LJUBLJANA, Slovenia ¨C Something important is happening in China and it should worry the country¡¯s political leadership. Younger Chinese are increasingly exhibiting an attitude of passive resignation, captured by the new buzzword bai lan (¡°let it rot¡±).
Born of economic disillusion and widespread frustration with stifling cultural norms, bai lan rejects the rat race and urges one to do only the bare minimum at work. Personal well-being takes precedence over career advancement.
The same tendency is reflected in another recent buzzword: tang ping (¡°lying flat¡±), a slang neologism denoting a sense of resignation in the face of relentless social and professional competition. Both terms signal a rejection of societal pressures to overachieve and of social engagement as a fool¡¯s game with diminishing returns.
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