{"id":239923,"date":"2022-04-27T16:24:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T23:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=239923"},"modified":"2022-09-09T18:06:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T01:06:58","slug":"in-shanghai-the-jokes-are-no-longer-funny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2022\/04\/in-shanghai-the-jokes-are-no-longer-funny\/","title":{"rendered":"In Shanghai, The Jokes Are No Longer Funny"},"content":{"rendered":"
An essay tracing the evolution of Shanghai lockdown memes from giddy jests about Shanghai culture to gallows humor and gloomy meditations on the state of society was censored last week after going viral on Weibo. The essay, published on WeChat by \u200b\u200btwo authors \u732b\u732b\u864e and \u5c71\u9876\u6d1e\u4eba (aka catiger11), was part of a broader creative outpouring of politically tinged works that have taken China by storm in recent weeks. In one example, a national student poetry competition went viral on Weibo after a number of students submitted entries on generally taboo subjects such as <\/span>Xiaohuamei<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>the war in Ukraine<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>the death of Li Wenliang<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m surprised they came out in such a tightening environment where many poems depicting the dark sides of society, or defying the authorities\u2019 general ideology, have been censored,\u201d Chris Song, a professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough, <\/span>told The Washington Post<\/span><\/a>. Another striking incident occurred late in the evening on Friday, April 22. \u201c<\/span>Voices of April,<\/span><\/a>\u201d a six-minute compilation of audio clips of Shanghai citizens in distress, went massively viral on WeChat, despite <\/span>unequivocal censorship directives<\/span><\/a> ordering the video erased, \u201cleaving no gaps in coverage.\u201d The essay is also a contribution to the growing body of pandemic humor that ridicules \u201c<\/span>Epidemic Prevention Hobbyists<\/span><\/a>,\u201d and, quite often, <\/span>lockdowns<\/span><\/a>. The essayists, unintentionally <\/span>paraphrasing John Donne<\/span><\/a>, warned against the impulse to wisecrack about lockdowns. \u201cBefore too long,\u201d they wrote, \u201cYou will find the clown is thee.\u201d\u00a0 CDT has translated a selection of the 66 memes and jokes included in the essay \u201c<\/span>From Hilarity to Reflection: An Evolutionary History of Shanghai Lockdown Jokes<\/strong><\/a>,\u201d as well as some reader reactions to the essay and to its subsequent censorship:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>A WeChat screenshot of the lockdown announcement with the comment: “<\/span>They only gave Pudong residents four hours to stock up on food. They gave Puxi residents four days. I guess all the leaders live in Puxi.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/em>“Jessica: Is it safe to eat sprouted potatoes?”<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/strong>“I feel like we\u2019re thinking about this all wrong. <\/span> A framed collection of negative tests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “My friend found true love in central quarantine. He\u2019s dating someone in the field hospital.<\/span> <\/span>Famous businessman Liu Run asks: \u201c<\/span>Does anyone in our compound want to learn about \u2018Competitive Strategy\u2019? I charge four eggs an hour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A \u201c<\/span>Big White<\/span><\/a>\u201d (a white-suited pandemic worker) has written a phrase in Shanghai dialect (\u201c<\/span>Messing around every day\u201d) <\/span>on the back of their PPE.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Text at bottom: “My brain tells me it’s true. My eyes tell me it’s true. It\u2019s true.”<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re sick, you\u2019re sick. If you\u2019re not sick, you\u2019re not sick. There is no such thing as an \u201casymptomatic case.\u201d <\/span> <\/p>\n Personally speaking, I\u2019m an endorser of\u00a0 Shanghai\u2019s \u201czero-COVID\u201d policy. I think everything about the policy is very good, but for one small hiccup: I\u2019m currently in Shanghai.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A reinterpretation of a line from Mao\u2019s famous speech \u201c<\/span>The Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains<\/span><\/a>,\u201d where he perhaps best defined his <\/span>belief in volunteerism<\/span><\/a> and the ability of the masses to achieve any goal through sheer will\u2014which later proved disastrous during The Great Leap Forward.