The Word of the Week comes from the Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online “resistance discourse,” used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness.
Zhōngguó Gǎn’ēnjié 中国感恩节
November 25, the day in 1950 when Mao Zedong’s son Mao Anying was killed in the Korean War. Netizens eat and share photos of egg fried rice on this day—also known as Egg Fried Rice Day (Dàn Chǎofànjié 蛋炒饭节)—to celebrate the younger Mao’s passing, as they believe he would otherwise have reigned over China with the same brutality as his father.
Legend has it that Mao Anying did himself in by making egg fried rice during the day at his encampment in Korea. The sight of smoke drew an American fighter plane, which napalmed his hideout.
In 2015, Chinese Thanksgiving was celebrated with images of egg fried rice and messages of gratitude on Weibo and Twitter:
Wangyi2015 (@妄议2015): #ChineseThanksgiving… In Korea on November 25, 1950, the son of the great leader and savior of the Chinese people, Mao Zedong—the second savior, Comrade Mao Anying—was dispatched by an American bomber, all because of a bowl of egg fried rice… Give thanks to America and to God…
#中国感恩节# …… 1950年11月25日，伟大领袖，中国人民的大救星，毛泽东的儿子，本来是二救星的毛岸英同志，在朝鲜，因为一碗蛋炒饭，被美国飞行员扔下的燃烧弹给报销了… 感谢美国，感谢老天爷… (November 25, 2015) [Chinese]
#巴丢草 漫画 【蛋炒饭】一碗腊肉蛋炒饭，浓浓的爱，深深的情，请各位推友笑纳！#毛岸英 #毛泽东 #蛋炒饭 pic.twitter.com/WnNz8gAcGz
— 巴丢草 Badiucao (@badiucao) November 25, 2015
@badiucao: #Badiucao cartoon “Egg Fried Rice”: A bowl of bacon egg fried rice. Twitter friends, please accept this token of deep love and profound feeling! #MaoAnying #MaoZedong #eggfriedrice
Can’t get enough of subversive Chinese netspeak? Check out our latest ebook, “Decoding the Chinese Internet: A Glossary of Political Slang.” Includes dozens of new terms and classic catchphrases, presented in a new, image-rich format. Available for pay-what-you-want (including nothing). All proceeds support CDT.
