“Pick where you will be resting — on your couch, in jail, in hospital or in an early grave”
“Take a walk today and grass will soon cover your grave”
“A mask or a ventilator: your only two choices”
Slogans play a big role in China. The ones above are from COVID-19 banners seen across the country and shared on social media. They can be seen all over the world too, as the power of a soundbite is clear. A pithy short slogan often trumps a well-reasoned explanation if it paints a strong image and uses humor, absurdity or exaggeration to make a point. We see them in front of churches and at rallies, hear them chanted by crowds and used by governments to sell messages and ideas.
While in other countries slogan bearing signs are usually temporary and handheld, they are more permanent in China — often seen on banners (white or yellow characters on red cloth), hanging on walls, fences or between traffic signs or trees.
They have a long history, are still common and this year played a role in the fight against COVID-19. The recommendations and reminders above are some examples, with some to follow below.
““A mask or a ventilator: your only two choices”
Prof. Liu Yuntong, Director of the Research Institute of Applied Linguistics in Tongji University in Shanghai traces the history of such slogans to what some consider to be the first Chinese slogan, from Shang Dynasty (1600 to 1046 B.C.), i.e. “When the Sun dies, I will die with it” — the Sun being Emperor Zhou. Slogans, especially the ones on banners, first found real widespread popularity in more recent times — between 1840 and 1949, when various political and social movements started using them to spread their message. After 1949 the CCP further expanded their use, and started using them across the country to mobilize the population for various initiatives. Their continued use represents an interesting intersection of Chinese language, Chinese culture and the Chinese political system.
The meaning of the banners is best understood with some background information about the language they are written in - their meaning is best appreciated in their native Mandarin. Mandarin is a tonal language, the writing system is based on characters, and the relationship between meaning, pronunciation and written representation is less “natural” than in languages with alphabets. A character is always one syllable (and sometimes — a one syllable word), the number of syllables is limited (as they can only end in a vowel, -n or -ng) to only 410 (as opposed to about 15,831 possible syllables in English). As a result, many words sound the same or rhyme, allowing for various puns, double entendres and jokes. The tonality of the language means that phrases often have a catchy rhythm, and the characters further add a visual element, strengthening the “catchiness” of the slogan. This introduction was necessary because the slogan-banners below might seem like relics of times long gone to a western audience. They are still very common in China, but they differ in the bigger cities and in smaller ones and rural areas. In places like Beijing and Shanghai they are prescriptive and “dry” — “Stay home, wear a mask, wash your hands!”, while in other areas of the country they can be much more blunt and dramatic. Some of the examples below are from Malaysia — a country with large ethnically Chinese population. The slogans and banners shared in this article are gathered from social media posts; a testament to the power of these short and pithy admonitions.
“Pick where you will be resting — on your couch, in jail, in hospital or in an early grave”
Being translated does not do justice to these slogans. In translation they are often clumsily worded and too literal — but there is a reason why they are still a common way for the authorities to communicate with the “people” — in their original versions many of them are witty, funny and memorable — and like with poetry, their essence is what’s lost in translation. Not all of them are great, of course, many are cliched, awkward, crude or inappropriately threatening.
Prof. Song Lijue, Vice Dean of the International School of East China University of Political Science and Law and Professor of Translation Studies considers this sort of high-context language most difficult to effectively translate and warns that literal translations can be misleading and awkward sounding to a non-Chinese reader, and that finding a balance between “spirit” and literal meaning of the phrases in a foreign language is an art in itself.
“A mask is better than a ventilator, lying on the sofa is better than lying in a hospital bed”
In China, almost three months after steps were first taken to control the COVID-19 epidemic, these slogans are not so common any more — they were most widespread in early February when then measures were strictest and calls for compliance with them most urgent. Unfortunately, since then words and expressions such as “quarantine”, “isolation”, “social distancing”, “lockdown” and “ventilator” have entered the daily vocabulary of many people around the world.
The slogans are a reminder of the measures the Chinese authorities took and warn about the dangers of not complying with them. Even though they are extremely China-specific, they show the framework of an aggressive and comprehensive epidemic management initiative, which was arguably one of the more successful ones. They were being mostly put up by local government agencies in rural areas and smaller cities.
