Should We Dive into “Involution” or just “Lie Flat”?
SocietyChinese people, especially those born in the 90s and millennium, are now living in a hyper-competitive society, working hard to get better diplomas and well-paid jobs. It seems that this rat race has started since the moment they were born.
“I well remember that my weekends in primary school were taken up with cram schools. Besides these studies, I also learned another musical instrument although it was not what I wanted. But my parents pushed me to do so just because my peers are doing the same”, a girl born in 1999 said.
The majority of Chinese people born in the 1990s have gone through this. Parents place a high value on education, sending their kids to the top institutions in the hopes that they would lead better lives. This young competition has now filtered into kindergarten children’s daily lives as well.
The Buzzword “Neijuan” Sweeping the Internet
The buzzword “Neijuan (内卷)” in Chinese has started to sweep the Internet since 2020, symbolizing the irrational competition and the feeling of burnout among people. In English, It is equivalent to the anthropological term “involution”.
The anthropologist Clifford Geertz came up with the term “involution” to characterize the agricultural system of historical Indonesia. He asserted that Indonesian society was expanding but not improving. The complexity of societal norms, tenancy ties, and labor agreements did not increase productivity.
“Neijuan”, or “involution”, is a derogatory term that Chinese youth love to use to deride their stressful lifestyle. Individuals that put in a lot of effort may occasionally be referred to as the “Involuted King.”
A photo of a student from China’s prestigious Tsinghua University working on his laptop while riding a bike around campus once went viral on the Internet. This photo rapidly sparked a lively online debate on the current era of intense competitiveness.
The Frustrated Young People
According to China’s Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, it is carrying out a number of measures as part of efforts to help 11.58 million graduates streaming out of colleges to enter the workforce or establish their own businesses in 2023.”
See: http://english.www.gov.cn/statecouncil/ministries/202211/15/content_WS63738105c6d0a757729e335b.html
Chinese youth are now attempting to earn higher degrees in order to compete in the job market in addition to the desire for more knowledge. The goal is to enroll in a postgraduate university with a higher ranking if your undergraduate university is not very prestigious.
“I felt that as a bachelor’s degree holder, I was below others. So, despite how challenging it would be, I made the decision to go back to school for a master’s degree”, said a 27-year-old master’s freshman who quit his four-year employment. For the vast majority of firms in China, the hiring of a master’s graduate is becoming standard practice.
For many undergraduates, earning a master’s degree is a VIP pass to the labor market, but data indicate that the postgraduate admission exam in China is getting harder and may even be more challenging than the undergraduate entrance exam “Gaokao (高考)”. Still, a growing number of people flocked to this competition. Additionally, some students who have stronger financial support from their families could choose an overseas degree because the application process may be simpler
According to the Ministry of Education, from 2015 to 2021, the number of applicants ascended from 1.65 million to 3.77 million, while the number of enrollments only increased from 570,600 in 2015 to 1.05 million, meaning that the enrollment rate has declined by 6 percentage points during the period.
However, boarding the safe “master student” ship is not the end of this competition. More and more internship experience at renowned companies matters a lot.
“I discovered that I was busy doing internships one after another during my years of bachelor’s and master’s degrees”. Leo, a Chinese master’s student in Germany, said “I am currently a master’s student in my second year, yet I sometimes still feel scared about my future job.” “Even though I’ve previously completed five internships, including two at prestigious IT firms …… I know it is more than enough especially when I am a foreign student here, I also want to make myself fully prepared if I returned to my home country after graduation.”
So how does this anxiety of lagging behind overflow into their daily lives? Social media is one of the villains. Substantial research has shown that “Xiaohongshu (Red 小红书)”, one of Chinese popular social media is spreading it.
“Here you can find people similar to your age sharing how many job offers they have, how much money they earn, and also their beautifully edited photos. The more you click these posts, the more they will appear on your homepage. Gradually, you feel abased about yourself.” A frequent RED user commented, “Now I am trying to change this application solely as a search engine for lifestyle tips”.
Some workplaces are also being affected by this frantic rat race. Now, “996” working hour system turns overtime work into something reasonable and normal.
“996”working hour system: Employees work from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 6 days per week; i.e. 72 hours per week.
The Rising “Sang” Culture
With the heating involution phenomenon, the “sang” culture is also rising in China. One instance is the unanticipated success of a sulky Russian model.
See: Lelush: How a sulky Russian model became China’s slacker icon https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56967923
This “sang” culture appeared with another buzzword “lie flat”, describing Chinese youth who are not as ambitious as “involuted” ones.
These people prefer setting a lower goal for their work and studies and enjoy taunting their lifestyle as “lie flat”, the antithesis of involution. However, only those from well-off families are free to choose their “lie flat” lives.
All in all, the key problem of “involution” is not its hyper-competitive nature. However, what deserves blaming is that vicious competition as “involution” will render people into aimless creatures without independent thinking. The people who are obsessed with this endless imitation of what others are doing will eventually lose themselves in their lives.
Further Reading:
- China’s “Involuted” Generation
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/chinas-involuted-generation
- The buzzwords reflecting the frustration of China’s young generation
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57328508