打工人

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

打工人 [2025/08/04 17:31] – created xiaoer打工人 [Unknown date] (current) – removed - external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1
Line 1: Line 1:
-====== dǎgōngrén: 打工人 - Worker, Laborer, "The Working People" ====== +
-===== Quick Summary ===== +
-  * **Keywords:** dagongren meaning, 打工人, dǎgōngrén, Chinese internet slang, Chinese work culture, worker meme China, what is dagongren, 996 culture, moving bricks, touching fish, 社畜, 上班族 +
-  * **Summary:** Discover the meaning of **dǎgōngrén (打工人)**, a viral Chinese internet term that has become a cultural identity for modern workers. More than just "worker," `dǎgōngrén` captures the shared experience of young Chinese professionals navigating long hours and workplace pressures with self-deprecating humor, resilience, and a powerful sense of solidarity. This page explores its cultural significance, practical usage, and relationship to concepts like "996" and "involution" (内卷). +
-===== Core Meaning ===== +
-  * **Pinyin (with tone marks):** dǎgōngrén +
-  * **Part of Speech:** Noun +
-  * **HSK Level:** N/A +
-  * **Concise Definition:** A modern, self-referential term for any person who works for a living, often with a humorous, resigned, or motivational connotation. +
-  * **In a Nutshell:** `打工人` is not your textbook word for "worker." It's a social identity embraced by millions of young Chinese people, from programmers and designers to baristas and delivery drivers. It literally means "person who does a job," but it carries the collective feeling of the daily grind. It's a way of saying, "I work hard, I get tired, but I'm in this together with everyone else." It mixes cynicism about corporate culture with a resilient pride in one's own labor. +
-===== Character Breakdown ===== +
-  * **打 (dǎ):** To hit; to do; to engage in. While its base meaning is "to strike," in many compounds it takes on the meaning of performing an action. +
-  * **工 (gōng):** Work; labor; project. This character is foundational to words related to industry and employment. +
-  * **人 (rén):** Person; people. A simple pictograph of a person walking. +
-The characters combine to form `打工 (dǎgōng)`, which means "to work part-time" or "to work for others" (as opposed to owning your own business). Adding `人 (rén)` turns it into "the person who works for others." While `打工` traditionally referred to manual or temporary labor, the modern term `打工人` has expanded to encompass nearly all forms of employment, especially office work. +
-===== Cultural Context and Significance ===== +
-`打工人` exploded in popularity on Chinese social media around 2020. It represents a significant cultural shift from the aspirational, "anything is possible" narratives of the 2010s to a more grounded, realistic, and collective mindset. +
-Its rise is a direct response to immense workplace pressures in modern China, epitomized by concepts like **`[[996]]`** (working 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week) and **`[[内卷]] (nèijuǎn)`** ("involution," or a zero-sum rat race for diminishing returns). Instead of chasing the elusive dream of becoming a `老板 (lǎobǎn - boss)`, many young people have embraced the `打工人` identity. It's a way to find dignity and humor in the struggle. +
-This contrasts with the Western concept of "the hustle" or "hustle culture," which often emphasizes individual ambition and glorifies overwork for personal gain. `打工人`, while acknowledging hard work, is less about "getting ahead" and more about "getting by" with a sense of shared community. It's a collective sigh and a pat on the back all in one. It rejects the overly optimistic, top-down narrative of `后浪 (hòulàng - the next wave)` and instead creates a grassroots identity from the bottom up. +
-===== Practical Usage in Modern China ===== +
-`打工人` is almost exclusively informal and is a staple of digital communication. +
