{"id":35743,"date":"2017-12-17T21:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T02:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=35743"},"modified":"2019-01-29T04:37:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T09:37:12","slug":"ccp-approved-image-macros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=35743","title":{"rendered":"CCP approved image macros"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two powerful agencies of the PRC central government, Zh\u014dngg\u00f2ng zh\u014dngy\u0101ng j\u00ecl\u01dc ji\u01cench\u00e1 w\u011biyu\u00e1nhu\u00ec \u4e2d\u5171\u4e2d\u592e\u7eaa\u5f8b\u68c0\u67e5\u59d4\u5458\u4f1a (\"Central Commission for Discipline Inspection\") and\u00a0<\/span>Zh\u014dnghu\u00e1 r\u00e9nm\u00edn g\u00f2ngh\u00e9gu\u00f3 ji\u0101nch\u00e1 b\u00f9 \u4e2d\u534e\u4eba\u6c11\u5171\u548c\u56fd\u76d1\u5bdf\u90e8 (\"People's Republic of China Ministry of Supervision\"), have issued\u00a0<\/span>\"b\u0101 xi\u00e0ng gu\u012bd\u00ecng bi\u01ceoq\u00edng b\u0101o\u00a0\u516b\u9879\u89c4\u5b9a\u8868\u60c5\u5305<\/a>\" (\"emoticons for the eight provisions \/ stipulations \/ rules\"); see also\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0 The bi\u01ceoq\u00edng b\u0101o \u8868\u60c5\u5305 (lit., \"expression packages\") were announced on December 4, 2017, five years to the day after the rules themselves were promulgated.<\/p>\n

English translations of the so-called \"Eight-point austerity rules\" or \"Eight-point regulations\" may be found\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0 The rules were designed to instill greater discipline among Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members, to bring the Party \"closer to the masses<\/a>\", and to reduce bureaucracy, extravagance, and undesirable work habits among Party members.
\n
\nI don't think \"emoticon\" is the right English equivalent for bi\u01ceoq\u00edng b\u0101o \u8868\u60c5\u5305 (lit., \"expression package\"), but that's the translation that is floating around the internet for them.\u00a0 One person referred to them as \"internet-stickers\" and another as \"memes\" (see below for a more conclusive discussion of how to refer to them in English).<\/p>\n

These government promoted bi\u01ceoq\u00edng b\u0101o \u8868\u60c5\u5305 (lit., \"expression packages\") are minimally animated, in a rather annoying sort of way since they incorporate text, most of which is quite small and in various odd fonts.\u00a0 The movement is fast and jittery, and the characters disappear almost as soon as they appear (see the links in the first paragraph; for simplification of posting and clarity of discussion about their content, I'm not attempting to include the gif animation of the bi\u01ceoq\u00edng b\u0101o \u8868\u60c5\u5305 [lit., \"expression packages\"] in this post).<\/p>\n

The \"expression packages\" illustrated and discussed below exemplify and promote the Zh\u014dngy\u0101ng zh\u00e8ngzh\u00ec j\u00fa b\u0101 xi\u00e0ng gu\u012bd\u00ecng \u4e2d\u592e\u653f\u6cbb\u5c40\u516b\u9879\u89c4\u5b9a (\"\u00a0The Eight Provisions \/ Stipulations \/ Rules of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee\"), which were promulgated in December, 2012.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The \"expression packages\" are not one-for-one equal to the \"The Eight Provisions \/ Stipulations \/ Rules of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee\".\u00a0 Rather, some of them draw attention to or highlight the importance of the Eight Provisions as a whole, while others exemplify the actual content of certain of the rules.<\/span>\u00a0 One rule may be embodied in more than one \"package\".\u00a0 Consequently, there are more then eight \"packages\".<\/p>\n

I'll just cite two of the \"packages\", the first one general and the second one specific, to show what they're like.<\/p>\n

b\u0101 xi\u00e0ng gu\u012bd\u00ecng, g\u01ceibi\u00e0n Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 \u516b\u9879\u89c4\u5b9a\uff0c\u6539\u53d8\u4e2d\u56fd
\n(\"the eight provisions are for changing China\")<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

t\u00e8qu\u00e1n \u7279\u6743
\n(\"privilege\")<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By devising these \"expression packages\", the government is trying to promote the Eight Regulations among the people, to make citizens feel more comfortable and familiar with rules that were originally directed at bureaucrats.<\/p>\n

The reaction of the populace has been underwhelming.\u00a0 There has been a lot of criticism and skepticism voiced on the internet against the government approved \"expression packages\".\u00a0 Netizens say that they will never use them and don't even have a clue how to use.\u00a0 Some say that all the sloganeering reminds them of the\u00a0Great Leap Forward<\/a>, which is quite a slap at the government, since that disastrous Maoist movement led to the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese.\u00a0 Others criticize the government for using formalism to denounce formalism.\u00a0 Disapproval of the \"expression packages\" extends to their meaning, logic, and design, down to the tiniest detail.<\/p>\n

One thing is certain, when the government is trying to compete with real, spontaneous, creative bi\u01ceoq\u00edng b\u0101o \u8868\u60c5\u5305 (lit., \"expression packages\")\u00a0such as these<\/a>, they are bound to lose — badly:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

W\u01d2 ju\u00e9d\u00e9 OK \u6211\u89c9\u5f97OK
\n(\"I feel OK\")<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

W\u00e8ish\u00e9me b\u00f9 w\u00e8n w\u00e8n sh\u00e9nq\u00ed de W\u00e9ij\u012b b\u01ceik\u0113 ne? \u4e3a\u4ec0\u4e48\u4e0d\u95ee\u95ee\u795e\u5947\u7684\u7ef4\u57fa\u767e\u79d1\u5462?
\n(\"Why don't you ask fantastic Wikipedia?\")<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

See \"Duang<\/a>\" (3\/1\/15) and \"More on 'duang'<\/a>\" (3\/19\/15).<\/p>\n

The most important previous posts for these bi\u01ceoq\u00edng b\u0101o \u8868\u60c5\u5305 (lit., \"expression packages\") are \"'Facial expressions' in text-dominant online conversation<\/a>\" (8\/2\/16) and \"Intentional mistranslation<\/a>\u00a0\" (11\/8\/15), where I referred to them as \"image macros<\/a>\".<\/p>\n

See also, inter alia, the following:<\/p>\n