Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures

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The Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures (simplified Chinese: 百度十大神兽; traditional Chinese: 百度十大神獸; pinyin: bǎidù shí dà shénshòu), alternatively Ten Baidu Deities, was a humorous hoax from the interactive encyclopedia Baidu Baike which became a popular and widespread Internet meme in China in early 2009.[1][2] These ten hoaxes are regarded by Western media as a response to online censorship in China of profanity, and considered as an example of citizens' clever circumvention of censorship.[3][4]

Details

Arising in early 2009,[5] the meme initially began as a series of vandalised contributions to Baidu Baike,[6] through the creation of humorous articles describing a series of fictional creatures, with each animal with names vaguely referring to Chinese profanities (utilizing homophones and characters using different tones).[7] Eventually, images, videos (such as faux-documentaries) and even a song regarding aspects of the meme were released.[8] It was thought that the Baidu hoaxes were written in response to recent strict enforcements of keyword filters in China, introduced in 2009, which attempted to eliminate all forms of profanity.[9][10] The Baidu Baike "articles" initially began with "Four Mythical Creatures" (The "Grass Mud Horse", "French-Croatian Squid", "Small Elegant Butterfly" and "Chrysanthemum Silkworms"), and were later extended to ten. The memes became widely discussed on Chinese Internet forums, and most users concluded that the initial aim of the hoaxes was to satirise and ridicule the pointlessness of the new keyword filters. The meme is interpreted by most Chinese online as a form of direct protest rather than motiveless intentional disruption to Baidu services.[11] After the hoaxes were posted, news of the articles spread quickly online on joke websites, popular web portals and forums[12][13] such as Baidu Tieba, while a large number of posts were sent on the Tencent QQ Groups chat service. There have also been various parodies of the meme created (such as the "Baidu 10 Legendary Weapons"[14] and "Baidu 10 Secret Delicacies"[15][16]). Meme references can be found throughout Chinese websites.[17]

The 10 Mythical Creatures

The mythical creatures have names which are innocuous in written Chinese, but sound similar to and recognizable as profanities when spoken. References to the creatures, particularly the Grass Mud Horse, are widely used as symbolic defiance of the widespread Internet censorship in China; censorship itself is symbolized by the river crab, a near-homophone of harmony (a euphemism for censorship in reference to the Harmonious Society).[3]

Cao Ni Ma

Main article: Grass Mud Horse

Videos of songs,[18][19] as well as "documentaries" about "Grass Mud Horse" started appearing on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet.[20][21] The video scored some 1.4 million hits; a cartoon attracted a quarter million more views; a nature documentary on its habits received 180,000 more.[3] The "Grass Mud Horse" became widely known on the English-language web following the 11 March 2009 publication of a New York Times article on the phenomenon,[3] sparking widespread discussion on blogs, and even attempts to create "Grass Mud Horse" themed merchandise, such as plush dolls.[22][23]

Fa Ke You

Ya Mie Die

Ju Hua Can

Chun Ge

Chun Ge (鹑鸽, Chún Gē), literally 'quail-pigeon', is a homophone with 春哥 ('Brother Chun'). This species of bird is apparently found only in Sichuan and Hunan; formerly found in the area that is now the Republic of Yemen.[24] The term Big Brother Chun (春哥) has been used to refer to the female singer Li Yuchun due to her apparent androgynous appearance. Yemen comes from the catchphrase chūn gē chún yé men (春哥纯爷们), meaning 'Brother Chun is a real man' — 爷, meaning 'grandfather', can also be read as 'masculine' (young males in Northeast China use the slang term 爷 as a personal pronoun in an impolite context). The 春 Chun can also refer to fa chun (发春), which is slang for sexual arousal – literally 'Spring has come'.