-  * **On Social Media:** This is its natural habitat. You'll see it in memes, video captions, and posts about waking up early, needing coffee, feeling tired on a Monday, or celebrating Friday. A picture of a sunrise might be captioned, "早安, 打工人！" (Good morning, fellow workers!). +
-  * **Among Friends and Colleagues:** It's used as a term of endearment and solidarity. Friends might greet each other with "Hey, `打工人`!" to humorously acknowledge their shared fate. It's a way to complain about work without sounding genuinely negative. +
-  * **Connotation:** The connotation is a mix of self-deprecation, resilience, and humor. It's rarely used in a truly negative or complaining way; instead, it's a coping mechanism. Using it shows you're in on the joke and part of the collective experience. It is **not** appropriate for formal business contexts, like a report or a meeting with senior leadership. +
-===== Example Sentences ===== +
-  * **Example 1:** +
-    * 早安，**打工人**！又是充满希望的一天！ +
-    * Pinyin: Zǎo ān, **dǎgōngrén**! Yòu shì chōngmǎn xīwàng de yī tiān! +
-    * English: Good morning, worker! It's another day full of hope! +
-    * Analysis: This is a classic, motivational-but-ironic phrase used on social media. It mimics corporate cheerfulness but is used by `打工人` to poke fun at it while psyching themselves up for the day. +
-  * **Example 2:** +
-    * 累吗？累就对了，舒服是留给老板的。我们**打工人**只能加油。 +
-    * Pinyin: Lèi ma? Lèi jiù duì le, shūfu shì liú gěi lǎobǎn de. Wǒmen **dǎgōngrén** zhǐnéng jiāyóu. +
-    * English: Are you tired? It's right to be tired; comfort is for the bosses. We workers can only keep pushing. +
-    * Analysis: This sentence perfectly captures the cynical humor and resilience of the `打工人` spirit. It draws a clear line between workers and owners. +
-  * **Example 3:** +
-    * 我不是什么帅哥美女，我只是一个平平无奇的**打工人**。 +
-    * Pinyin: Wǒ bùshì shénme shuàigē měinǚ, wǒ zhǐshì yīgè píngpíng wú qí de **dǎgōngrén**. +
-    * English: I'm not some handsome guy or beautiful girl, I'm just an ordinary worker. +
-    * Analysis: A common self-deprecating line used online. It's a humorous way to state one's identity as being defined by work rather than other glamorous traits. +
-  * **Example 4:** +
-    * 支持我每天起床的不是梦想，是工资。**打工人**，**打工魂**，**打工**都是人上人！ +
-    * Pinyin: Zhīchí wǒ měitiān qǐchuáng de bùshì mèngxiǎng, shì gōngzī. **Dǎgōngrén**, **dǎgōng hún**, **dǎgōng** dōu shì rén shàng rén! +
-    * English: What gets me out of bed every day isn't my dream, it's my salary. Worker people, worker soul, working makes you a master of men! +
-    * Analysis: This is a popular rhyming meme. The last phrase, "人上人" (a person above others), is used with extreme irony, flipping a traditional saying about scholars and officials to celebrate the "nobility" of the humble worker. +
-  * **Example 5:** +
-    * A: 你周末干嘛去？ B: 加班，**打工人**没有周末。 +
-    * Pinyin: A: Nǐ zhōumò gàn嘛 qù? B: Jiābān, **dǎgōngrén** méiyǒu zhōumò. +
-    * English: A: What are you doing this weekend? B: Working overtime. Workers don't have weekends. +
-    * Analysis: A typical, half-joking, half-serious exchange between friends or colleagues that highlights the reality of long work hours. +
-  * **Example 6:** +
-    * 今天也要努力**搬砖**啊，各位**打工人**！ +
-    * Pinyin: Jīntiān yě yào nǔlì **bānzhuān** a, gèwèi **dǎgōngrén**! +
-    * English: We have to work hard at "moving bricks" again today, fellow workers! +
-    * Analysis: This connects `打工人` with another slang term, `[[搬砖]] (bānzhuān)`, which humorously describes any form of repetitive work as "moving bricks." +
-  * **Example 7:** +
-    * 不管天气多坏，**打工人**都要准时上班。 +
-    * Pinyin: Bùguǎn tiānqì duō huài, **dǎgōngrén** dōu yào zhǔnshí shàngbān. +
-    * English: No matter how bad the weather is, a worker has to get to work on time. +
-    * Analysis: This expresses the non-negotiable duty and discipline associated with being a `打工人`. +
-  * **Example 8:** +
-    * 作为一名合格的**打工人**，我已经学会了如何高效**摸鱼**。 +
-    * Pinyin: Zuòwéi yī míng hégé de **dǎgōngrén**, wǒ yǐjīng xuéhuì le rúhé gāoxiào **mōyú**. +
