Fenqing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is for Chinese angry young men. For other uses of Angry Young Men, see Disambiguation Page

Fenqing (Traditional: 憤青; Simplified: 愤青; Pinyin: Fènqīng), or "FQ" (abbreviation), which is itself an abbreviation for Fennu Qingnian (Traditional: 憤怒青年; Simplified: 愤怒青年; Pinyin: Fènnù Qīngnián), means literally "angry young men" or "angry youth". It mainly refers to youth who display a high level of Chinese nationalism.

[edit] Origins of the term

This term first appeared in Hong Kong in the 1970s, referring to those young people who were not satisfied with Chinese society and sought reform.

It has now evolved to be an exclusive Internet slang term. Whether fenqing is derogatory or commendatory usually depends on the person. Critics describe them with negative terms including "粪青" (lit. "shit-youth" or "idiotic youth", same pronunciation), which can be changed further to fenfen (Chinese: 粪粪; pinyin: fènfèn) as a derogatory nickname.

[edit] Overview

Fenqing is a special phenomenon after the "reform and opening up" of the Chinese government, during the period of fast economic development that occurred in China.

Some people argue that fenqing are a natural reaction to recent neoconservatism in Japan and the United States. Fenqing and these foreign neo-conservative elements intensely dislike each other, but all of them share certain similarities: distrust of foreign powers, support for the military and boundary disputes, etc. However, fenqing are not quite the same as Chinese neoconservatives.

As a group, fenqing are very diverse in their opinions. However, they are usually nationalistic and patriotic, and very much concerned with political issues, especially those relating to Japan, Taiwan, Tibet, or the United States.
They often harbour negative attitudes towards Japan due to the invasion and occupation of China by Imperial Japan, and support aggressive political stances towards Japan. For example, many believe that the government's apologies for Japanese war crimes are insincere and inadequate. More recent incidents, such as the Prime Minister's annual visit to the Yasukuni Shrine to honor war dead, the territorial dispute surrounding the Diaoyu Islands, and the revisions of history textbooks by Japanese right-wing nationalist groups which many critics claims whitewash the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army, lead these young people to conclude that the Japanese government is again seeking to expand militarily. These anti-Japanese sentiments are not necessarily only directed against the Japanese government and military, but often fiercely towards the Japanese culture, economy, and people.
Many support Chinese boycotts of Japanese products, for historical reasons and in reaction to events described above.
They may dislike Japanophiles and other Chinese who are Westernized, calling them Hanjian ("Race traitors").
Most view Taiwan as a part of China, and believe that Taiwan independence should be prevented by any means necessary. Many fenqing tend to consider war to be feasible, if not immediately necessary. A few may favor the use of nuclear weapons against Taiwan.
On Sino-American relations, most believe that China needs to learn from the United States; though a minority believe that is unnecessary. Most believe that the United States and China will ultimately develop a balance of power with their own spheres of influence, with competition as well as cooperation. Only the extreme minority believes a war with the United States is impending and the most likely spark being Taiwan.
They generally view American or Western attention to issues such as human rights, Falun Gong, Tibet, etc. as attempts to undermine the rise of China. Most support the ideal of democracy, but view Western attempts to spread democracy as self-serving, subversive propaganda. However, only a few truly believe in communism.
Only a few have the view that the Chinese government is invincible and justified at all cases. They may unconditionally defend all action by the Communist Party of China.
Some are very passionate about irredentist claims. In addition to the official claims made by the People's Republic of China, such as Taiwan, Arunachal Pradesh, the Diaoyu Islands, and the South China Sea Islands, some fenqing also make irredentist claims to Outer Mongolia, Tuva, Outer Manchuria, the Hukawng Valley of northern Myanmar, parts of Central Asia east of Lake Balkhash, Bhutan, Ladakh, and Sikkim.
They generally abhor political corruption within the government and government organizations. They also generally perceive the government as being too nice or ineffectual in a variety of issues, such as the Taiwan Straits, relations with Japan or the U.S., and Tibetan and Xinjiang independence.
For some their role models are Lu Xun and the activists of the May Fourth Movement. Some fenqing believe if Lu Xun were still alive today, he would continue fiercely criticizing the government.