Gong’s original performance:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_U5yPK4g-E&w=425&h=349]

The song has gotten so viral that in a blockbuster romantic comedy that came out this year,  All’s Well End Well 2011, a main character Smoothie played by Chapman To did a ridiculous comical cover of it:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imxt818y2vE&w=425&h=349]

Another rendition of the song done by a chubby kid also went viral online:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiC12FUf3_U&w=425&h=349]

But the song’s influence is by no means limited to the internet. According to Nanfang Daily, Tante has been banned by Chinese National Basketball Association (CNBA) during any CNBA games. This was because many DJs of the home teams often played this song when the guest teams were shooting or engaged in offense. CNBA ruled that this song was extremely noisy and disturbing, and can distract and affect the performance of the players, and therefore should be banned. About this, Gong commented:

Every popular song has a degree of familiarity. If it’s the first time that the players hear the song, it’s very possible that they will be attracted to the rhythm of the song, and can’t completely concentrate on the game. This proves that Tante is a very attractive and a good song.

Netizens in China, however, may have slightly different opinions about the song. Many think that the song, as its title suggests, is rather disturbing, making listeners feel like “sitting on a carpet made of needles,” or “having gotten a shot of chicken blood” (Huanqiuwang). More than anything, the song is rather comical to many natizens and the term “shenqu Tante” (“the divine song Disturbed”) has become a popular term bloggers use to spice up their posts a little.

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It seems that Strauss-Kahn’s fall fed Chinese’s hunger for examples of justice, examples of powerful figures being punished for their abuse of power, even if they did not happen in China:

白水古月: Sex and politics are always tied together, and this is true across the world. Look at this brother (IMF head Strauss-Kahn, born in Paris on May 25, 1949), at this age, he’s still into sexual assaults. I’m so impressed. Look, because of a bit carelessness, he’s famous now; even somebody from a poor mountain valley like myself knows this character.

最强力#IMF总裁 性侵#: He thought too much about himself, thought that he could use his money to calm everything down. But he forgot that money can’t put down our dignity.

Many microbloggers are impressed by NYPD’s quick response, and, albeit quite naively, a system that works to protect people’s rights. The following comment has been circulated around, reflecting many microbloggers’ appreciation of a such a “big city” system that protects “petty citizens,” especially women, and their condemnation of a system controlled by those in power:

侯少开: One of the differences between a big city and a small town: when powerful big shots cover the sky with one hand, it’s called small town; when petty citizens’ rights can be ensured, it’s called a big city. This might be why many people feel safe in big cities despite the feeling of displacement. (@新周刊) Based on the fact that after a female hotel housekeeping employee reported being sexually assaulted by IMF head Strauss-Kahn, the police arrested him in the first class chamber on an international flight and charged him, New York is a big city.

吾亦与点也#sexually assaulting female hotel employee, IMF head arrested#: Strauss-Kahn wouldn’t have lacked women around him, but the weakness of his character and his power and conceit allowed him to step on the bottom line of the law. In front of power and money, powerless women are willing and able to protect their dignity, this is a necessary requirement for modern society.

Others directly compared this case to those in China, often with a sarcastic tone such as the following entry:

书画家作家陈祖芬: If this brother had been born in China, he wouldn’t have needed to sexually assault [someone]. Look at Luo Mengguo, he’s having so much fun, and could even collect the underwear of the women he slept with.

Luo Mengguo was the corrupted Secretary of the Municipal committee of the CPC in the city of Maoming, Guangdong, who had multiple mistresses.

Of course, there are always those interested in international affairs who speculated on the impact of this incident on French politics:

爱智慧心飞扬: IMF head Strauss-Kahn was arrested in the U.S. on charges of sexual assault. I thought the was the strongest candidate for France’s presidential election in 2012, what a shame! Could it be a political conspiracy?

Chinese microbloggers’ interest in this incident seems to come from their dissatisfaction of the lack of social justice in China, especially in underdeveloped regions, or “small towns,” where local officials tend to abuse their power even more often than in larger cities. On a positive note, with the extensive use of social media, Chinese do have more channels to access to information and to express their opinions with a certain degree of freedom. One time a good friend of mine, a journalist in China, said to me that in China people know what’s going on in the country and in the world, but they just don’t talk about it. That’s partly true. After all, people who have access to the internet are still a fraction of the entire population in China. However, what I see is still encouraging and exciting. Many Chinese do speak out candidly, directly or through humor or sarcasm, and I believe more will be willing and able to express themselves in the future. We’ll see.

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Initially, shengnu has a derogatory undertone, a creation by ill intended men as some say. But now, many shengnu’s in China have turned the tables and owned the word, with confidence and even pride. This confidence sometimes is based on pure materialist views on relationships and life in general, and itself can be a form of sexism, but it nevertheless is confidence, something Chinese women have been discouraged to have by society and even their families. The Communist Party of China has always claimed to promote gender equality. My parents’ and my generation of Chinese grew up believing “women can hold up half the sky,” a quotation from Mao. But the reality is, women in China have never enjoyed true equality with men socially, economically, or politically. They have been often used as resources by the state such as in 50’s, or sacrificed so men can have resources for economic and political success. Cultually, sexism has never died out in China and seems to be increasingly pervasive in various forms nowadays. Owning shengnu, to many independent single women, is a way to resist and, indeed, a personal triumph over the male dominant society.

The following music video, “No Car, No House,” is a good example of this confidence of shengnu. It features a song sang by a group of shengnu’s. It’s circulated widely on major Chinese video sharing sites such as tudou.com, ku6.com, and youku.com. The lyric is translated below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YB9RcyUP_A]

Readers in China watch here: http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMjUxNjY3NDY4/v.swf

“No Car, No House”

Golden Shengnu Edition

*Affectionate sunshine/On your face/Take a look at the young men around/Everyone’s like a woman

What a woman wants is a car and a house/Her biggest wish is to marry the right one

I ask you if you have a car and a house/My mom also asks you/How many bank accounts you have

If you don’t have a car/If you don’t have a house/Get out of my way and don’t block

I have a car and I have a house/I also have RMB in the bank

If you’re not as strong as I/Don’t expect me to surport you ’cause I’m not your mother

You don’t have a car/You don’t have a house/Don’t dream to have a hottie in your bed

Don’t pretend to be poor and drive a shabby BMW/Don’t pretend to be a boss and try to keep me *

[repeat *]

You don’t have a car/You don’t have a house/And you want to get married and be a groom

If your life is not yet affluent/Why should I go and wonder with you

You say that I’m realistic and I admit it/You accuse me of being materialistic and I won’t be hurt

A man should look like a man/Without a car and a house/Don’t dream of finding a bride

Lalala…

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@哀川心叶: In fact… bin Laden had something to say after he got shot… but the SWAT team were too busy opening champaign and eat noodles to listen… Laden was lying on the carpet as he said, “The carpet in my home was woolen… but why is this artificial fabric….”

柴郡猫殿下: Today in class a girl asked me, why was bin Laden so hated? I explained to her casually that that was because he conducted 911, and she asked me what was 911… I was so socked

鬼才来看: Obama is bin Laden, this is the new global topic http://t.cn/hgnGzF

janelavender1991: Haha. MX– sharing all the funny stuff: Finally I understand why we only have 3 days off for May Day, not 7 days! The first day off, William got married; the second day off, Kadafi’s son and grandson died; the third day off, bin Laben died. Thank god we only had 3 days off, otherwise… http://t.cn/hgmEem

Chinese used to have 7 days off for the May Day, but the holidays have been reduced to 3 days since last year.

This following one is a sarcastic comment on corruption, sexism, bureaucracy, high housing prices, and other problems in Chinese society today.

Obama Watches bin Laben Killed, What Does This Photo Tell You? (2011 Graduate School Admission Exam on Politics, this question 10 points)

Answers:

1. This shows that this country does not distinguish the king from the subordinates, for they put their president in the corner

2. This shows that this is a barbarian country, for the president sat on a small stool, and the staff sat on comfy chairs

3. This shows that this country is very backward, for the leaders of the country are using laptops that are more than 3 years old

4. This shows that this country is very poor, for the drink on the table of the leaders is not Maotai (an expensive rice wine), but plain water, which is not even bottled, but in shabby disposable cups

5. This shows that houses in this country are expensive, for the conference room for the leaders is smaller than a restroom

6. This shows that this country needs to sing red songs (praise), for the conference room for the leaders of the country only has one decent chair, and the leader is sitting on a stool in the corner

7. This shows that the staff should study Confucius and Mengzi, for they are not even surrounding their leader, which is so shameful for the country and the whole nation

8. That one in uniform should be hexie‘ed (“harmonized,” meaning silenced), for he sits in the president’s chair

9. This shows that this country lacks infrastructure, for the walls of the place where the president works are so dirty

10. Hillary can retire now, for as the only woman, she isn’t even sitting on the laps of the president and giving him a massage, but listening to the report attentively, sitting far away [from the president]

….

Chinese Netizens’ Hilarious Comments after Laden’s Death

Today I heard a graduate student in Sociology crying next door, and it turned out that for whole year he had been working on his thesis titled “On the Necessary Connection between bin Laden’s Refuging and the Market System in U.S.”… Unfortunate man, so wronged…

[…]

I just saw somebody say–“bin Laden, Hitler, Voldemort, the three brothers all died on May 2nd. One wishes to die on the same day with a good friend although they weren’t born on the same day (a Chinese saying describing bonding friendship).

[…]

In the White House. Bush Jr. slapped Obama’s face hard, crying, “Why, why did you kill him, when I already gave you my seat?” Obama wiped off the blood on the corner of his mouth slowly, and said chillingly, “Do you still remember Saddam who you killed years ago?”

[,,,]

An American official told CNN, bin Laden’s hiding place was worth a million dollars. Such a successful man lived in a house that was cheaper than those in the 2nd Ring Road in Beijing, such low taste.

Thirty years ago, he helped Regan wear out SSSR, ten years ago, he helped Bush advance in the Middle East, today, he sacrificed himself, and helped Obama with his reelection. A foreigner, without any self-serving motive, treating American people’s emancipation as his own cause, what is this spirit? His is the spirit of internationalism! Comrade bin Laden is a righteous man, a pure man, a man without a low taste!

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