“Old habits die hard” — Phrase of the Week
What built one of China’s biggest asset managers no longer works
Our Phrase of the Week is: Old habits die hard (积重难返 jīzhòng nánfǎn).
The context
Zhongzhi Enterprise Group (中植企业集团 zhōngzhí qǐyè jítuán), a huge financial group in China, has warned investors that it is unable to repay its debts.
On November 22, Zhongzhi issued an open letter to investors, apologizing for a material breach of its products. It also disclosed the group’s assets and liabilities for the first time, allowing the outside world to understand the scale of the crisis in the Zhongzhi group for the first time.
11月22日，中植集团已经发布了一份致投资者的公开信，为产品发生实质性违约向投资者致歉。并且首次公布了集团的资产负债情况，让外界得以首次了解中植系的危机规模。
11 yuè 22 rì, zhōngzhí jítuán yǐjīng fābùle yí fèn zhì tóuzīzhě de gōngkāixìn, wèi chǎnpǐn fāshēng shí zhì xìng wéiyuē xiàng tóuzīzhě zhìqiàn. Bìngqiě shǒucì gōngbùle jítuán de zīchǎn fùzhài qíngkuàng, ràng wàijiè déyǐ shǒucì liǎojiě zhōngzhíxì de wéijī guīmó.
The Beijing-based wealth management company said its total liabilities amounted to between 420 billion yuan (US$59 bn) and 460 billion yuan (US$64.8 bn), while its total tangible assets stood at just 200 billion yuan (US$28.1 bn).
On 26 November Beijing authorities announced investigations into “illegal activity” in the company were ongoing, and since then two executives of the company have been arrested.
The group, also known colloquially as Zhōngzhíxì (中植系), which in Chinese describes a large group, “system” or “empire” of companies, usually linked to one founder or family, offers financial products (理财产品), mainly trust (信托) and Private Placement Notes or PPN (定融) products. These products fall within what is known as shadow banking (影子银行), which is lending that takes place outside of conventional banks by financial intermediaries not subject to the same levels of regulatory oversight as the traditional banking system.
This makes Zhongzhi a major player in China’s shadow banking system. Its investment thresholds are relatively high, so investors tend to be wealthy people.
Products are delivered through four main platforms: Hengtian Wealth 恒天财富, Xinhu Wealth 新湖财富, Datang Wealth 大唐财富, Gaosheng Wealth 高晟财富, and companies such as Zhongrong Trust, with assets under management exceeding one trillion yuan.
The impact on its customers and investors, as well as more broadly on China’s struggling property market and capital markets, is serious.
The problems at Zhongzhi are not going to be easy to resolve as one commentator notes:
After the death of the founder of the business (in 2021), combined with sluggish economic growth, capital market shocks, and a downturn in the real estate market, Zhongzhi is hopeless as its old ways have created far too many problems.
在失去创始掌舵人后，叠加经济增速放缓、资本市场震荡以及房地产市场低迷，中植过往多年的模式积重难返。
Zài shīqù chuàngshǐ zhǎngduòrén hòu, diéjiā jīngjì zēngsù fànghuǎn, zīběn shìchǎng zhèndàng yǐjí fángdìchǎn shìchǎng dīmí, zhōngzhí guòwǎng duōnián de móshì jīzhòngnánfǎn.
And with that, we have our Phrase of the Week!
What it means
The four-character idiom, 积重难返 jīzhòng nánfǎn, directly translates as “old/established habits or problems” (积重 jīzhòng), “hard to reverse or resolve” (难返 nánfǎn). It can refer to a habit which is engrained, or a problem which has built up over a long period of time. Both are hard to change or reverse.
It’s origin, according to Baidu, dates back to the Spring and Autumn period (春秋) in Chinese history (770 to 481 BCE), found in the Discourse of States (国语 guóyǔ), an ancient text which is a collection of speeches attributed to rulers of that time.
The original quote is:
Li Ji said: ‘Is it difficult to unsettle him, since he has a very stable temperament?’
骊姬曰：“重，无乃难迁乎？”
Lí Jī yuē: “Zhòng, wú nǎi nán qiān hū?”
Li Ji 骊姬 was a concubine of the Duke of Jin (晋献公 Jìn Xiàngōng).
This line from Discourses of States records a conversation between Li Ji and a friend which set in motion what became known as the Li Ji Unrest, a series of events caused by her to put her son, Xiqi, onto the throne of Jin. It eventually saw the Duke of Jin dead, and most of his relatives, and Li Ji and her son Xiqi, killed.
But, the link with this historical period is tenuous. It’s more likely to be from the time of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
The idiom is found in a letter from Zhāng Jūzhèng 张居正, a Chinese politician who served as Senior Grand Secretary in the late Ming dynasty during the reigns of the Longqing 隆庆 and Wanli 万历 emperors.
The letter, known as On Six Reforms (陈六事疏 chén liù shì shū), was presented by Zhang to the Longqing emperor in the second year of his reign. As the 12th Emperor to rule the Ming Dynasty, he inherited the country in a state of disarray, due to the mismanagement and corruption under the reign of his father.
On Six Reforms was a critique of the problems in society at that time and what actions could be taken to resolve them.
The idiom is found in this passage:
However, in recent times, customs and human relations have become increasingly decadent. These established ways may be hard to reverse. If we don’t change it, we may not be able to change the way people are, and unite the aspirations of the nation.
但近来风俗人情，积习生弊，有颓靡不振之渐，有积重难反之几，若不稍加改易，恐无以新天下之耳目，一天下之心志。
Dàn jìnlái fēngsú rénqíng, jīxí shēngbì, yǒu tuímí búzhèn zhī jiàn, yǒu jīzhòng nánfǎn zhī jǐ, ruò bù shāo jiā gǎiyì, kǒng wú yǐ xīn tiānxià zhī ěrmù, yī tiānxià zhī xīnzhì.
Zhang observed that old, established, bad habits were hard to change. He goes on to explain the “six reforms” to correct the ills of society.
The idiom, “old habits die hard”, is also how the Zhongzhi predicament is described in media reports this week. The ways of doing things that built it into a huge business are no longer viable in China and the problems it has created cannot be resolved overnight.
But those habits die hard.
Andrew Methven is the author of Slow Chinese 每周漫闻, a resource to help learners of Chinese maintain and improve their language skills, and keep on top of the latest language trends in China. Read more.