- Some Chinese have started calling themselves “Huminerals”.
- A slang term refers to people cultivated as a resource to be used and discarded.
- This is another term coined by young Internet users who are weary of life.
Tired of the hustle and bustle of the city, Chinese office workers have come to call themselves “huminerals,” a bitter slang term for humans born solely to be used by society and the economy.
“You are the resource, not the protagonist. You are the means, not the end,” read a blog post introducing the term to Chinese social media on Dec. 31.
A blog post originally published on popular forum site Zhihu was reportedly removed due to internet censorship. China Digital Times is a US-based 501 nonprofit that tracks online censorship in China.
“Huminerals” is a combination of Chinese characters meaning “people” and “mine” or “minerals”.
The author of this post, a user named Zhang Wanzhi, cites various aspects of Humineral life.
According to the CDT, “Your life’s work is directed toward satisfying others rather than pursuing the life you want,” read the post.
According to the CDT, humerus life is divided into three stages, writes Zhang.
The first is the Chinese people’s formative years and years of schooling. It exists so that the person can be “mined” and used. Then the next few decades will be a phase of “consumption” in which workers are exploited, he read the CDT post.
When minerals are depleted and can no longer be used, the CDT says they are disposed of in a way that pollutes the environment as little as possible.
One of the key purposes of humerals is to help cultivate more humerals for further exploitation, Zhang added according to the CDT.
“The wheel of history is supported by humerals. Huminerals must either become the fuel of society or be trampled by the wheel of society,” Zhang wrote.
“On the one hand, if Humineral stopped pushing history, the abstained Humineral would not be crushed,” they added. “But we believe that life as fuel is better than being run over.” People are always there.”
‘Huminerals’ take off and then shut down
According to the CDT, “Huminerals” are just beginning to take hold on Chinese social media in 2023, but they’re already taking on China’s hyperactive censorship agencies.
The non-profit group reported that the term was the 11th most searched term on Weibo (China’s version of Twitter) in early January, but was censored by the platform.
At the time of Insider’s press time, some low-reach posts mentioning “huminerals” were still appearing on Weibo, but the hashtag for the term is no longer available. , is also unavailable on the original Chinese versions of TikTok, Zhihu and Douyin.
Chinese search engine Baidu is not yet censored Several Commentary Acknowledges the existence of a term without asserting its use.
The origin of the term “humeral” is not immediately clear.
CDT reported that term is first Used publicly by Ma Yingjeou in 2010, Then the president of Taiwan – but in a completely different context. Ma promoted the Taiwanese people as the autonomous island’s greatest asset despite its scarcity of natural resources, and advocated a focus on education and the cultivation of artistic talent.
on the other hand, radio france international reported the first appearance of “humineral” in the state media People’s Daily in 1984. The People’s Daily article also used the term to describe people as key assets, according to RFI.
The use of “huminerals” reflects growing dissatisfaction among China’s youth with the once-lauded office culture of doing arduous work.the term “Lying” that attracted attention in 2021, as an endorsement of doing the bare minimum. This was largely seen as a response to “9-9-6” (the popular notion of working six days a week, 9am to 9pm).
The “lying down” movement became very widely discussed, Condemned by President Xi Jinpinghe warned that this trend would hinder upward social mobility and discourage societies from working together to improve.
Another slang term recently used to complain about the rat race is “cows and horses.” Compare the working man to a burdened beast subjected to hard labor and a life of slavery.
“Compared to calling ‘humeral’ ‘cattle and horse’, ‘humeral’ is easier to accept and spread.” For each CDT, we wrote one user in Zhihu. their Article has been deleted.
“When you see the word ‘huminerals,’ you naturally ask who is being mined,” they continued, according to the nonprofit.