The Word of the Week comes from the Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and encountered in online political d

Holiday of the Week: Chinese Thanksgiving

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2021-10-27 19:00:08

The Word of the Week comes from the Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online “resistance discourse,” used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness.

November 25, the day in 1950 when Mao Zedong’s son Mao Anying was killed in the Korean War. Netizens eat and share photos of egg fried rice on this day—also known as Egg Fried Rice Day (Dàn Chǎofànjié 蛋炒饭节)—to celebrate the younger Mao’s passing, as they believe he would otherwise have reigned over China with the same brutality as his father.

Legend has it that Mao Anying did himself in by making egg fried rice during the day at his encampment in Korea. The sight of smoke drew an American fighter plane, which napalmed his hideout.

Wangyi2015 (@妄议2015): #ChineseThanksgiving… In Korea on November 25, 1950, the son of the great leader and savior of the Chinese people, Mao Zedong—the second savior, Comrade Mao Anying—was dispatched by an American bomber, all because of a bowl of egg fried rice… Give thanks to America and to God…