<\/span> <\/span>Suzhou\u2019s PCR testing system broke down. \u201cEmblematic of \u2018with Chinese characteristics\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Speaking of bad things, this paragraph is getting passed around Shanghai media circles:<\/span><\/p>\n Curiously enough, the disasters of the so-called pandemic prevention policy prove that Shanghai was once an energetic, free, and wealthy city. Take a glance at the world. Every lockdown of a major cosmopolitan city failed, without exception. All successful lockdowns occurred in impoverished backwaters, again without exception. An open, diverse, wealthy society cannot flourish under military-style management. Which is to say that all of the \u201cchaos\u201d we see before us is powerful proof that Shanghai is not an ignorant, isolated, poor backwater.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Netizen comments reached for historical analogies ranging from the Cultural Revolution to ancient dynastic history to describe the situation:<\/p>\n Acrm319\uff1aWhen I used to hear about the Cultural Revolution, I thought it was absurd\u2014that is, until I lived to see 2022. <\/span><\/p>\n \u5357\u885733\u53f7\uff1aThis is how the history will be written: \u201cA group of people with malevolent intentions tried to abduct the entire population of Shanghai and dragged the entire country down with them, all so that they could look good to their overlords.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u6211\u4f7f\u613f\u65e0\u8fdd\uff1aIn the past, the historical record was dependent on writers like Sima Qian, who is said to have concealed his writings in one of China’s famed mountains so that his collected wisdom could be passed down to future generations who might appreciate it. But given the present situation, we need a new way of phrasing this. Maybe instead of “concealing them in the famed mountain,” we could say “conceal them abroad, that their wisdom might be passed down to those who would appreciate it.” Not half bad.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Stage One: Hehehehe<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nOnly Old Tan\u2019s Pickled Cabbage & Beef Instant Noodles remain on the shelves of a cleaned out grocery store: “Shanghai residents\u2019 last stand.”<\/span><\/p>\n
\nShanghai residents show up for mandatory testing in style.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>“Answer: In Shanghai it is. “<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/em>An alarm clock set for the rumored best delivery times for four different delivery service companies: <\/span>5:56 Dingdong Maicai, 6:58 Freshippo, 21:00 Missfresh, 23:58 Meituan.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
Stage Two: This Again?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Test result: Negative, test again.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Negative, test again.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Negative, test again.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Negative, test again.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Positive, OK, I can finally breathe.”<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>“He says there are lots of new couples.<\/span>
\n<\/span>“He says when he\u2019s working, he usually has no time for romance, so this is a pretty good opportunity, and he\u2019s <\/span>grateful to the nation<\/span><\/a>.”<\/span>
\n(row of laughing\/crying emoji) “Guaranteed room, board, and a wife!”<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Stage Three: We Can\u2019t Take It Anymore<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nQuarantine Hierarchy of Needs<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The creme de la creme: Coca-Cola <\/span>
\n<\/span>The elite: cake & KFC<\/span>
\n<\/span>The middle class: chocolate, <\/span>snail noodles<\/span><\/a>, ice cream, Mandarin oranges, eggs, and beef jerky<\/span>
\n<\/span>The average joes: meat, eggs, milk, and bread<\/span>
\n<\/span>The poor: vegetables and rice\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nMother: \u201cYou lie every day, what will you do when you grow up, huh?\u201d
\n<\/span>Child: \u201cI\u2019ll be a politician.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>So if anyone brings up \u201casymptomatic cases,\u201d tell them they\u2019ve lost their mind. If they deny it, say they\u2019ve got a case of \u201casymptomatic insanity\u201d!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
Stage Four: Reflection & Change<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI am resolute \/ and unafraid to sacrifice you. \/ You will surmount every difficulty \/ so that I may claim victory.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>The government cursed the data center.
\n<\/span>The data center cursed the developers.
\n<\/span>The developers cursed the program managers.
\n<\/span>The program manager cursed his programmers.
\n<\/span>The programmers cursed their laid-off predecessors.
\n<\/span>While the laid-off predecessors stood in line for their PCR test,
\n<\/span>They cursed the testing system.
\n<\/span>A perfect loop.<\/span><\/p>\n