The Chinese Social Movement “Lying Flat”
Lying Flat, also known as Tang ping, is a social movement that started in April 2021 on the Chinese social media platform Baidu Tieba. Luo Huazhong posted about why he lives a minimalist lifestyle. Luo’s original post has since been deleted. In 2016, Luo quit his job and moved to Tibet where he spends his time reading and doing some odd jobs. His posts resonated with many Chinese youths influenced by the Chinese Dream and work culture.
The idea promotes not getting married, not having children, not having a job, not owning a home, eating as little as possible, prioritizing mental health over materialism, and simplifying your goals. The followers strongly resist societal pressures to work and the 996 working hour system, which is the reason most people “lie down”. They joke that they are like “leeks that society seeks to harvest again and again”.
The Cyberspace Administration of China promptly censored posts about Tang ping. In addition to this, selling Tang ping branded merchandise is prohibited. More will most likely be done in the future to stop Tang ping.
These are comments from a Douban group about Lying Flat that was censored. They have been through Google Translate so some might not make much sense:
“Only 996 is allowed, lying flat is not allowed, the Singapore welfare posts of the goose group, the HDB posts have been bombed several times, and the female quan group has been bombed. Is this going to force people to rebel? I found that they are really afraid that we will quit. The more they are afraid of what we do, we will do what we do. As living people, we need to think about ourselves the most and take ourselves as the center.”
“The Douban Lying Ping group was bombed, and a hot search on Weibo immediately appeared # 愛應平的86岁 Scientist#. I feel more and more horrified by the big hand that controls us. It tacitly admits, indulges, and even encourages you forever. Stuck endlessly in the cycle of 996, you are not allowed to think and resist a little bit of revealing your nature. From this point of view, a thinking reed is dangerous and useless, far inferior to Sisyphus who pushes the stone all the time, it beautifies this punishment into destiny and well-being.”
