River crab () and harmonious/harmonize/harmonization () are Internet slang terms created by Chinese

netizen The term ''netizen'' is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and ''citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

s in reference to the Internet censorship, or other kinds of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

in mainland China. In

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

, the word "river crab" (河蟹), which originally meant Chinese mitten crab or short term BK, sounds similar to "harmonious/harmonize/harmonization" () This is derived from " harmonious society", (和谐社会) ex-Chinese leader Hu Jintao’s signature ideology.

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The 2004

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

announcement of the goal of constructing a "harmonious society" has been cited by the

government of China The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's congresses. ...

as the reason for Internet censorship. As a result, Chinese netizens began to use the word "harmonious/harmonize/harmonization" (和谐) as a

euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

for censorship when the word for censorship itself was censored, particularly on BBSs. Following this, the word "harmonious" itself was censored, at which point Chinese netizens began to use the word for "river crab", a near homophone for "harmonious". In a further complication of meaning, sometimes aquatic product () is used in place of "river crab". These euphemisms are also used as verbs. For example, instead of saying something has been censored, one might say "it has been harmonized" () or "it has been river-crabbed" (). The widespread use of "river crab" by Chinese netizens represents a sarcastic defiance against official discourse and censorship. Some observers, however, have warned that the practice may also reproduce domination, since it does not aim for the abolition of censorship. The sensitive words will remain silent as such, and as a result the everyday reappropriation of official language creates the conditions for the latter's perpetuation. A well-known picture usually named ''River crab society, three wearing watches'' (河蟹社会，三个戴表) illustrates the slang "river crab". In the picture, the three wristwatches refer to the Three Represents, where the Mandarin expressions used for "represent" () and "Wearing watch(es)" () are homophones. The satirized homophone of the three watches might be created by Chinese writer Wang Xiaofeng ( 王小峰), whose online nickname is "Wearing three watches" (戴三个表). An offensive term "foolish bitch" () is also used by anti-Communist Chinese people.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Euphemisms For Internet Censorship In China Chinese Internet slang Internet censorship in China Internet memes Political Internet memes Crabs in culture Euphemisms Internet memes introduced from China

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