{"id":692749,"date":"2023-03-30T16:48:23","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T23:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=692749"},"modified":"2023-04-10T12:28:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T19:28:23","slug":"censors-delete-viral-kong-yiji-literature-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2023\/03\/censors-delete-viral-kong-yiji-literature-anthem\/","title":{"rendered":"Censors Delete Viral “Kong Yiji Literature” Anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every movement needs its anthem. In the now-censored musical parody \u201cSunny Side Kong Yiji,\u201d <\/span>the emergent \u201cKong Yiji literature\u201d wave<\/span><\/a> seems to have found one of its own. \u201cKong Yiji literature\u201d is a genre of self-deprecating online writing that compares unemployed college graduates to the eponymous protagonist of <\/span>Lu Xun<\/span><\/a>\u2019s 1918 <\/span>short story<\/span><\/a>, an impoverished scholar who is the object of ridicule at the village pub. The original short story is a critique of state and society\u2019s apathy towards the marginalized. The modern offshoot tilts its lance at the Chinese state\u2019s hoary belief in the \u201cbootstrap mentality,\u201d whereby mere effort is supposedly a recipe for financial success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The song was originally uploaded to video sharing site Bilibili by user @\u9b3c\u5c71\u54e5. It was a direct response to a rash of recent state-media reports admonishing youth to work hard and stop complaining. People\u2019s Daily instructed youth: \u201c<\/span>Work Hard & Your Days Will Become Ever Sweeter<\/span><\/a>.\u201d CCTV posted a WeChat article, \u201c<\/span>Facing Up to the Anxiety Behind \u2018Kong Yiji Literature,\u2019<\/span><\/a>\u201d that misconstrued the \u201cKong Yiji\u201d genre and pooh-poohed youth concerns about suffering a similar fate to Lu Xun’s famed protagonist. CCTV also aired <\/span>footage<\/span><\/a> of <\/span>an impoverished \u201cbang-bang\u201d porter<\/span><\/a> working as a Porsche drove past, while the cloying voice-over narration praised the supposed peace of mind earned through manual labor. These reports reveal official unease with youth dissatisfaction as expressed through the <\/span>\u201clie flat\u201d and \u201cinvolution\u201d<\/span><\/a> memes, and now, the \u201cKong Yiji literature\u201d trend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSunny Side Kong Yiji\u201d immediately went viral. <\/span>Its highly sarcastic lyrics imagine an incongruously optimistic modern day Kong Yiji, an educated patriot condemned to a life of working as a delivery boy<\/strong><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n