Lying flat: a new Chinese trend?
Or not so new...
Kindhearted Traveller Lying Flat
Disaffected Chinese youth, working 9-9-6 (a term coined by the founder of Ali Baba, Jack Ma, meaning 9am-9pm 6 days a week) were throwing around the term, “lying flat” on the internet in early 2020, but the 'lying flat' movement (躺平; tǎng píng;) really began with a series of posts by Luo Huazhong (the Kindhearted Traveler) about his idea of Tang Ping, lying flat. I first read this excerpt in an article about Tang Ping, somewhere:
I can just sleep in my own wooden barrel and bask in the sun like Diogenes, or I can live in a cave and think about “Logos” like Heraclitus. Since there has never been a movement of thought that exalts human subjectivity in this land, then I can make it for myself. Lying flat is my movement of the wise. Only lying flat is the measure of all things.
What immediately caught my attention in this post was the sentence, “Since there has never been a movement of thought that exalts human subjectivity in this land, then I can make it for myself.” What particularly struck me about this phrase was that, actually, there has been a movement of thought in China exalting human subjectivity. I wondered immediately if Chinese youth are taught none of their own history and philosophy, so that the only non-ado-er he had ever heard of was Diogenes, and the cryptic Heraclitus (all we know of him is that he stepped in a river once or twice)? Or was Kindhearted Traveller being ironic?
Heraclitus, of course, spoke of the Logos, the eternal Word, philosophy that found it’s greatest expression in John 1:1 in the Bible -
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5
Funnily enough, “Word” or “Logos” here was translated “Tao” (Way) in Chinese bibles.
The Tao was the eternal source of all things in Chinese philosophy and bears a strong resemblance to the Word or Logos of Hebrew and Greek philosophy.
The two main Taoist works, the Tao Te Ching, and the Zhuang Zi were both reactions to the extreme efforts of Confucianism to cultivate public virtue and the Chinese work ethic in the fourth century BC. And the central Taoist idea of wuwei, “doing nothing”, or “nothing doing”, perhaps, certainly sounds a lot like lying flat to me!
Zhuang Zhou (Chuang Tzu) the writer of the Zhuang Zi puts it this way:
Is perfect happiness to be found on earth, or not? Are there those who can enjoy life, or not? If so, what do they do, what do they affect, what do they avoid, what do they rest in, accept, reject, like, and dislike?
What the world esteems comprises wealth, rank, old age, and goodness of heart.
What it enjoys comprises comfort, rich food, fine clothes, beauty, and music.
What it does not esteem comprises poverty, want of position, early death, and evil behaviour.
What it does not enjoy comprises lack of comfort for the body, lack of rich food for the palate, lack of fine clothes for the back, lack of beauty for the eye, and lack of music for the ear. If men do not get these, they are greatly miserable. Yet from the point of view of our physical frame, this is folly.
Wealthy people who toil and slave away, putting together more money than they can possibly use,—from the point of view of our physical frame, is not this going beyond the mark?
Officials of rank who turn night into day in their endeavours to compass the best ends;—from the point of view of our physical frame, is not this a divergence?
Man is born to sorrow, and what misery is theirs whose old age with dulled faculties only means prolonged sorrow! From the point of view of our physical frame, this is going far astray.
Patriots are in the world's opinion admittedly good. Yet their goodness does not enable them to enjoy life, and so I know not whether theirs is veritable goodness or not. If the former, it does not enable them to enjoy life; if the latter, it at any rate enables them to cause others to enjoy theirs.
It has been said, "If your loyal counsels are not attended to, depart quietly without resistance." Thus, when Tzŭ Hsü resisted, his physical frame perished; yet had he not resisted, he would not have made his name. Is there then really such a thing as this goodness, or not?
As to what the world does and the way in which people are happy now, I know not whether such happiness be real happiness or not. The happiness of ordinary persons seems to me to consist in slavishly following the majority, as if they could not help it. Yet they all say they are happy.
But I cannot say that this is happiness or that it is not happiness.
Is there then, after all, such a thing as happiness?
I make true pleasure to consist in inaction, which the world regards as great pain. Thus it has been said, "Perfect happiness is the absence of happiness; perfect renown is the absence of renown."
Now in this sublunary world of ours it is impossible to assign positive and negative absolutely. Nevertheless, in inaction they can be so assigned. Perfect happiness and preservation of life are to be sought for only in inaction.
Let us consider. Heaven does nothing; yet it is clear. Earth does nothing; yet it enjoys repose. From the inaction of these two proceed all the modifications of things. How vast, how infinite is inaction, yet without source! How infinite, how vast, yet without form! Chuang Tzu, Giles, Chapter 181
There is a political dimension, too. The courts were a very dangerous place indeed, it seems, in the 4th Century BC, particularly for those who cultivated a good reputation and who attained a good position, and both the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuang Zi recommend a life of obscurity and nothing-doing, so that one may preserve one’s life, for, as the biblical proverb says, a live dog is better than a dead lion. (Ecclesiastes 9:4; the book of Ecclesiastes is indeed the most perfect expression of this kind of world-weary philosophy.)