-    * English: As a qualified worker, I've already learned how to "touch fish" (slack off) efficiently. +
-    * Analysis: This shows the playful resistance within the `打工人` identity, linking it to the concept of `[[摸鱼]] (mōyú)`, or finding clever ways to rest while on the clock. +
-  * **Example 9:** +
-    * **打工人**的午餐，简单对付一下就行了。 +
-    * Pinyin: **Dǎgōngrén** de wǔcān, jiǎndān duìfù yīxià jiù xíng le. +
-    * English: A worker's lunch just needs to be simple and get the job done. +
-    * Analysis: This reflects the practical, no-frills lifestyle often associated with the term. The focus is on function over luxury. +
-  * **Example 10:** +
-    * 他放弃了创业，选择当一个安稳的**打工人**。 +
-    * Pinyin: Tā fàngqì le chuàngyè, xuǎnzé dāng yīgè ānwěn de **dǎgōngrén**. +
-    * English: He gave up on starting a business and chose to be a stable worker. +
-    * Analysis: This shows `打工人` used in a more narrative context, contrasting it with entrepreneurship (`创业 chuàngyè`) and highlighting the value of stability. +
-===== Nuances and Common Mistakes ===== +
-  * **Don't confuse with `工人 (gōngrén)`:** `工人` is the traditional, formal word for "worker," usually referring to blue-collar, industrial, or factory laborers. It carries historical and political weight (e.g., the "working class" in Marxist theory). `打工人` is modern, informal slang that applies to everyone who works for a wage, especially young white-collar professionals, and is defined by its cultural, internet-meme context. +
-    * **Correct:** 我们公司有很多年轻的**打工人**。(Our company has many young workers.) +
-    * **Incorrect/Strange:** 我们公司有很多年轻的**工人**。(This would imply the company primarily hires young factory workers, which might be true, but it misses the modern cultural nuance.) +
-  * **It's not just "employee" (`员工 yuángōng`):** `员工` is a neutral, formal, and administrative term. It's the word a company would use to describe its staff. `打工人` is an identity people choose for themselves. +
-    * **Formal:** 公司有五百名**员工**。(The company has 500 employees.) +
-    * **Informal/Identity:** 我们都是给老板打工的**打工人**。(We are all workers who work for the boss.) +
-  * **Be mindful of formality:** Never use `打工人` in a formal report, a business presentation to clients, or when addressing a superior you don't know well. It's strictly for informal, peer-to-peer communication. Using it in the wrong setting would seem unprofessional and flippant. +
-===== Related Terms and Concepts ===== +
-  * **[[上班族]] (shàngbānzú):** "Office worker tribe." A more neutral and slightly older term for people who commute to an office job. Less slangy than `打工人`. +
-  * **[[996]]:** The infamous "9am to 9pm, 6 days a week" work schedule common in China's tech industry. It's a major reason for the rise of the `打工人` identity. +
-  * **[[内卷]] (nèijuǎn):** "Involution." Intense, pointless internal competition. The feeling that you have to work harder and harder just to stay in the same place. This is the societal pressure that `打工人` responds to. +
-  * **[[摸鱼]] (mōyú):** "To touch fish." A popular slang term for slacking off, browsing the internet, or taking breaks at work. A key survival tactic for the self-aware `打工人`. +
-  * **[[社畜]] (shèchù):** "Corporate livestock" (from Japanese). A much more cynical and negative term for a worker who is completely exploited by their company, with no autonomy. `打工人` has a more resilient and positive spin. +
-  * **[[搬砖]] (bānzhuān):** "To move bricks." A humorous metaphor for any job that is laborious, repetitive, or feels like grunt work, even if it's a white-collar job. +
-  * **[[后浪]] (hòulàng):** "The next wave." A term from a viral 2020 video celebrating China's youth. It was criticized for being out of touch, representing a privileged, consumerist youth, in stark contrast to the grounded reality of the `打工人`. +
-  * **[[老板]] (lǎobǎn):** "Boss" or "owner." The person the `打工人` works for; often seen as the one who enjoys the "comfort" while the `打工人` toils. +
-  * **[[加班]] (jiābān):** To work overtime. A frequent activity and topic of complaint for every `打工人`.+