Posted by Bob Chen to Global Voices Online
Do you know why millions of internet users in China are doing a push-up?
In Tianya.cn, posts about push-ups poured in. When a new post was put on the discussion board, people would rush in and leave a very short comment, for example, “I am here to do a push-up!”, “What the hell has it anything to do with me? I am just here for a push-up!”
Many people have registered new IDs named with phrases including or related to “push-up”. In baidu.com, where people could create groups with keywords, the push-up group gained over 10,000 posts overnight, with only some hundred a few days ago.
Fuwocheng.com, a website named after the Chinese pinyin of push-up, was opened. On the site, you can click on the button "do a push-up”, and then see how many people from different regions are doing the same exercise as you. Shanghai topped the list now with almost 20,000.
But there is one thing weird: you can do no more than 3 push-ups. Also, occasionally people will jump out, warning kind-heartedly that you should stop when doing 2.
注æ„,俯å§æ’‘最多åªèƒ½åšä¸¤ä¸ªï¼Œå¦åˆ™åŽæžœè‡ªè´Ÿï¼
"Caution! Only 2 push-ups! Or you should be responsible for your action.”
And
åšå®Œä¿¯å§æ’‘åŽè¦å››å‘¨çœ‹çœ‹ï¼Œå°å¿ƒæœ‰äººè¢«è‡ªæ€ï¼
"After doing push-ups, please watch around. Be aware that some one will be suicided !"
[Not a mistake, by the way. Here ‘suicide’ takes passive voice. You’ll know the answer later.]
Now, doing 3 push-ups has been called the most fatal weapon ever.
The Origin of the Push-Up Tide.
The origin of the push-up craze, with significant political implications, can be traced back to the recent riot in Weng’an, Guizhou on June 28. On that day, a crowd of more than 30.000 people set fire on the police office to protest that the local police were hiding three young men with potential ties to local officials, who were suspected to be responsible for the death of a 17-year-old school girl, Li Shufen (æŽæ·‘芬). Li’s parents claimed the men raped and then killed their daughter, judged by her injured body.
Rumors abounded that police had covered for the real murders, saying the girl was only drowned.
The scene of unrest was recorded by locals’ cellphones and cameras, shocking the country when people saw hundreds of junior high kids smashing and breaking up the police station. However, the state media gave only a few words on the riot, claiming it was an incident ignited by a few criminals.
Meanwhile, the campaign of censorship was launched, and administrators were working 24 hours a day to wipe out any related entry on the Chinese internet. But the videos and word of mouth were impossible to be taken out completely.
Despite mounting pressure, it was not until July 1 that the Office of Information in Guizhou finally published an official statement. It didn’t change the tone, still attributing the unrest to a crowd misdirected by a small group of agitators, and statedthat the girl was drowned without being raped.
It was this statement, which described what happened at the night June 21 from the police’s point of view, that gave birth to the great tide of push-ups.
A passage (quote from Financial) goes as follow:
ç»è¿‡è°ƒæŸ¥å¾—知,6月21æ—¥20时许,æŽæ ‘芬与女å‹çŽ‹æŸä¸€èµ·é‚€çº¦å‡ºåŽ»çŽ©ï¼ŒåŒæŽæ ‘芬的男朋å‹é™ˆæŸåŠå…¶æœ‹å‹åˆ˜æŸç‰åƒè¿‡æ™šé¥åŽï¼Œæ¥ è¡Œåˆ°è¥¿é—¨æ²³è¾¹å¤§å °æ¡¥å¤„é—²è°ˆã€‚æŽæ ‘ 芬在与刘æŸé—²è°ˆæ—¶ï¼Œçªç„¶è¯´ï¼š“跳河æ»äº†ç®—了,如果æ»ä¸æˆå°±å¥½å¥½æ´»ä¸‹åŽ»”。刘æŸè§çŠ¶æ€¥å¿™æ‹‰ä½æŽæ ‘芬,制æ¢å…¶è·³æ²³è¡Œä¸ºã€‚约10分钟åŽï¼Œé™ˆæŸæ出è¦å…ˆç¦»å¼€ã€‚当陈 æŸèµ°åŽï¼Œåˆ˜æŸè§æŽæ ‘芬心情平é™ä¸‹æ¥ï¼Œä¾¿å¼€å§‹åœ¨æ¡¥ä¸Šåšä¿¯å§æ’‘。当刘æŸåšåˆ°ç¬¬ä¸‰ä¸ªä¿¯å§æ’‘的时候,å¬åˆ°æŽæ ‘芬大声说“我走了”,便跳下河ä¸ã€‚
"The investigation shows, at 8.00 pm 21, June, Li hang out with Wang, his boyfriend Chen, and Liu (4 altogether). After dinner, they chatted and walked to the Dayan bridge across the West Gate River. While talking with Liu, Li suddenly said: “I’ll just jump into the river, whatever. But if I am not dead, I’ll live on.” Liu had to pull Li back immediately to prevent her from suicide. Ten minutes later, Chen left. Liu, because he saw Li had already calmed down, started to do push-up on the bridge. When doing the third one, he suddenly heard Li crying “I leave”. Then Li jumped into the river."
Three hours later, her body was found.
Three push-ups: a fatal weapon, a curse, or magic? At least this was the question people found themselves allowed to ask from this statement, making others burst into laughter. Numerous suspects had not been identified. How dare gangsters smash police office? Are all the kids shown in the videos criminals? Why did Li want to commit suicide? Why was Li’s uncle roughed up after complaining to the police office? There was no explanation, only a push-up joke.
As the war of posting and post-deleting was still going on, netizens were fed up with further struggle. Finally, a few minutes after the official statement, a post named 我是æ¥åšä¿¯å§æ’‘çš„ (I am here to do push-up) showed up on Tianya, and gained momentum in a crazy speed. Posts alike sprawled over the internet. This might be the only way netizens can show that they care, or just simply vent their anger and grief.
给我åšä¸‰ä¸‹ä¿¯å§æ’‘,我也能推动地çƒã€‚——阿基米德
åšä¿¯å§æ’‘还是ä¸åšï¼Œæ˜¯ä¸ªé—®é¢˜ã€‚——哈姆雷特
我有一个梦想,有这麽一天,æ¯ä¸€ä¸ªé»‘人都å¯ä»¥è‡ªç”±åœ°åšä¿¯å§æ’‘,而没有人去问他们为什么7—马ä¸.路德.金
"Give me 3 push-ups, I can push the earth. ——-Archimedes
To push-up or not to push-up, that’s the question. ——–Hamlet
I have a dream, that one day black can do push-up freely, and nobody can ask why. ——-Martin Luther King."
The list goes on.
Famous sayings were changed into push-up mode. Famous stories were replaced with a push-up plot. Celebrities were pictured doing push-ups. People’s creativity silently but vividly fights against the censorship. We’ll do push-ups!
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