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Chinese students are often praised for their work ethic, but that’s not the only reason why they study hard.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:43 Involution, despair, and the making out game
4:36 ty Surfshark
5:48 The making out game (cont)
9:16 Extreme competition and its impact on student life
21:36 Lying flat and the 996 work week
28:09 Conclusion
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Sources referenced
For this topic, I used a combination of Chinese and English sources, and I’ve split them out so it’s easier to read. Unfortunately, most of the Chinese articles below do not have English translations :(
English sources
Barclay, B. 2022. Involution: The Generation Turning Inward and Away From Xi’s Chinese Dream. Asia Society. [online] Available at:
China launches education industry reforms, November 2021. [online] New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Available at:
‘Involution, Acceleration and the “Making-Out” Game of the Contemporary Chinese Society’ (2021) Translated by M. Jha. Institute of Chinese Studies Dehli. [Online] Available at:
Li, J. 2021. China will teach Xi Jinping Thought to schoolchildren. Quartz.[online] Available at:
Liu, Y.L. 2021. China’s ‘Involuted’ Generation. [online] The New Yorker. Available at:
Nast, C. 2022. The Larger Meaning of China’s Crackdown on School Tutoring. [online] The New Yorker. Available at:
Xi Jinping thought added into curriculum: Ministry of Education, 2021. Global Times. [online] Available at:
Yip, W. 2021. China steps in to regulate brutal ’996’ work culture. BBC News. [online] Available at:
Chinese sources
F Wang 王凡 2021. Chinese youth are torn between ’Involution’ and ’Lying flat’ “内卷”与“躺平”之间挣扎的中国年轻人 BBC 中文 BBC Chinese.
J.J Xu, Z.J Guo, 徐菁菁、郭子介, 2020. ’When GPA is everything: The Prisoner’s Dilemma encountered by youth in China’s top universities’ 绩点为王:中国顶尖高校年轻人的囚徒困境 Sanlian Life Weekly 三联生活周刊, archived via Sohu
The Managers of education: The parents and students who become “involuted“ under the pressures of education! 教育经纪人:教育焦虑下,“被内卷”的父母和孩子们! Zhihu 知乎
Other sources:
Involution analogy made to watching a movie while standing up from TV series “A Love for Dilemma“ (小舍得)
VICE Asia’s coverage on the 996, really insightful video:
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tags: video essay, cultural commentary, social commentary, internet analysis, analysis video, competition in asia, competition, involution, china student life, china work life, 996 work week, 996, extreme competition, hypercompetition, asian success, asian work ethic, chinese study, chinese study routine, chinese work, success in china, study culture, work culture, chinese life, lying flat, tang ping, burn out, academic burn out, academic pressure, gifted student, smart, hard work, talent, academic merit, academic success, education in china, education, chinese university exams, tiger parent, tsinghua, peking, gaokao, exam pressure, gaokao exam, heng shui high school, sky castle, mina le, madisyn brown, salem tovar, shanspeare, olisunvia, edvasian, aini
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