Some of Zhuang Zhou’s counsel is similar to the Greek Philosopher Socrates’ speeches about death, not quite having an affirmative faith in an afterlife, but a kind of hope-while-not-really-knowing, on the basis that when we’re asleep, we don’t know we’re asleep, and then we wake up:
How do I know that enjoying life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death we are not like people who got lost in early childhood and do not know the way home? Lady Li was the child of a border guard in Ai. When first captured by the state of Jin, she wept so much her clothes were soaked. But after she entered the palace, shared the king's bed, and dined on the finest meats, she regretted her tears. How do I know that the dead do not regret their previous longing for life? One who dreams of drinking wine may in the morning weep; one who dreams weeping may in the morning go out to hunt. During our dreams we do not now we are dreaming. We may even dream of interpreting a dream. Only on waking do we know it was a dream. Only after the great awakening will we realize that this is the great dream. And yet fools think they are awake, presuming to know that they are rulers or herdsmen. How dense! You and Confucius are both dreaming, and I who say you are a dream am also a dream. Such is my tale. It will probably be called preposterous, but after ten thousand generations there may be a great sage who will be able to explain it, a trivial interval equivalent to the passage from morning to night. https://web.archive.org/web/20060219221611/http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chuangtz.html
For a Christian, the hope for a great awakening from death is a firm hope because of Jesus’ resurrection. And yet, in light of Chuang Tzu’s sayings, I often wonder if, from the point of view of those Christians who are already dwelling in heaven, the most fortunate ones among them might not actually be considered those who died the youngest?
The Christian philosophical world also has characters like the Kindhearted Traveller and Chuang Tzu himself, who fled the world to find peace in obscurity; the Byzantine kingdoms of early Christendom following the Christianisation of the entire Roman empire were indeed so corrupt, worldly, and, indeed, byzantine in their political complexity and murderous rivalry, that some monks, called the Desert Fathers, fled the cities and lived in the desert; notably, one of them, Simeon Stylites, spent thirty seven years perched on a pillar.
Of course, neither Zhuang Zi nor the Kindhearted traveller can give us what we ultimately need, which can only be found in feeding on the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, Who is indeed the eternal Logos, the Word of God, for “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God,” Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. Strangely enough, even the words of the eternal Word are eternal, for Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
I don’t think life is meaningless, and although we all need times of rest, (then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31) I don’t recommend lying down all the time as the pre-eminent way to cope with life.
I tried that once, and it led only to a grave situation, but ultimately (if we are Christians) the Spirit within us raises us up again to run the race, with the ultimate prize in mind that Christ raised us up on the dais already to receive. (Philippians 3)
Ah but we all have our moments where we feel like dropping the bundle…
Nonetheless, I give you Luo Huazhong (the Kindhearted Traveler)’s posts, for they are in fact very funny! And sad. After you’ve read it, pray for these young people in China, who need the gospel so much.
Much praise to bugs (https://chi.st/bugs/tang-ping) for translating this, and many other important posts from China. https://chi.st/bugs/
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Lie flat is justice
I haven't had a job for more than two years, and I haven't felt like anything is wrong with using all my time for play. The pressure mainly comes from people around you comparing you to others or the traditional values of elders. They are everywhere. Every time you see hot news topics, they are about celebrities in love, getting pregnant and other “fertility” innuendo. The National People's Congress does not need to be like “invisible creatures” pressuring you to change your mind.
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I can just sleep in my own wooden barrel and bask in the sun like Diogenes, or I can live in a cave and think about “Logos” like Heraclitus. Since there has never been a movement of thought that exalts human subjectivity in this land, then I can make it for myself. Lying flat is my movement of the wise. Only lying flat is the measure of all things.
Because I’m not going to be performing any labor, I am able to only eat two meals a day, noodles + eggs in the morning, rice + vegetables and eggs in the evening. On weekends, I can go to a restaurant for chicken chops and rice if I feel like it. For me, solving the problem of food is to solve everything. My monthly expenditure is controlled within two hundred Yuan, and I can work for one to two months a year.
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I hate life lived for the sake of steel and concrete and “traditional family values”. People shouldn't be so tired. People should pursue a simple life, so I always do things very slowly, because I don't need to do things for anyone. I sometimes hide somewhere to watch and laugh at those busy people…
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Why should people find excitement for an obviously meaningless existence?
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Lying flat is the only objective truth in the universe. Rest, sleep, or death, the moment when a life full of desire and excitement becomes still and disappears is the embodiment of true justice. I choose to lie flat, and I am no longer afraid.
My position is not positioned by anyone. The ashes enter the sea and the soul floats to the universe. I'm just passing by. When the time comes, it will be another trip.
Cats have subjectivity, but people don't. When will the alienated world die out?
That's right, health is also important. Just after climbing the mountain, you can go swimming in the lake when the weather is a little hotter. I have been soaking in it almost all summer. It is essential to keep exercising.
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I have an actor's certificate, and when I'm in a good mood, I still go to Hengdian to lie down. In short, I just lie down in a different way: life is to lie down.…
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For your interest, the TangPingist Manifesto is here too:
https://chi.st/bugs/tangpingist-manifesto
I give the last word in this post to the eternal Logos:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
I just want to make a point here; as a Christian, what do I think about these texts? Are they simply vain, useless, pagan, pre-Christian philosophical texts? Or, just as we see Plato and Aristotle as important pre-Christian writers, should we see the writers of the Zhuang Zi the same way? To be honest I’m not sure: I spend much more time reading the Bible anyway and learning about the historical context and that’s more fruitful, surely. But looking at the last paragraph where it says heaven and earth are complete repose - this is a beautiful description of what we see when we see a beautiful sunset. It is a glimpse of God’s eternal Sabbath rest. But then you might say, heaven does do something - or rather the King of heaven does; God the Father sends his Son to redeem the world, something the writer of Zhuang Zi surely never could have guessed. But heaven itself is surely complete repose, and in fact heaven and earth are reconciled in Jesus by the cross. On the other hand, there will be complete and utter repose in the end, for with the marriage of the New Jerusalem and the Bridegroom, there will be a new heaven and a new earth that will indeed be the sabbath rest of creation… Like Socrates’ meditations on God, perhaps there is some kind of echo of the mysteries of God in these works, which is precisely why the word Tao (“way”) was the translation for Logos in John 1 in the Chinese Bibles.