“Take a walk today and grass will soon cover your grave”
Tre translations below are perhaps not the best possible ones — but they are true to the content and, when possible, the tone and style of the slogans.
“Everyone out on the street now is a monster looking to take your life!”
“Until you have not used the last piece of onion in your house, do not go to the store!”
“Take a walk today and grass will soon cover your grave”
“People outside with no masks on are trash!”
“Stay home — three of your friends are there for you: the AC, the TV and the WIFI!”
“Report your parents’ illegal gatherings to play mahjong like they used to report illegal internet cafes!”
“Stay home to stop the infection — don’t open the door even if your relatives show up!”
“Take a bite of a wild animal today — find yourself in hell tomorrow”
“Save some pennies on a mask, spend thousands for treatment”
“People who conceal their fever are enemies of the state!”
“A mask or a ventilator: your only two choices!”
“Going out is suicide!”
“Getting together with friends is murder-suicide!”
“A mask is better than a ventilator, lying on the sofa is better than lying in a hospital bed”
“Our goal for 2020 — to stay alive!”
“What’s under quarantine is the virus, not our friends from Wuhan”
“Find out early, get treated early, recover early — good for you and good for all of us!”
“Go out and your legs will be broken — try to explain yourself and your teeth will get knocked out”
“If your friends knock on your door today, the virus will knock on it tomorrow”
“Don’t gather for meals so you will also eat in the future; don’t go outside so you still have a family tomorrow”
“Going to a party is wishing for death”
Prof. Liu emphasizes that in the eyes of Chinese intellectuals the slogans made by local authorities are vulgar, harsh and aggressive, but also reasonable and somewhat effective in the sociolinguistic framework that creates them — they do not do a good job “reasoning” with and persuading their intended audience, but they are effective in putting it on notice, and achieving acceptance and desired compliance and/or action.
Dr. Nora Chileva-Xiao, an expert in ancient Chinese literature from Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) reminds us that this type of short, memorable speech is found around us, and while in western societies propaganda and slogan language in their original meaning are considered outdated, they do tend to reappear during stressful times or when a soundbite is needed. But they also have a place in international relations — e.g. slogans offering support and optimism in the efforts against COVID-19 are seen on packages with masks and other donations to and from China by governments, companies or individual donors. She compares them to road signs — ever-present and usually mandatory: you might be in a hurry, but you have to wait patiently at the red light, or there would be a punishment. From a literary standpoint slogans are very interesting to study, as they capture the social issues of their respective times, and some of the more elegant ones even have literary value.
Ms. Xiao Jin, editor in chief of Driving Tour Magazine and a tourism industry thought leader, sees slogan-banners in a mostly positive light — and describes them as the simplest form of “media” — as they convey information to the public. People of all education levels can understand them and that fulfills an important governmental function — informing the public. In recent years banner language has moved closer to the type of language that becomes popular on the internet language — and aims for humor, levity and self deprecation. Just like online language, some slogan-banners are rude, improper and vulgar.
Banner used by a tour group.
Banners are used in all sorts of occasions in China: on streets, in schools, in companies and offices, during meetings, events, exhibitions, weddings and travel. They are often present in group photos (which are also very common in China) and make the event, date and group of people easily identifiable. For casual occasions, the banners are usually colorful, but the ones used by various government entities are in the traditional and more formal red and white or red and yellow colors. While they can add a strong visual element that maximizes the message, banners can also turn into visual pollutants: i.e. tour groups arriving as scenic spots often unfold huge banners which shift the focus from the natural landscape.
The slogan-banner format is deeply ingrained into the life of Chinese people. Everyone is used to them being around in all sorts of contexts, but they have most significant use and presence in less developed areas of the country — and are most interestingly worded there too.
During the COVID-19 measures, church signs in some countries have come even closer in content, tone and function to the Chinese slogan banners — like the one above, reminding that “6 feet apart today is better than 6 feet under tomorrow.”
It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of communication, especially in the context of a public health crisis. The witty, interesting or overly aggressive slogans get shared on social media — and are widely discussed or made fun of. In that sense, they are effective — they keep the conversation going about the reality of the epidemic and the quarantine and are a reminder about social responsibility and the measures everyone needs to comply with.
Author: Asen Velinov
Shanghai, China
Photos: social media and news reports
