Tag Archives: involution

2023 Liu Mengxiong: The Problem Lies in the Economy, the Root Cause in Politics

Posted on 02/26/2026 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Liu Mengxiong’s overview of economic and political problems confronting China translated below was discussed recently on the Chinese language side of the China Digital Times website. English-only readers (sino-illiterates?) may want to access Chinese language material on the CDT website … Continue reading →

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2025: Involution Brings “Warring States” Competition to the PRC Domestic Coffee Market

Posted on 09/30/2025 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

 The Chinese press is talking about a  Warring States-like situation in its domestic coffee retail market.  Like back when a decayed Zhou imperial China was challenged by a number of statelet upstarts that all the while pretending allegiance to Joe also … Continue reading →

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2025：PRC AI DeepSeek Discusses Involution — Fierce Competition Driving Some Chinese Companies to the Brink

Posted on 09/27/2025 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Involution 内卷 neijuan!  I heard about that before meaning hopeless, constantly escalating competition to the point of rapidly diminishing returns that exhausted young people and them want to lie flat and tune out from impossible pressures. See 2021: A PRC … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy 经济 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

2024: Xi’s New Quality Productivity Innovation Builds China and Makes the World a Better Place

Posted on 06/19/2024 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping has recently been discussing grand strategies for China’s way forward. While Xi Jinping Thought has Xi’s name attached, it is a corporate enterprise refined over the years through a process of constant development, … Continue reading →

Posted in Ideology 思想, Science, Technology and Academic 科技学术 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2021 Lie Flat Video Translated: Why Do “I” Lie Flat

Posted on 06/15/2021 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

There are now quite a few videos about the “Lie Flat”[tangping 躺平] movement on Youtube. This video by Zhen Fei entitled “Confessions of a Young Person: Why am I lying flat? Social pressure and class conflict are involved, by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Media 媒体, Society 社会 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

2021: Liang Jianzhang: Too Many Force-Fed Baby Dragons — Abolish the National College Entrance Exam, Enable More Students to Attend University

Posted on 06/15/2021 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

The passive rebellion of China’s “lie flat” youth against declining socioeconomic mobility growing gaps in opportunity between youth in rural and urban areas and within urban areas is now a much-discussed topic in China. In the translation below, a Chinese … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy 经济, Science, Technology and Academic 科技学术, Society 社会 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

2021: A PRC Youth Subculture: Lying Flat is the Right Thing to Do!

Posted on 06/13/2021 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

Here is my translation of Asteria Wang’s exploration about what Lying Flat [tangping 躺平] people mean by lying flat. I suppose that such a radically individualist philosophical and social trend would have many branches and understandings of just what it … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy 经济, Society 社会 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments