Buzzword reflects shared cultural identity across Strait

Taiwan students pose for a photo at an ice and snow park in Changchun, Jilin province, Jan. 26, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

A widely circulated expression, "cóngcóng róngróng, yóurèn yǒuyú; cōngcōng mángmáng, liángǔn dàipá, (从从容容，游刃有余；匆匆忙忙，连滚带爬)" or "being calm and at ease versus being rushing and stumbling," was among the top 10 buzzwords released by Yaowen Jiaozi, a Shanghai-based linguistic journal on Dec. 2.

The phrase originated from remarks made by Wang Shih-chien, a political figure of the Taiwan island, and was later adapted by a Chinese mainland musician into the viral song "Good for Nothing," or "Meichuxi" in Chinese. The song quickly became an internet earworm, with the public on both sides of the Taiwan Strait often using it to humorously highlight the gap between ideals and reality.

Ironically, while Wang leveraged this surge in popularity to gain attention, he simultaneously made separatist remarks regarding his conditions for visiting the mainland, such as using a "Taiwan passport instead of a mainland travel permit for Taiwan residents," and claiming he would be "the last Taiwanese to set foot on the mainland" when asked whether he would visit for exchanges. His remarks were denounced by Zhang Han, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, as "truly useless and spineless."

Wang's self-contradictory grandstanding is typical of "Taiwan independence" separatists. On one hand, they want to capitalize on the attention gained from cross-Strait cultural exchanges. On the other hand, they stubbornly cling to their separatist stance, ultimately only becoming a laughingstock among people on both sides of the Strait. 

In recent years, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have continually tried every means possible to obstruct normal cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Strait. In order to sever the historical and cultural ties between the two sides of the Strait, they have been aggressively pushing "de-Sinicization": banning exchanges between universities across the Strait, tampering with history textbooks, and even stigmatizing cultural symbols such as the Mazu faith and distorting the history of Zheng Chenggong's recovery of Taiwan. In their latest move, the DPP authorities blocked the lifestyle-sharing social media platform Xiaohongshu under the pretext of so-called information security, provoking a strong backlash from its 3 million users in Taiwan. 

These retrogressive actions, however, cannot block the rising popularity of mainland cultural products in Taiwan — films and TV dramas such as "Chang'an," "The Legend of Zang Hai" and "The First Frost" continually dominate Taiwan's trending searches; cultural and creative products like the "Phoenix Crown" refrigerator magnet from the National Museum of China trigger buying frenzies; and the 560,000-member "Mainland Drama Communication" online community bears witness to where public sentiment lies. 

Vincent Fang, a renowned lyricist from Taiwan, has been actively promoting traditional Chinese culture. "Chinese culture is the fertile ground nurturing my creation," Fang said during the second Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit in Beijing in May. 

Language is the carrier of culture, and the cross-Strait dissemination of buzzwords itself is the strongest proof of cultural identity. The phrase "yóurèn yǒuyú" (游刃有余), which means doing something with skill and ease, originates from the millennium-old wisdom of Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi. Its emergence as a shared expression used by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait proves that Chinese culture has long been ingrained in the bloodline of our compatriots. 

The more than 4 million trips made by Taiwan compatriots to the mainland in 2024 and the strong passion for mainland cultural products by the island's young people all illustrate this fact: cultural identity cannot be severed by political manipulation, and the will of the people is unstoppable. 

People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same roots and culture. Whether it is the separatist grandstanding by "Taiwan independence" elements or the blockades and obstruction by the DPP authorities, these are nothing more than futile efforts. Only by following the unstoppable trend of cross-Strait cultural exchanges and respecting the shared cultural memory of compatriots can cross-Strait relations genuinely move toward a bright future characterized by "calm composure."