Viral internet meme captured from a 1994 Chinese TV drama “I Love My Family”.
Content notice: This article contains mentions of suicide and mental health issues. Some discussions could be triggering for some readers.
A new buzzword, “the garbage time of history” (历史的垃圾时间), has gone viral on the Chinese internet after the suspected suicide of a 30-year-old female investment banker.
On social media, rumours circulated that the woman jumped down from her company office in Shanghai due to the psychological pressure of salary cuts, heavy housing mortgages and the economic losses caused by the housing market dive.
A time to exit or lie flat
Originally, the term “garbage time” refers to the end of a timed sports competition when the result has already been determined. The Chinese term “garbage time of history” refers to the ending period of a regime or a political and economic system.
The incident with the investment banker is seen as an allegory of the inevitable destiny of society’s “players” during the “garbage time of history”, which means no matter how hard one plays, the person is doomed to failure because of the time.
The Chinese buzzword was coined by Hu Wenhui, a well-known mainland Chinese writer, back in September 2023 in his blog post, “Garbage Time of the History, Long Vacation for Culture” (历史的垃圾时间，文化的悠长假期).
Hu came up with the idea after he reviewed the history of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (1964–1982) when the USSR was racing with the US in space and nuclear technology advancement. The writer believed that the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 marked the doom of the Soviet regime, and after that, the USSR entered the “garbage time of its history”. He also asserted that similar “garbage times” could be found in the dynasty history of China, as seen in the fall of Tang (marked by Huang Chao’s Rebellion 875–884) and Ming under emperor Chongzhen (1627–1644).
Hu then addressed the question: How should ordinary people navigate life during history’s “garbage times”? Here is his suggestion:
孔子有谓：“无下有道则见，无道则隐。”实为深具处世智慧之言。“无道则隐”的“隐”，看起来很古典，说穿了就是世俗所谓“躺平”，借用美国经济学家赫希曼的概念，也可说是“退出”（ Exit ）——当“呼吁”（ Voice ）已然无效，个人就只能选择“退出”了。无论是“隐”是“躺平”还是“退出”，都可视为对垃圾时间的一种拒绝。…假若遭遇了历史的垃圾时间，那就 Exit 好了，那就把历史的垃圾时间当作文化的悠长假期好了。
Confucius said: ‘When the Way prevails in the world, show yourself. When it does not, then hide’ These are words of wisdom. When there is no Way [editor note: can be interpreted as reason, humanity or heavenly rule, so to speak], hide. It sounds very classical, but it simply means ‘lying flat’ in colloquial terms. Or we can use prominent economist Albert Hirschman’s concept of ‘exit’ to describe the strategy — when ‘voice’ generates no effect, the people can only choose to ‘exit’. Regardless of the terminology — hiding, lying flat or exiting — the strategy is a refusal to participate during the garbage time… If we come across a garbage time of history, let’s exit and just take it as a long vacation of culture.
Hu’s article has prompted a series of conversations on social media. In November 2023, a writer, Qing He She Zhang (清和社长), wrote a response to Hu and elaborated the idea of the garbage of time of history by citing views and theories established by scholars of economic history, including Ludwig von Mises and Angus Maddison. The writer argued:
从经济学的逻辑来看，当某段历史正处于违背经济规律、个人又无力改变、且必然走向失败的阶段，我们将其定义为“历史的垃圾时间”。
According to the law of economics, when a certain period of history runs against the economic logic, and individuals cannot change the course, [the system] is doomed to failure. We define such period as ‘the garbage time of history’.
However, Qing He She Zhang added weight to the repression of culture during the garbage time of history:
每当历史进入垃圾时间，最先倒下的永远是文化人、思想者。每一轮文化浩劫就像历史的复读机：从尖锐的批评声消失，到沉默将被认为居心叵测，然后是赞美不够卖力也是一种罪，最后只留下一种声音：谎言。
Whenever history enters garbage time, the first to fall is always cultural figures and thinkers. Cultural catastrophes have recurred throughout history, marked by the disappearance of sharp criticism. Then silence is considered ill-intentioned, and inadequate praise becomes a sin. Finally, only one voice is left: Lies.
