外国语学院 沈益佳 

In 2021, a blog entitled “Lying Flat is Justice” aroused a heated debate. The author described his simple and low-desire life, claiming that pressure will be alleviated by reducing the demand for life. His statements seemed to be welcomed by young people but criticized by some mainstream media. NanFang Daily issued an article arguing that lying flat is shameful and young people should positively fight for a bright future confidently. Global Times also asserted that contemporary young people are losing the virtues of endurance and struggle but becoming negative towards stresses. Many people do worry that the youth has lost their incentives to strive. However, neither of those media presented any evidence to prove that contemporary Chinese youth perform disappointingly or merely flinch away when confronting difficulties. It is thus unfair to label youngsters as a negative, shameful and incapable generation. Admittedly, there are some young people who claim lower expectations in lives and the lying-flat phenomenon does exist. But it in effect does not demoralize Chinese youth and the young generation is still capable of bearing the responsibility of nation rejuvenation.

Lying flat, a term recently put forward by contemporary Chinese youth as an appeal to lower life expectations, embodies the youngsters’ need for strength when confronting profound changes unseen in the past. Compared with the elder generations, contemporary Chinese youngsters live in a rapidly developing society and enjoy more affluent lives full of opportunities, whereas they have to confront challenges such as international financial crisis and energy competition. In addition, with so many technological breakthroughs and poverty-alleviation accomplishments having been made by predecessors, the space for today’s young people’s growth is relatively compressed and it may be not that easy to for the youth to make as explosive progress as in the past. So their industrious work probably ends up with mediocre and dissatisfying outcome, which gives rise to weariness and anxiety among the youngsters. Frustrated and tired, the youth long to have a rest and save energy. Their coping strategy is to “lie flat”, that is, to lower life expectations and slow down the living pace so as to better confront the social changes. In brief, lying-flat is product of social change, taken by the contemporary youth to adjust to current society.

Negative as lying-flat seems to be, it by no means equals to giving up or doing nothing and renders Chinese youth incapable of bearing the responsibility of national revival. As is mentioned above, to lie flat is to lower life expectations. By lowering expectations, they need neither spend excessive energy worrying about whether the results can meet a high demand nor bother with endless apprehensions. So, they could save strength and concentrate on tackling specific problems and challenges. Moreover, by giving up unrealistic or too demanding goals, they are more likely to be rewarded with sense of accomplishment, which will build their confidence to fight persistently in the long run. Therefore, to lie flat can benefit the youth by saving them strength as well as building their confidence.

On the other hand, numerous outstanding performances presented by our contemporary Chinese youth also prove that youngsters are still capable to shoulder responsibility despite their appeal of lying-flat. To lie flat does not conflict with young people’s willingness and capacity for nation rejuvenation. According to White Paper on Chinese Youth in the New Era issued in 2022, 88% young people surveyed in an interview reported that they can be “the master of their emotion”, aspiring to overcome barriers during their growth indomitably. These aspirations have been verified by youngsters themselves. Young people are always ready to shoulder the responsibilities when the country and people need them. In 2020, among the 28600 nurses in the medical team assisting Wuhan, the first locked-down city in China due to the spread of the Covid-19, 90 percent were “post-80s” and “post-90s”. In the construction of Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals, the young builders accounted for 60 percent of the total, achieving an amazing construction miracle with iron will and making great contributions to safeguarding people’s lives. Young people are also struggling for the honor of our nation in international affairs. In the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic games, several millennial athletes showed the powerful Chinese nation spirit to the world. Confronting experienced rivals, our youth athletes around twenty fought courageously for the highest honors, demonstrating the grand and confident style of our country. Obviously, trying their best to fulfill their potential, the youth are dedicating themselves to Chinese nation’s prosperity.

In conclusion, lying flat is contemporary Chinese youth’s strategy to adjust to this challenging society. Though it seems to be a little negative, lying flat does not in the least mean that contemporary Chinese youth are incapable of bearing responsibilities of nation rejuvenation. We can still place hopes on young generation who performs outstandingly with bursting energy. We can expect that in the future, through the continuous striving of young generations, China will surely make the comprehensive progress, realizing the great China dream of nation rejuvenation. 

References

Kelly Tang, Lin Yang. “China Youth 'Lie Flat' as Good Life Seems Unattainable”. VOA, 15 June 2021. https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_china-youth-lie-flat-good-life-seems-unattainable/6207063.html. Accessed 10 April 2022.

NanFang Daily. “‘Tang ping’ ke chi, na lai de zheng yi gan? [Shame for ‘lying-flat’, where does the sense of justice come from?].” XinHua Net, 20 May 2021. http://www.xinhuanet.com/comments/2021-05/20/c_1127467232.htm. Accessed 10 April 2022.

People’s Daily. “Zai ji nian wu si yun dong 100 zhou nian da hui shang de jiang hua[Speech at a meeting commemorating the 100th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement].” People. cn, 30 April 2019. http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2019/0501/c1024-31060790.html. Accessed 10 April 2022.

The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China. “<Xin shi dai de zhong guo qing nian> bai pi shu (quan wen) [White Paper on Chinese Youth in the New Era].” www.scio.gov.cn, 21 April 2022.  http://www.scio.gov.cn/zfbps/32832/Document/1723331/1723331.htm. Accessed 2 May 2022.