getting up. But online it means an attitude to life: no more working yourself to the bone, no more chasing a higher salary or a bigger home; as long as you can get by and your body and mood are fine, that's enough.
Why did so many young people take to this word? To understand “lying flat”, you need to know two other words. One is “996”: starting work at nine in the morning, finishing at nine at night, six days a week. The other is “involution”: everyone competes harder and harder and gives more and more, but what they get back doesn't grow. For example, if everyone else works overtime and you don't, you seem to fall behind; but once everyone works overtime, nobody is any better off than before.
In a world like that, some people choose to drop out of the race and simply “lie flat”. Of course, plenty of people dislike the word, too. Some state media published criticism saying that “lying flat” is shameful. The original essay was later deleted.
Later, another new word appeared online: “let it rot”. If “lying flat” means not wanting to push yourself any more, then “letting it rot” means: things aren't going to get better anyway, so you simply stop caring.
Today “lying flat” has become an ordinary word, and its meaning has grown much lighter. If you don't feel like going out at the weekend, you can say: “This weekend I'm just lying flat at home.” If you have too much work, you can joke: “I'd love to lie flat too, but my rent won't let me.”