{"id":369,"date":"2014-12-02T16:56:22","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T16:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melangedmaculateme.wordpress.com\/2014\/12\/02\/pun-filled-subversion-in-china\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T16:25:48","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T20:25:48","slug":"pun-filled-subversion-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melange.dmaculate.me\/home\/2014\/12\/02\/pun-filled-subversion-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Pun-filled subversion in China"},"content":{"rendered":"

…is now banned in order to protect the sanctity of the Chinese language<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

In early 2009, a creature called the\u00a0grass-mud horse\u00a0appeared in an\u00a0online music video\u00a0which became an\u00a0immediate viral hit. \u201cGrass-mud horse\u201d (c\u01ceon\u00edm\u01ce \u8349\u6ce5\u9a6c), which sounds nearly the same in Mandarin as \u201cfuck your mother\u201d (c\u00e0o n\u01d0 m\u0101 \u808f\u4f60\u5988), was originally coined to get around, and also poke fun at, government censorship of vulgar content. The idea caught fire instantly, completely transforming its symbolic meaning. Within weeks, the grass-mud horse became the\u00a0de facto mascot of Chinese netizens fighting for free expression, inspiring\u00a0poetry,\u00a0photos, videos,\u00a0artwork,\u00a0clothing, andmore. As one Chinese blogger explained, \u201cThe grass-mud horse represents information and opinions that cannot be accepted by the mainstream discourse, and the \u2018Song of the Grass-Mud Horse\u2019 has become a metaphor of the power struggle over Internet expression.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pun-filled subversion in China <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…is now banned in order to protect the sanctity of the Chinese language. In early 2009, a creature called the\u00a0grass-mud horse\u00a0appeared in an\u00a0online music video\u00a0which became an\u00a0immediate viral hit. \u201cGrass-mud horse\u201d (c\u01ceon\u00edm\u01ce \u8349\u6ce5\u9a6c), which sounds nearly the same in Mandarin … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[60,286],"class_list":["post-369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-china","tag-puns","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25,"url":"https:\/\/melange.dmaculate.me\/home\/2018\/05\/11\/trump-is-a-horse-in-a-hospital-from-rich-porter-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":369,"position":0},"title":"Trump is a horse in\u2026","author":"aslam","date":"May 11, 2018","format":"video","excerpt":"Trump is a horse in a hospital from Rich Porter on Vimeo.(Source: https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/)","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1653,"url":"https:\/\/melange.dmaculate.me\/home\/2011\/06\/02\/families-in-india-at-serious-risk-from-toxic-waste\/","url_meta":{"origin":369,"position":1},"title":"Families in India at serious risk from toxic waste","author":"aslam","date":"June 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Via Scoop.it - Rights & LibertiesOver 4,000 families in the Indian state of Orissa face serious risk from threats of leaks from Vedanta\u2019s red mud pond as the rainy season begins in June. 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