The Zhao family () refers to dignitaries in China, such as the top bureaucrat, the rich, leaders in-system and their offspring. The phrase originates from Lu Xun's "The True Story of Ah Q". In December 2015, an article in WeChat public account described dignitaries as the Zhao family. Immediately, the phrase "the Zhao family" became an Internet meme. Soon after, the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party prohibited the use of such words as "the Zhao family". Medias which have used such words got punished. Accordingly, such words as "the Zhao family" are no longer visible from main websites in China.
Sources
The phrase "the Zhao family" has its origins in Lu Xun's "The True Story of Ah Q," published in 1921. In the story, old Grandpa Zhao () spits out, when Ah Q (who shares the same surname) dares to cheer along with the Zhaos: "You think you're worthy of the surname Zhao?" ( Nǐ yě pèi xìng Zhào?)
On December 19, 2015, a public account in WeChat published an article titled "The argument between Vanke and Baoneng: Barbarians in the front, and the Zhao family in the shadow" () which divided the hierarchical China capital market into four ranks: retail investor, banker, plutocrat and the "Zhao family." The Zhao family is in the highest rank which refer to dignitaries. The barbarians refer to people who are rich but powerless. This article made the word "Zhao family" attract extensive attention.
Derived usages
As the word spreading widely, there have come up derived usages such as "the Zhao family empire", "the Zhao king". Here are some examples:
Original words Words after deconstruction Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) People's Republic of China, Chinese Communist Party the Zhao family empire, the Zhao family 赵国 and 赵家 趙國 and 趙家 Paramount leader. General Secretary of the Communist Party the Zhao king 赵王 趙王 People's Liberation Army the Zhaos' army 赵家军 趙家軍 People's Police the Zhaos' police 赵家警察 趙家警察 People's Court, People's Procuratorate the Zhaos' court, the Zhaos' procuratorate 赵家法院 and 赵家检察院 趙家法院 and 趙家檢察院 People's Government the Zhaos' government 赵家政府 趙家政府 Serve the people serve the Zhao family 为赵家服务 爲趙家服務 People's Daily the Zhaos' Daily 赵家日报 趙家日報 National sovereignty the Zhaos' sovereignty 赵家主权 趙家主權 National Security Law the Zhaos' Security Law 赵家安全法 趙家安全法 Inciting subversion of state power Inciting subversion of the Zhaos' power 煽动颠覆赵家政权罪 煽動顛覆趙家政權罪 Chinese people's old friends the Zhaos' old friends 中国赵家的老朋友 中國趙家的老朋友 50 Cent Party the Zhaos' spiritual members (not a part of the Zhaos) 精赵 精趙 Oppression in the name of national stability the Zhaos' nuke/missile 赵弹 趙彈
While having words with 50 Cent Party, some people used "You think you're worthy of the surname Zhao?" as a taunt and response.
Commentaries Qiao Mu, associate professor in Beijing Foreign Studies University, said that "the word 'the Zhao family' is a subversive deconstruction in Internet era. We called officials 'People's public servant' whereas in fact they are still dignitaries. There are just princelings in China. It's sensitive to say so frankly, thus people use words like 'the Zhao family' as a taunt." Hong Kong Oriental Daily News noted the word expresses both resistance of fake patriotism propagandize and dissatisfied with the fact. Hu Ping, the honorary editor of Chinese magazine Beijing Spring, believed that princelings, represented by General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping, were now gathering politics and economy resources without restriction, which obviously contradicted with the claim of right in civilians.
References
See also Crony capitalism Princelings