A. Bloody attack in Zhuhai, Guangdong The incident, which killed 35 people and injured many others, was met with a very familiar refrain on the Chinese internet: “Xianzhong” is back. Zhang online adage of “revenge against society” attacks on innocents by disgruntled men. in 2021 CDT marked “Xianzhong” This phrase, which literally means “to show loyalty” and is one of the most censored words of the year, remains as sensitive as ever.

Xianzhong attacks are being tallied It’s floating around on the Chinese internet. A non-exhaustive list of events from this year includes: Stabbing of four Americans in Jilin park, Murder of Suzhou bus attendant, Murder of a Japanese child in ShenzhenA. A stabbing attack left two people dead at a hospital in Yunnan and 21 people were injured and Stabbing spree leaves five injured in Beijing. The latest incident in Zhuhai is the only incident that reveals this situation. Rare direct public response from Xi Jinping. Xi emphasized preventing problems at their source and called for the “severest punishment” for the attacker who was allegedly upset with the financial settlement of the divorce case.

The extent of Zhang Xianzhong’s real-life murders a matter of major historical contentionIn the popular imagination he has become a stand-in for senseless bloodlust that carries political ascendancy. The graffiti below is emblematic of his image in the popular consciousness; the artist imagines Zhang paraphrasing Mao Zedong’s famous quote about reactionaries And He concludes with the apocryphal instruction “Kill, kill, kill”:

Although few people praise the “Xianzhong” attacks, they have become a meme evoking an escape from the crushing pressures of daily life. The table below titled “Psychoanalysis of Contemporary Chinese Society” It exemplifies the popular attitude towards “Xianzhong.” The X and Y axes are arranged from avoidant to conformist and passive to active, respectively; It refers to one’s desire to participate in Chinese society and the desired level of effort to realize this choice. In the avoidance-active quadrant “escape”, i.e. escape from China through emigration. In the evasion-passive quadrant “Lie flat”, meaning get out of the hustle and bustle and do nothing. In the conformist-active quadrant “involved,” that is, meaninglessly striving as The New Yorker memorably described It’s reminiscent of “Sisyphus turning the wheels of a constantly moving Peloton.” In the conformist-passive quadrant “Chive”, that is, allowing the person to be used and abused by the system. The only “out” from the matrix comes from the Z axis “Xianzhong”:

In February this year, one Weibo user put it succinctly: “Fool around, lie flat, run or Xian…things seem to be moving quickly towards Xian.”

Admiration for Zhang’s famous barbarism is not a modern phenomenon. Qing period poet Peng Zunsi wrote: A four-volume book detailing Zhang’s short and bloody reign In the mid-1700s, probably after Zhang’s death, he would discredit himself (and deter anyone who might imitate him). Nearly two hundred years later, Lu Xun read and wrote Peng’s book:

Although he appeared to be ‘killing for the sake of killing’, in a way reminiscent of ‘art for art’s sake’, he actually had ulterior motives. At first he had neither the desire to kill nor to become emperor. It was only after I found out Li Zicheng had taken Beijing and the Manchus “violated Shanghaiguan Pass” He felt strongly that he was pushed against a wall and so he began to kill and kill… There was nothing left for him in this world except to destroy what was left for others. This is the same impulse felt by the last emperors of fallen dynasties, who burned the books and ornaments they and their ancestors had accumulated an hour before their deaths. He had soldiers but no jewels, so he started killing, killing, killing, killing… (Chinese)

References these days Zhang Xianzhong is highly censored on the Chinese internet. Following the Zhuhai murders, both Baidu and Sogou launched the above-referenced and “kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill), kill.” Since 2021, searches for “Xianzhongnology” and “Xianzhong memes” have been heavily censored, as have searches for “Xianzhong events.” However, some posts on Weibo referencing “Xianzhong” were not removed.

Zhang Xianzhong is not the only Ming-era figure to face the scrutiny of censors. In late 2023, the book “The Chongzhen Emperor: Hard-working Ruler of a Failed Dynasty” was pulled from shelves in China. a cover blurb was identified as a possible reference to Xi Jinping. The blurb included: “Chongzhen’s repeated mistakes were the result of his own incompetence. “His ‘zealous’ efforts hastened the destruction of the nation.” The Weibo hashtag #Chongzhen was later censored, indicating his political sensitivity.