I thought I'd posted this years ago, but maybe not, or I just can't find it, so herewith posted, with a new Label "Slang". This seems to be the latest edition. It's a fun read and what can be done to avoid the censors in China, the Great Firewall, by clever word play.
It's to do with what's going on in China at the moment, with Tang Ping (躺平) , "lying flat", doing nothing, an activity (or rather inactivity) of the Zoomers in China, worrying those in charge. And the thought that there might be a link between Tang Ping and Tang poetry an implicit criticism of Xi Jinping's regime vs the splendours of the Tang Dynasty.
ADDED (a bit nerdy): Re the final para above, I don't think so. That is, I don't think "Lie Flat" or "Tang Ping" is a coded message referring to Tang poets, some of whom, some of the time, were known to speak truth to power -- ie, to criticise the political leadership. Thus, according to this thought, Tang Ping is a subtle message of criticising the government.
The reason I don't is not because Chinese netizens don't obliquely have a go at the leadership. They do. As the Glossary of Political Slang above shows. It's more to do with the language for which we need to refer to the Chinese. Tang Ping, meaning lie flat is the two characters 躺平, pronounced Tǎng píng (third tone, second), while the meaning of "Tang (dynasty) crticism" is the characters 唐评, pronounced Táng píng (second, second). Usually, when you make a political pun in Chinese, it's the same tones. Then, there's "criticism" which is 批评, pronounced Pīpíng, the short form of which is usually "Pi", not "Ping".
All in all, I don't think "lying flat", Tang Ping, is a word play referring to Tang poetry criticism. It is, as they say, what it is. Namely "lying flat", doing nothing, Tang Ping, 躺平.
I would, though, like to see more mention of its possible link to the venerable Taoist philosophy of Wu Wei, "do nothing".
And all in all, while the leadership does seem to have some worries about the trend, it may not be much more than what well-off zoomers do everywhere. Many/most young Chinese don't have the wealth to sit around doing nothing.
