Every movement needs its anthem. In the now-censored musical parody “Sunny Side Kong Yiji,” the emergent “Kong Yiji literature” wave seems to have found one of its own. “Kong Yiji literature” is a genre of self-deprecating online writing that compares unemployed college graduates to the eponymous protagonist of Lu Xun’s 1918 short story, an impoverished scholar who is the object of ridicule at the village pub. The original short story is a critique of state and society’s apathy towards the marginalized. The modern offshoot tilts its lance at the Chinese state’s hoary belief in the “bootstrap mentality,” whereby mere effort is supposedly a recipe for financial success.
The song was originally uploaded to video sharing site Bilibili by user @鬼山哥. It was a direct response to a rash of recent state-media reports admonishing youth to work hard and stop complaining. People’s Daily instructed youth: “Work Hard & Your Days Will Become Ever Sweeter.” CCTV posted a WeChat article, “Facing Up to the Anxiety Behind ‘Kong Yiji Literature,’” that misconstrued the “Kong Yiji” genre and pooh-poohed youth concerns about suffering a similar fate to Lu Xun’s famed protagonist. CCTV also aired footage of an impoverished “bang-bang” porter working as a Porsche drove past, while the cloying voice-over narration praised the supposed peace of mind earned through manual labor. These reports reveal official unease with youth dissatisfaction as expressed through the “lie flat” and “involution” memes, and now, the “Kong Yiji literature” trend.
“Sunny Side Kong Yiji” immediately went viral. Its highly sarcastic lyrics imagine an incongruously optimistic modern day Kong Yiji, an educated patriot condemned to a life of working as a delivery boy:
In my tattered scholar’s gown, I head to the Lu Village pub
Barman! Warm two bowls of liquor, here’s nine coppers for some grub
Spouting scholarly babble in my ragged gown, I roll into the pub
Barman! Warm two bowls of liquor, here’s nine coppers for some grub
They mock my erudition, my face is turning red
You dare impugn my honor? I’ll go on drinking and butting heads
Rickshaw Boy didn’t work hard enough, that’s why he’s dead
Everything Lu Xun wrote was stuff that shouldn’t be said
Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had it rough because they wouldn’t work for their bread
Accusing eyes turn to me and ask: “What’s gotten into your head?”
I glance down at my gown and say I’m—
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
The Man has the nerve to write, “It’s time to knuckle under, see?”
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
I’d rather slack off than let you exploit me
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
You drive a Lamborghini, yet laugh and call me lazy
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
This corrupt society’s got fuck-all to do with me!
I keep my face clean, but my pockets are always empty
So I throw on my gown and write copy for the powers that be
I thought work would be a breeze, but it’s 996: six days a week, twelve hours a day
When I have the nerve to “maliciously” ask for my pay, the cops drag my hungry ass away
How is there no labor law in this evil society?
Why’s it so easy for the elites to trample on our dignity?
The tales no one dares to tell are beyond belief
The other patrons stare and ask, “How come you aren’t scared?”
I laugh and say it’s because I’m—
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
The weakest branch, I stopped fighting back long ago
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
Time weathered my edges, now I’ve only got scars to show
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
Optimism’s my armor, but behind the mask the tears flow
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
You ask if I’m happy, but all I want to do is curse
The tavern starts buzzing when I finish my verse
What does all their negativity and mockery have to do with me?
I went to school to help China rise, not to be some delivery guy
Hearing this, everybody smirks
Except for that one stupid jerk
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong YijiI tear through this crumbling wall, looking for justice and light
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
We all need the applause, whether it’s criticism or praise
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
In the censored comment section, how many embers of dissent still blaze?
Sunny Side Kong Yiji, Sunny Side Kong Yiji
I’d hoped to be a Zhuge Liang, instead they’ll take me out like Shang Yang. [Chinese]
“Sunny Side Kong Yiji” got over 3 million views before it was censored. @鬼山哥’s Bilibili account was also suspended for 15 days. On the popular question-and-answer site Zhihu, @鬼山歌 explained his motivation for writing the song and expressed his surprise and dismay at having his account banned. Most tellingly, he quoted his own lyrics to compare himself to Shang Yang, the Qin dynasty philosopher-politician who was executed by being torn apart by five horses after falling afoul of that era’s ruling families:
I anticipated that the song would be censored, but I never imagined that my account would be shut down, too.
[…] Life’s been tough recently. I’ve been out of work for a long time, and my mom’s hospital bills have wiped out all the money I saved in Shanghai. On top of that, I’ve got a few outstanding debts. I’d been planning to earn some money delivering takeout, but then my car got messed up. Then I thought I’d continue singing on Bilibili, but I tested positive for COVID just a few days later.
Then I happened to see CCTV’s hot takes about “youth clinging to the gown” and “life becoming ever sweeter,” and all that stuff, and it got me so mad I made the video, just to blow off steam and share my frustration.
Everybody knows what happened next.
The video was censored, my account was banned, and my only means of making money has been shut off.
[…] The iron fist came down on my last revenue stream, and now I have no idea what I’m going to do.
They’ve forced me into a dead end, and for what? Just because I told the truth?
“I’d hoped to be a Zhuge Liang, [but] instead they’ll take me out like Shang Yang.”
