The Other China
裡通天朝上國
In the Xi Jinping era, the term Great Power 強國 qiáng guó, literally ‘powerful nation’, is a commonplace term for China itself. It encapsulates the quest of the People’s Republic of China in the twenty-first century to be a superpower. Those who note the yawning chasm between such hubris and the realities of a fearful, censorious and paranoid party-state prefer to use the homonym 牆國 qiáng guó. It means ‘the walled-in nation’, a reference to the ‘locked-in syndrome’, or pseudo-comatose state of the country resulting from the ruling Communist Party’s tireless regime of censorship and the policing of what, in 1997, we dubbed The Great Firewall of China.
[Note: For more on the term Great Power 強國 and China’s Third Age, see Homo Xinensis Ascendant, China Heritage, 16 September 2018.]
Since 2021, an online collective cultural activist going by the name ‘Recording the Absurdities of the Locked-in Nation’ 牆國荒誕字 has posted political satires — songs, images, comments and short essays — on X/Twitter and YouTube.
‘Recording the Absurdities of the Locked-in Nation’ says that their efforts are
focussed on presenting original (or occasionally re-cycled) comic videos and spoof songs. The aim of our comedy, satire and commentary is to highlight the absurdities, evils, stupidity, arrogance, obduracy, shamelessness and more of China’s totalitarian ruling class and its dictator. 本頻道以搞笑視頻、諷刺搞笑歌曲為主，皆為原創（部分二創）；以搞笑、戲說、諷刺、批判的形式，揭露極權統治階級及獨裁者的荒唐、邪惡、愚蠢、狂妄、蠻橫、無恥……
‘I write about the absurdities of the Locked-in Nation’, the authors declare, ‘in language that is accessible to everyday people.’
寫百姓看得懂的漢字，書寫牆國荒誕之事。
For more details, see:
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@qghdz; and,
- Twitter: x.com/xingzhe2021
[Note: See The Absurdities of China’s Locked-in Syndrome.]
***
The Chinese rubric of this chapter, which features both a satirical video by 牆國荒誕字 and the calligraphy of Dasheng Liu Chan 大生劉蟾 is 裡通天朝上國, combines the expressions 裡通外國 lǐ tōng wài guó — ‘to fraternise with foreigners’ — with 天朝上國 tiāncháo shàngguó, a traditional name for the ‘Celestial Kingdom’, that is China.
— Geremie R. Barmé
Editor, China Heritage
3 March 2026
Blood Moon
Fifteenth Day of the
First Month of the
Year of the Horse
丙午馬年
正月十五
元宵節
***
Lampooning Chinese Politics in China Heritage
- The Right to Know & the Need to Lampoon, 18 October 2021
- The Fog of Words: Kabul 2021, Beijing 1949, SupChina, 24 August 2021
- October 1 & October 10 — Two Chinas, Whose Fatherland?, 1 October 2022
- Tired of Winning Yet, China? — The Band Slap Has Some News for You, 14 June 2023
- The Topsy-turvy Country — China’s Summer Hit, 28 July 2023
When Ali Khamenei Called Emperor Dumpling for Help!
哈梅內伊打給包子帝的求救電話！
Faced with imminent danger an urgent call is made from the bunker. How did he respond at the other end?
What could they have possibly expected from a man inured to lying and a regime with zero credibility?
When it mattered most, their ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’ counted for naught, just another worthless piece of paper.
當危難臨頭，地堡里的一通緊急來電，電話那頭能給出怎樣的回應？
對於一個滿口謊言的人，對於一個毫無信譽可言的政權，還能指望什麼呢？
所謂“全面戰略夥伴關係”，在關鍵時刻，其實啥用都沒有，一紙空文，一文不值！
— 牆國荒誕字，2026年3月2日
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‘When this particular someone entered the Heavenly Kingdom it meant that others were also closer to their Heavenly Kingdom.’
— Dasheng Liu Chan, 3 March 2026