In the last translation I encountered an expletive which was unknown to me (zuoyi shengmubiao 左翼圣母婊 which I translated to “left-wing pussies”). However, the “left-wing” part of the word helped me correctly guess that this unknown word is related to the word “baizuo” (白左) which has become immensely common among internet users. In order to get a better understanding of all this, I asked a friend to share their personal experience about what baizuo (白左) means and how it is used. In China, anything remotely related to politics is sensitive, so my friend will only be referred to as “Zhang” in order to protect their identity. The blog post is paraphrased from our discussion.
Please read the definition of baizuo on Wikipedia before reading the post! Small glossary for reference:
白左 (baizuo) : White left : Naive, self-righteous Western liberals (Pleco).
圣母婊 (shengmubiao) : Blessed mother bitch : Baizuo (白左) behave like shengmubiao, according to Zhang.
贴标签 (tie biaoqian) : Stick labels : Stereotype, unthinking comment (Pleco).
When did you first encounter the word “baizuo”?
It was around 1 or 2 years ago that Zhang first learned about baizuo (白左), when it began to appear in articles everywhere. According to Zhang, it has become much more common for people in China to talk about politics. There are fierce discussions about what side people stand by. Zhang described it with the word zhan dui (站队) which means to “fall in” or “stand in line” (Pleco). It has become much easier to tie biaoqian (贴标签) “stick labels”.
How common is the use of “baizuo”? Who uses it?
Zhang explains that it is common online, and then elaborates. Some people, with an interest in politics, have also begun to create new phrases based on baizuo (白左), such as baiyou (白右) “white right”, although this is fringe, and the definitions unclear. However, the term baizuo (白左) is closely related to shengmubiao (圣母婊).
The political concepts of “left” and “right” have become common ways to describe positions in China, but there are important differences to how it works in other places. In China, the left is conservative and the right is jijin (激进) “radical”, while in the west it is the opposite. (I asked if jijin (激进) meant progressive or liberal, but jijin (激进) definitely means “radical” or “extremist” according to both Zhang and Pleco.) Neither of these two distinctions (left and right) have positive connotations in China. Most people would prefer to remain in the neutral camp, neither left nor right, but try to label their opponents as either “left” or “right”. The self image of Chinese people is that they are not extreme. People will still have inclinations to the left or right however, no matter what they call themselves.
Zhang is open about being inclined to the right. According to Zhang, discussion about which camp historical leaders would fit into are popular on the internet, although the discussions are invariably censored and deleted, before they spring up again in another thread. Deng Xiaoping and Hu Jintao were right-wing, according to Zhang. Zhang considers this to be the reason that those two leaders are famous for improving international relations and finding compromise.
Zhang went on to bring up some other common talking points online in China. There is a common view that Chinese people lack “collective confidence”, but that this recently has improved. This has led to the popularity of catchphrases such as zuguo qiang (祖国强) “strong fatherland” especially among those with strong nationalistic sentiment. Zhang said that “China is still a developing country. When you lack something, you will want to claim that that thing doesn’t matter, and rather portray yourself as being unique.” Zhang concluded this line of thought with the words “I think it is getting better than before.”
Why is there contempt for the people called “baizuo”?
In their own words, Zhang wants to define baizuo (白左) as “idealists.” It is about political correctness: supporting LGBT rights, heping (和平) “peace” and environmental protections. Greta Thunberg is regarded as a baizuo due to her climate activism. Baizuo put too much emphasis om ideals like these and don’t consider what is close and practical.
Zhang elaborated on the reasons behind this way of thinking. “All ideals might seem futile to Chinese people. Like, how can the economy develop if we at the same time have to spend resources on caring about the environment?”
When it comes to racism, it gets more complicated. Zhang continued “Many people also say that racism is a fact, you can’t completely remove it. And Chinese people, as yellow, are sufferers [targets] of racism. So Chinese people who talk a lot about racism actually think themselves from the vulnerable perspective.”
I broke in to ask: But then it should be in Chinese peoples’ interest to fight against racism right?
Zhang explained how the line of thought goes. “Because some people think that if you look down on me, then fine I will do the same back to you. You can’t remove racism. The stronger always wins. Don’t qidai 期待 “expectantly wait for” things to change, just deal with them now. Once you are stronger, you have the choice to deal with racism. It would be a kind of charity for white people to not be racist to black people.”
“Baizuo” are looked down on, so who is looked up to?
“There is no such person. Those considered baizuo are a small group of people. That doesn’t mean that there is an opposite group to admire.”
I reflected that this would mean that many people in China only can use negative words and examples to discuss news from Western societies. If only labels with negative connotations exist, it becomes impossible to discuss anything in a positive light.
Zhang’s response was that ”It is always easy to say that something is bad, rather than that something is good.”
“This is just how human beings are. Condescending.”
After a pause, Zhang continued. WeChat articles have to pass a lot of censorship hurdles in order to get published. Their arguments should not be considered representative of what the majority thinks, but rather the politically correct stance.
Post-interview reflections
There really is a lot to unpack about baizuo, but one of the aspects of the word that is incredibly fascinating to me, is the contradictory reasoning that is laid bare when we think about the implications of the arguments on the surface.
Let’s start with the need to develop the economy to a sufficient degree before starting environmental protections. Food security for the people and food independence for the nation are considered incredibly important national goals in China. At the same time, groundwater pollution in China is incredibly widespread. The side effects of economic development threaten to make freshwater and clean food prohibitively expensive no matter how high GDP grows.
About racism, the idea that it will always exist and that “the stronger always wins” has worrying implications. According to this logic, it would seem that the wisest course of action for some groups and countries would be to control and keep down all Chinese people in order to prevent them from ever returning the favor.
The word baizuo is used to ridicule political correctness, but everything posted in China is filtered by a censorship structure which decides what is acceptable to show the public. It is a politically correct phrase meant to attack political correctness.
Naturally, I assume these thoughts make me qualify as a baizuo, too.