Zhao family

Not to be confused with Zhao (surname).
the Zhao family
Traditional Chinese 趙家人
Simplified Chinese 赵家人
Literal meaning the Zhao family

The Zhao family (Chinese: 赵家人) refers to dignitaries in China, such as the top bureaucrat, the rich, leaders in-system and their offsprings. The phrase originates from Lu Xun's "The True Story of Ah Q". In December 2015, an article in Wechat public account described dignitaries as the Zhao family. Immediately, the phrase "the Zhao family" became an Internet meme.[1] Soon after, the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China prohibited the use of such words as "the Zhao family". Medias which have used such words got punished.[2] Accordingly, such words as "the Zhao family" are no longer visible from main websites in China.

Sources

The phrase "the Zhao family" has its origins in Lu Xun's "The True Story of Ah Q," published in 1921. In the story, old Grandpa Zhao (Chinese: 赵太爷) spits out, when Ah Q (who shares the same surname) dares to cheer along with the Zhaos: "You think you're worthy of the surname Zhao?" (Chinese: 你也配姓赵?)[3]

On December 19, 2015, a public account in Wechat published an article titled "The argument between Vanke and Baoneng: Barbarians in the front, and the Zhao family in the shadow" (Chinese: 万科宝能之争:门口的野蛮人,背后的赵家人) which divided the hierarchical China capital market into 4 ranks: retail investor, banker, plutocrat and the Zhao family. The Zhao family is in the highest rank which refer to dignitaries. The barbarians refer to people who are rich but powerless.[4]

Derived usages

As the word spreading widely, there have come up derived usages such as "the Zhao family empire", "the Zhao king". Here are some examples:[5]

Original words Words after deconstruction Chinese (Simp/Trad)
People's Republic of China, Communist Party of China the Zhao family empire, the Zhao family 赵国/趙國 and 赵家/趙家
Paramount leader. General Secretary of the Communist Party the Zhao king 赵王/趙王
People's Liberation Army the Zhaos' army 赵家军/趙家軍
People's Police the Zhaos' police 赵家警察/趙家警察
People's Court, People's Procuratorate the Zhaos' court, the Zhaos' procuratorate 赵家法院/趙家法院 and 赵家检察院/趙家檢察院
People's Government the Zhaos' government 赵家政府/趙家政府
Serve the people serve the Zhao family 为赵家服务/爲趙家服務
People's Daily the Zhaos' Daily 赵家日报/趙家日報
National sovereignty the Zhaos' sovereignty 赵家主权/趙家主權
National Security Law the Zhaos' Security Law 赵家安全法/趙家安全法
Inciting subversion of state power Inciting subversion of the Zhaos' power 煽动颠覆赵家政权罪/煽動顛覆趙家政權罪
Chinese people's old friends the Zhaos' old friends 中国赵家的老朋友/中國趙家的老朋友
50 Cent Party the Zhaos' spiritual members (not a part of the Zhaos) 精赵/精趙

While having words with 50 Cent Party, some people used "You think you're worthy of the surname Zhao?" as a taunt and response.[5]

Comments

References

  1. 李文隆 (2015-12-26). ""赵家人"突然爆红 中国怎么了?". 看中国.
  2. "中國大陸網路新詞「趙家人」突然竄紅". 蘋果日報. 中央廣播電臺. 2016-01-19.
  3. Wei Pu (2016-01-08). "Why China Really is The 'Zhao Family' Empire". RFA.
  4. 至道书院. "细思极恐的万科宝能之争:门口的野蛮人,背后的赵家人".
  5. 1 2 "赵家人". 中国数字时代.
  6. 1 2 Kiki Zhao (2016-01-05). ""赵家人":中共权贵阶层的新称号". 纽约时报中文网.
  7. "中共权贵阶层独揽天下 被网民冠以"赵家人"称号". 自由亞洲電臺. 2016-01-05.

See also

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