The Yax lizard or Jacques lizard is a
Chinese internet phenomenon related to the
Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures. It mocks a musical dance program that excessively praised the Chinese government.
The creature was supposedly a
Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...
. The name is derived from "yakexi" (), which is the
Chinese transliteration of a Uyghur term "yaxshi" (), which means "good" or "great"; "xi" also means "lizard" in Chinese.
Origin
It is named after the
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
musical dance program "Happy life Yaxshi" (, formerly "The Party's Policy Yaxshi") in the
CCTV Spring Festival's Gala 2010. In the program, singers and dancers sing praises of how happy their life is, with the chorus line of, "What is yakexi? What is yakexi? The
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 ...
's policies are yakexi." (什么亚克西？什么亚克西？党中央的政策亚克西。)
Description
Blogger
Han Han
Han Han (; born September 23, 1982) is a Chinese author, rally driver, singer and filmmaker. He is also the creator of print magazine ''Party'' and online magazine ''One''. In May 2010, Han was named to the ''Time'' 100 list. In September 201 ...
said that Yax lizards live in the area between
Gurbantünggüt Desert and
Irtysh River
The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob and is also the longest tributary in the world.
The river's source lies in the Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern part of Xinjiang, China) cl ...
, north to
Dzungaria
Dzungaria (; from the Mongolian words , meaning 'left hand'), also known as Northern Xinjiang or Beijiang, is a geographical subregion in Northwest China that corresponds to the northern half of Xinjiang. Bound by the Altai Mountains to the n ...
,
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
. They eat snails and even mice. They also arrive the riverine area of Irtysh River to eat dead fishes,
river crabs, frogs and so on every year from April to June.
Response
Han Han held a contest on his blog asking for submissions of alternative lyrics to the song, keeping the original chorus line of "What is yakexi? What is yakexi? The
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 ...
's policies are yakexi." Submissions included lyrics mocking the original song by describing things such as bad housing situations and high tuition prices.
To demonstrate their dissatisfaction towards Chinese government's propaganda, some netizens name the species as "Yakshit" by the Chinese character's pronunciation.
See also
*
Grass Mud Horse
The Grass Mud Horse is a Chinese Internet meme and '' kuso'' parody based on a word play of the Mandarin profanity '' cào nǐ mā'' (), which means " fuck your mother".
Homophonic puns are commonly used in Chinese language as silly humor to a ...
*
River crab (Internet slang)
River crab () and harmonious/harmonize/harmonization () are Internet slang terms created by Chinese netizens in reference to the Internet censorship, or other kinds of censorship in mainland China. In Mandarin Chinese, the word "river crab" ( ...
*
Jia Junpeng
*
Very erotic very violent
Very erotic very violent () is a Chinese internet meme that originated from a news report on China Central Television's flagship ''Xinwen Lianbo'' program, allegedly quoting a schoolgirl describing a web page. This incident was widely parodied ...
References
{{reflist
External links
South China Morning Post articleDouban full party song lyrics translated in EnglishGlobal Voices brief report
Chinese Internet slang
Fictional lizards