tang ping en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˌtɑːŋ ˈpɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
- täng′ pĭng′
- /ˌtɑŋ ˈpɪŋ/ (General-American)
Etymology
Borrowed from Mandarin 躺平 (tǎngpíng, “to lie flat; (figurative, neologism) to be unwilling to struggle, to quiet quit”, verb). For further etymology, see that entry.
Meanings
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(neologism, uncountable) A lifestyle and social protest movement in China beginning in April 2021, which is a rejection of societal pressures to overwork.
A growing number of Chinese youth want to "lie flat." This is the literal translation of what the expression "Tang ping" means in Chinese. Since last year, the trend has resurfaced. The generation born after 1995 claims to be "Tang ping" and rejects the 10-hours-a-day, 6-days-a-week work model.
2022 February 22, “What is the ‘Tang Ping’ Movement Started by Young Chinese who are against Overworking?”, in Malay Mail, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: Malay Mail Sdn. Bhd., archived from the original on 19 Mar 2022:Young people in China exhausted by a culture of hard work with seemingly little reward are highlighting the need for a lifestyle change by "lying flat". The new trend, known as "tang ping", is described as an antidote to society's pressures to find jobs and perform well while working long shifts.
2021 June 4, “China’s New ‘Tang Ping’ Trend Aims to Highlight Pressures of Work Culture”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2026:Ji is a deadbeat that occupied the protagonists' house lying in their sofa all day in the 1993 Chinese sitcom I Love My Family. Images of Ji lazily "lying flat" on the sofa has become a viral internet meme, and even leading to the posture receiving a nickname "Ge You tang", or Ge You-esque slouching, since 2016, when the "tang ping" culture was on the rise in China.
2023 April 1, Fran Lu, “‘Making money while lying flat’: Chinese movie star Ge You pockets US$1.1 million from hundreds of lawsuits over famous ‘tang ping’ TV character”, in South China Morning Post, Hong Kong: South China Morning Post Publishers, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2023:“Tang-Ping” (TP), referring to “lying flat” literally, has been a buzzword in China web media since 2021. As the opponent of effort-making (EM) behaviors which have both instrumental and purpose values in Confucian culture, TP has a negative moral implication in China and has been criticized by the state-owned media.
2022 November 16, Han-Yu Hsu, “How Do Chinese People Evaluate ‘Tang-Ping’ (Lying Flat) and Effort-making: The Moderation Effect of Return Expectation”, in Frontiers in Psychology, volume 13, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland: Frontiers Media, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, article ID 871439, abstract:
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (17)
he טאנג פינג (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · ko 탕핑족 (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · de Tang Ping (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · za dangjbingz (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · uk тан пін (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · ar تانغ بينغ (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · cmn 躺平 (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · cs tchang-pching (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · ru тан пин (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · fi tang ping (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · yue 躺平 (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · ja 寝そべり主義 (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · de Tangping (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · bo ཐང་ཕིན་ (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · nan-tws 躺平 (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · ja 躺平主義 (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork) · vi thảng bình (Chinese lifestyle that rejects societal pressures to overwork)