Phrase of the Week: Not One Was Man Enough

Phrase of the Week: Not One Was Man Enough

竟无一人是男儿 (jìng wú yī rén shì nán’ér): not one was man enough

Is Xi Jinping man enough to defend the Communist Party at all costs? (Badiucao)

Is Xi Jinping man enough to defend the Communist Party at all costs? (Badiucao)

Shortly after Xi Jinping assumed China’s highest official party position, a leaked speech from December 2012 quashed any remaining hope that the new leader would oversee substantial political reform. In the speech, Xi suggested that the Soviet Union fell because none among its leadership “was man enough to stand up and resist” (但竟无一人是男儿,没什么人出来抗争) Gorbachev as he lead the dissolution of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Netizens had much to say about the new leader’s macho statement:

@不再管闲事: He’s hinting that he’s the one who’s “man enough.”
他是暗示,他就是那个男儿。

@风里逐尘: This proves the Russians are rational enough to distinguish love of country from love of party.
证明俄罗斯人还是理智的,分得清爱国和爱党的区别

@沈勇平: Xi is using his fight against corruption to win us over and pave the way for his authoritarian regime. If you’re dreaming that he’ll implement constitutional government, dream on.
习想建立一个威权政府,以反腐收揽人心。想幻想其行宪政,绝无可能。

@孙蜀东: Don’t forget the words of our nation’s founder: “In the mighty tide of global change, those who swim with the current prosper; those who fight it perish.”
别忘了国父遗训:“世界潮流浩浩荡荡,顺之者昌逆之者亡”。。。。

@北京老peter: Xi is definitely a leftist. China’s future is looking bleak.
习是明显的左,中国前途堪忧

For more netizen comments on the leaked speech, see coverage from CDT Chinese [zh].

grass-mud horseThe Grass-Mud Horse eBook is your guide to the Chinese Internet. Available from KindleiTunes, and Google Play.

The  comes from China Digital Space’s Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and frequently encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online “resistance discourse,” used to mock and subvert the official language around  and political correctness.

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