The Taiwanese Song Taking Over American Meme Culture
A TikTok trend 36 years in the making.
Within a matter of months, an old Taiwanese song from the 1984 Chinese television series One Plum Blossom has cemented itself within niche American meme culture. The theme song to the series sung by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Fei Yu-Ching, is titled “Yi Jian Mei,” which translates to “A Spray of Plum Blossoms.” While the song has been popular for decades in Chinese culture, the song didn’t reach the mainstream in the United States until May 2020.
On January 20th, 2020, a video was posted on Chinese video-sharing app Kuaishou by user @zaq13520000789 singing the song “Yi Jian Mei” in the snow, according to KnowYourMeme.com. The man in the video immediately stands out due to his voice, song choice, and his head’s unique ‘egg-shape.’ Zhang Aiqin, the man in the video, has even embraced the nickname Egg Brother on social media.
In early February, the video was uploaded to YouTube twice, with the version posted on February 3 reaching over 400,000 views.
Towards the end of March, the man’s video—and the song he was singing, “Yi Jian Mei”—started picking up traction. By mid May, the song had established itself as part of the “Alternative TikTok” culture as a niche on the app.
Within the last couple months, the term “Alt TikTok” has emerged. The phrase refers to a ‘side’ of TikTok—the Chinese-owned video-sharing app—where users poke fun at the mainstream culture on the platform. Users who are placed on this ‘side’ of the app by the algorithm are known to mock the dominant dance and thirst-trap culture on the app. Alt TikTok content and comments are shielded in countless layers of irony. The distinct Alt culture has adopted certain sounds, trends, hashtags, and dances as their own. The “Yi Jian Mei” song has been openly embraced by these users.
Fei Yu-Ching’s version of the song made its way on the platform on May 8 when user @sc4tman posted the video with the song to his account. That version of the sound has been used over 30,000 times by different users on the app and the original video has over 1.2 million views. Additionally, the hashtag #XueHuaPiaoPiaoBeiFeungShiouShiou on TikTok has over 47.3 million views.
The song tells the story of a Chinese man who fell in love with a woman who never loved him back. “Xue Hua Piao Piao Bei Feung Xiao Xiao,” the Chinese lyric from the Taiwanese song, translates roughly to “snow falls and the North wind blows.” A more complete translation of the chorus is as follows:
“I see spring coming to you and me. / Snowflakes are drifting, North wind is blowing. / In the vast white world.”
Essentially, the song has taken on to express an “it-is-what-it-is” mentality. The snow falls and the wind blows. That’s just how life is, right? Users frequently copy-and-paste the phrase written in a bold, italic font, displaying various emojis, in TikTok comments sections to give off an ironic, edgy, and unexplainable vibe.
While the average American TikTok user is likely unaware of the meaning behind the words, the origin of the song, or how the trend rose to fame in the United States, the phrase and song has cemented itself within niche TikTok culture. The song has been dubbed over photos and videos in order to convey a sense of absurdity, a mocking tone, but additionally, has transcended having one specific intention.
The song, which gained traction this year in the United States, has taken on a new meaning in the age of TikTok. Most of the content centered around the song is devoid in meaning, but many users have brought context and purpose back to a song released over 35 years ago.
Users have created videos featuring their Asian family members—moms, dads, and grandparents—singing or reacting to the song out of the blue. Sitting in front of the camera, many users have had their family members read a list of phrases, with the last phrase being singer Fei Yu-Ching’s now infamous lyric.
By involving the older generation of Chinese parents and grandparents in this trend, this meme has truly gone full-circle.
To the average internet user, this trend shouldn’t make sense. How can a Taiwanese song from the 80s gain popularity for a young generation over 35 years later in the U.S.? Like most trends and memes on the internet, their origin and claim-to-fame don’t make sense. There is no one true formula for creating viral content, and this trend is the antithesis of that very idea.
While the origin and purpose of this trend might not make sense, it’s fascinating to see the rise of a trend spanning multiple generations. “Yi Jian Mei” originated in Taiwan, and gained recent attention from a younger generation, while simultaneously allowing many young adults to connect with their immigrant parents who have childhood connections to the song.
A trend like “Xue Hua Piao Piao,” while ambiguous in nature, truly shows the impact of modern meme culture on today’s complex internet landscape.