Ji Ba Mao

Ji Ba Mao (吉跋猫, Jí Bá Māo), literally 'Lucky Journey Cat' (a homophone with 鸡巴毛, referring to pubic hair, as the homophone jība (鸡巴) is a vulgar term for 'penis', while the definition of 毛 máo is 'hair' or 'fur'). The original article states that this cat lives in dark, damp environments and competes for food with the White Tiger (white tiger is a slang term for a hairless/shaved vulva). Additionally, the Ji Ba Mao flourished during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.[25]

Wei Shen Jing

Wei Shen Jing (尾申鲸, Wěi Shēn Jīng), literally 'Stretch-Tailed Whale' (a near-homophone with 卫生巾, wèishēngjīn, referring to menstrual pads). From the Baidu Baike article, it was first discovered by Zheng He during his maritime adventures. According to the article this creature was hunted for clothing material to manufacture women's lingerie.[26]

Yin Dao Yan

Yin Dao Yan (吟稻雁, Yīn Dào Yán), literally 'Singing Rice Goose' (a homophone with 阴道炎 Yīn Dào Yán, meaning a vaginitis infection). From the article on Yīn Dào Yán, in the Kangxi era, a large goose dived into a certain field, damaging it and causing the local farmers to come down with a strange sickness.[27]

Da Fei Ji

Qian Lie Xie

Qian Lie Xie (潜烈蟹, Qián Liè Xiè), literally 'Hidden Fiery Crab', closely resembles qián liè xiàn (前列腺), which translates to 'prostate glands'. According to the article, this is a legendary crab that once stopped up the Grand Canal (referring to the urinary tract).[28]

Official reactions

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 【贴图】百度十大神兽_水能载舟亦能煮粥
  2. ↑ "Hoax dictionary entries about legendary obscene beasts". February 11, 2009. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Wines, Michael (March 11, 2009). "A Dirty Pun Tweaks China's Online Censors". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  4. ↑ Bobbie Johnson, ETech: The truth about China and its filthy puns, The Guardian, 13 March 2009
  5. ↑ 山寨版“动物世界”介绍草泥马走红网络_资讯_凤凰网 (Phoenix TV official website)
  6. ↑ cnBeta. "cnBeta.COM_中文业界资讯站". Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ "CCTV.com". Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ YouTube. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  9. ↑ "违法和不良信息举报中心". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ "谴责与曝光_违法和不良信息举报中心". Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Chinese Bloggers' Respond to the Internet Crackdown - China Digital Times (CDT)". China Digital Times (CDT). January 30, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  12. ↑ "福步外贸论坛(FOB Business Forum) -中国第一外贸论坛". Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  13. ↑ "百度贴吧". Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  14. ↑ "百度--您的访问出错了". im.baidu.com (in 中文（中国大陆）). Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Leesum.com". Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  16. ↑ 卧槽，又来一个！百度十大神秘美食~~
  17. ↑ Example of meme following: CCTV Fire: Funny Photoshops By Chinese Netizens Archived February 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, chinaSMACK (resulting from manipulated images of the Beijing Television Cultural Center fire)
  18. ↑ "- 超级苹果网". Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  19. ↑ YouTube. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  20. ↑ 动物世界特别篇 马勒戈壁上的草泥马!. YouTube. January 28, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  21. ↑ 什么是草泥马. YouTube. February 1, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  22. ↑ Andrew Kirk (October 25, 2012). "World's Most Obscene Stuffed Animal: Grass Mud Horse Is Meme in China". 97 Rock. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  23. ↑ "The 'grass-mud horses' battling internet censors". The France 24 Observers. March 13, 2009. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  24. ↑ "鹑鸽 - Baidu Baike (Past Screenshot)". Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  25. ↑ "吉跋猫 - Baidu Baike (Past Screenshot)". Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  26. ↑ 尾申鲸 - Baidu Baike (Past Screenshot)[permanent dead link‍]
  27. ↑ 吟稻雁 - Baidu Baike (Past Screenshot)[permanent dead link‍]
  28. ↑ 潜烈蟹 - Baidu Baike (Past Screenshot)[permanent dead link‍]

Further reading

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