Waking up, the internet has officially entered the era of "Great Shua Qi."
You may not know what "Shua Qi" is, but you should know that the purpose of life is to "Shua Qi." Whether you are rich or poor, small money means small fun, big money means big fun, and no money means forcing yourself to have fun... The old saying "enjoy the wine of today while it lasts" has finally found its perfect interpretation on the internet.
Those who "Shua Qi" say that when you don't know what to do, you should just "Shua Qi." You go to school to work, work to earn money, and earn money to "Shua Qi," so why not skip the intermediate steps and go straight to "Shua Qi"? Start early, get comfortable early; start late, lose out.
Play with your phone, play games, turn on the AC, drink sweet beverages—if you can have fun, do it; if you shouldn't, do it anyway; if you can't, force it; after finishing, do it again. Life boils down to two words: "Shua Qi." Those who are comfortable "Shua Qi," those who "Shua Qi" are comfortable. Comfort is for the dead, but "Shua Qi" can keep you comfortable until death.
Nietzsche once said, "Every day without dancing is a betrayal of life." But if Nietzsche were resurrected today, he would have to recite the "Shua Qi" quotes three times, then satisfactorily change the word "dancing" in his original quote to "Shua Qi." Don't ask why, just "Shua" and that's it.
Endure no suffering, forcibly enjoy blessings; the happy always "Shua Qi," and those who "Shua Qi" are always happy. Everyone has their own way of "Shua-ing." Regardless of actual conditions, if you want to "Shua" in your heart, you surely can. Justification by faith is the essence of "Shua Qi"; even Lutherans would want to write "Shua Qi" into their doctrines.
So, what exactly is "Shua Qi"? In its fundamental sense, in the Sichuan-Chongqing dialect, "Shua Qi" means to play or have fun. Extended further, it roughly refers to an open-minded, go-with-the-flow attitude towards life. However, in the internet era of "Great Shua Qi," the term has been赋予 new meanings—or rather, misinterpreted as some new-age internet buzzword that even locals don't understand.
For example, it can refer to a kind of hedonism, generating many bizarre and humorous quotes about "Shua Qi" no matter what, making brothers exclaim that they really need to join in, while also learning a thing or two about entitlement.
Alternatively, various criticisms have emerged around the mindless "Shua Qi" quotes above: "Having fun for a moment feels good, but no one will shield you from life's hardships," directly criticizing "Shua Qi" as a烂梗 (lame meme).
If we elevate its value and return to the original meaning of "Shua Qi," it can also be seen as a resistance against the "era of great repression" in the face of meaning anxiety, representing the hippie spirit that young people rediscover when they have no other options.
As for its origin? Some say "Shua Qi" is a catchphrase constantly used by a certain streamer, spreading across the internet due to their large fanbase. Others say it originated from a father who made paper figures as food substitutes after his child drowned, with the phrase "Shua Qi" circulating amidst a series of events that were hellish rather than humorous. Still others attribute it to the rap circle, where many lyrics contain "Shua Qi," subtly influencing a large audience... But ultimately, these are just propagation channels; its true source lies in Sichuan-Chongqing culture.
As a daily expression in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, it is inevitably disseminated in various forms, especially locally. For instance, Li Boqing, a master of Sichuan storytelling, once proposed a sixteen-character motto: "Make money while having fun, make money to have fun, combine making money and having fun, with having fun as the priority." This quote, along with the entire segment, has recently resurfaced and gone viral again, being regarded as one of the origins of "Shua Qi."
Of course, the dissemination of information on the internet is an endless, cyclical process, and no one can say for sure what the exact propagation path of "Shua Qi" is. The era of "Great Shua Qi" has arrived, with heroes and豪杰 gathering into a river, and dump trucks roaring past to crush various meanings. Based on the principle that "the happy yield, the comfortable 'Shua Qi,'" the aforementioned paths are just for reference, as "Shua Qi" has now cyber-ascended from a common Sichuan-Chongqing daily expression into a new internet buzzword.
The unique geographical environment and cultural spirit of the Sichuan-Chongqing region have fostered a survival wisdom characterized by indifference to gains and losses and living in the moment. In today's context, this wisdom resonates with the zeitgeist that rejects futile rat races, aligning with young people's disdain for the disproportionate relationship between effort and reward, thus naturally possessing excellent viral potential.
However... this kind of internet expression can easily cause a shock to locals. Imagine your daily colloquialisms suddenly becoming "buzzwords" one day, being constantly misunderstood and abused during dissemination, and potentially even offending locals. It feels somewhat awkward, similar to how AI-generated text subconsciously avoids certain patterns.
This is inevitable, as internet slang inherently favors things that are slightly unfamiliar yet not entirely alien, and dialects are one such example. In Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive curiosity, curiosity is sparked when a person perceives a discrepancy between expectation and reality—specifically, the gap between what they think they know and what they actually see. Whether it's dialects or other internet slang, they often differ significantly from Standard Mandarin in pronunciation, vocabulary, and logical expression (such as the word order shift in phrases like "conducting an XX of X"). This defamiliarization brings unexpected information, sparking intense curiosity and prompting people to actively learn and spread it.
Therefore, when "Shua Qi" from the Sichuan-Chongqing dialect detaches from its cultural context and becomes a hot meme on the internet, it naturally undergoes an inevitable alienation. This is a phase that regional cultures must endure during internet dissemination. Especially Sichuan-Chongqing culture, in a sense, can even be considered one of the sources of internet abstract culture—after all, Everythinggj traces back to the 6324 Abstract Studio in Chengdu. By the way, before the Abstract Studio, Li Gan's ID was "Esports Li Boqing."
In other words, through the channel of streamers, certain dialects can easily leave their cultural context, enter the internet, and begin new dissemination. Of course, this includes not only streamers but also the influencers, internet events, or old videos suddenly unearthed and circulated online mentioned earlier. They are all new expressions of regional culture on the internet.
Similar occurrences are not rare. For example, Henan dialect words like "Zhong" and "Dejin'r" have gradually become memes with regional characteristics and a touch of internet humor. More broadly, take the term "Lao Deng." Although it originates from the Northeastern dialect abbreviation LBD, carrying a colloquial, teasing, and somewhat vulgar tone, it has evolved in the modern internet context alongside the development of short videos, branching out into terms like "Xiao Deng" and "Zhong Deng." Even some older internet slang has completely lost its dialectal roots—for instance, the word "Cai Niao" (noob), which comes from the Minnan dialect of Taiwan, was brought online and has since spread widely, completely detached from its original cultural context.
As for whether such changes are good or bad, only time will tell. China is vast, and there will always be some distinct regional culture that becomes an internet trendsetter due to certain opportunities. Then, it either fades away in the next wave of trends or joins it. The specific reasons are all down to luck—it could be a suddenly popular streamer, a sudden event, or alignment with the思潮 of the times.
Regardless, fortunes change, and new regional cultures will always be brought to the forefront, enjoying their fifteen minutes of spotlight. Perhaps only by understanding their true origins and feeling their actual formation environment can we avoid misinterpretation.
When digital nomads roam the cyber wilderness, speaking each other's "hometown dialects" and sharing a smile, that is the true moment to "Shua Qi."