More joined the discussion. In early 2024, another blogger, Xi Ge, argued that individuals could attain certain autonomy during the garbage time era by maintaining a healthy body and an optimistic and resilient spirit, building a mutual support community, and taking action within one’s ability and capacity.
Some social media users connected the term to another buzzword, “involution” (內卷), which is an anthropology concept to describe a closed economy that relies on the intensification of its production mode or the increase of input and thus results in an inefficiency of per capita output. In China, the term describes labour exploitation and vicious competition. For example, a film scriptwriter, Zeng Ming, wrote on Weibo:
如果要给当下的“内卷”现象，寻求一个最贴切的解释和定义，我觉得必须首选“历史的垃圾时间”。如，“内卷”是指发生在“历史的垃圾时间”中人们一种变异的处事、处世方式。
If we want to find the most appropriate definition for the current ‘involution’ phenomenon, I think the idea of ‘the garbage time of history’ is our first choice. For example, ‘involution’ can be viewed as a mutated coping strategy in ‘the garbage time of history’.
In recent months, more and more social media users have picked up the new buzzword to discuss the never-ending barrage of negative news, such as the suspected suicide of the investment banker, the sliding stock market and the imploding property bubble. Many see the death of the bank worker as a tragedy representative of this rough patch in history, and finance bloggers warned their readers to make cautious investments during this “garbage time of history”.
Nationalist critics: A dangerous and vicious concept
As the term went viral, opinion leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stepped in. Wang Wen, a finance professor and a columnist for the Chinese state-owned Global Times, lambasted the invention of what he called a “fake academic term”:
近期，要严厉打假的学术概念就是借奥地利学派经济学大师米塞斯之口而出现的所谓“历史的垃圾时间”一词。…这个伪词的卑劣在于，它比近年来的“躺平论”更危险、更恶毒，即完全否定当下中国的发展状况，试图营造国家终将失败的大众预期，以及诱导民众不配合、不奋进、不作为的心理。
Recently, the academic concept that needs to be severely cracked down on is the so-called ‘garbage time of history’ that claimed to be coming from prominent Austrian Economist Ludwig von Mises … This despicable fabricated concept is more dangerous and more vicious than the ‘lying flatism’ in recent years as it denounces China’s development and attempts to create a public expectation that the state will eventually fail. It induces the public not to cooperate, not to strive, and not to accomplish.
Wang is the author of the book “Great Change of the Century” (百年变局), which addresses the global political, economic, and technological trends with the prediction of the decline of the Western political system and the rise of Asia. He argued that the current period is “the critical time of history” rather than “the garbage time of history”. However, he also acknowledged that the viral term had reflected the public sentiment during the current economic downturn.
Online nationalists have been more aggressive in criticising the term. For example, a commentary written by Ming Shu (明叔), a nationalist writer, on Netease, a popular news outlet, accused those who pick up the term as supporters of a Colour Revolution which advocates for regime change:
在“历史的垃圾时间”这句看似人畜无害的话语中，隐藏着多少政治性的幻想？他们说到底，就是不认同中国特色社会主义制度，他们夸大当下中国经济转型升级中的困难，把一切个体悲剧性事件都上升为“当下中国不行了”的证据。他们幻想，有朝一日，资产阶级可以在中国发动“和平演变”和“颜色革命”…
How many political fantasies are hidden in the seemingly harmless phrase ‘the garbage time of history’? They fundamentally disagree with the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. They exaggerate the difficulties in China’s current economic transformation and upgrading and elevate all individual tragic events as evidence that ‘China is not doing well now.’ They fantasize that one day, the bourgeoisie can launch a ‘peaceful transition’ and ‘colour revolution’ in China…
Despite the criticisms, social media users continue using the term to describe their pessimistic sentiment in the face of an economic downturn. Ironically, some online nationalists, including Ming Shu himself, also picked up the term to describe the decline of the US as the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump went viral on Chinese social media. The new buzzword is quite useful, after all.