"Short-lived" — Phrase of the Week
TikTok refugees flock to RedNote but will it last?
Our phrase of the week is: "short-lived" (昙花一现 tánhuā yíxiàn)
Context
Thousands of American TikTok users have flocked to an alternative Chinese social media app in protest at the U.S. government’s ban on TikTok which came into force on 19 January.
The app is xiaohongshu (小红书), which directly translates as “little red book”. Until recently its English brandname was RED, but now that’s changed to RedNote, as discussed in the recent Sinica Podcast episode, Xiaohongshu's "TikTok Refugees," with Ivy Yang and David Fishman.
Unlike TikTok, RedNote is one app which allows users in the U.S. to share content and engage directly with users in China through the same platform, offering a novel cross-cultural social experience.
Thanks to its algorithm favoring new users, some "TikTok refugees" gained 5,000–6,000 likes and over 20,000 followers in a single day. By 19 January, the hashtag “TikTok Refugee” (TikTok 难民) had already amassed 3.3 billion views.
Still, many in China believe this won’t last, pointing to stricter content regulations in China and possible regulatory challenges in the U.S.
But as one blogger aptly noted, it’s been a fun ride while it lasted:
"This is a historic moment in our lifetime. Even if it’s short-lived, it’s a privilege to witness it."
这是有生之年见证历史的瞬间，哪怕只是昙花一现，能看到一眼也值了。
Zhè shì yǒushēng zhīnián jiànzhèng lìshǐ de shùnjiān, nǎpà zhǐshì tánhuā yíxiàn, néng kàn dào yì yǎn yě zhí le.
And with that, we have our Sinica Phrase of the Week!
What it means
"Short-lived" is a four-character idiom, which is literally translated as "the ephemeral flower" (昙花 tánhuā) and "brief appearance" (一现 yíxiàn). It’s a metaphor which describes something that appears for a very short time.
This idiom has its roots in the ancient Buddhist text, The Lotus Sutra (妙法莲华经 miàofǎ liánhuá jīng), traditionally attributed to Sakyamuni Buddha. However, it was likely compiled and written by multiple authors or groups of Buddhist scholars over several centuries.
The Lotus Sutra is part of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and is believed to have been composed in Sanskrit around the 1st century BCE to 2nd century CE. The earliest written versions of the sutra were produced in India, and it was later translated into Chinese by various translators. One of the most famous and widely used versions was translated by Kumarajiva (竺法护 Zhú Fǎhù) in the early 5th century CE.
The idiom first appears in the second chapter of the Sutra, titled The Chapter on Skillful Means (方便品 fāngbiàn pǐn):
"The Buddha said to Śāriputra, 'The Buddhas and Tathāgatas tell such wonderful Dharma only at an appropriate time, like the udumbara flower, which only appears fleetingly.'"
佛告舍利弗，如是妙法，诸佛如来，时乃说之，如优昙钵花，时一现耳。
Fó gào Shèlìfó, rú shì miàofǎ, zhū fó rúlái, shí nǎi shuō zhī, rú yōu tán bō huā, shí yī xiàn ěr.
The udumbara flower (优昙钵花 yōu tán bō huā) is a rare and symbolic flower in the Buddhist tradition. It is said to bloom only once every 3,000 years, making it a symbol of rarity and auspiciousness. The flower is also associated with the arrival of a great and enlightened being, such as a Buddha, and symbolizes the transcendence of time and the fleeting nature of existence.
In modern Chinese, the idiom can be translated as "ephemeral," "short-lived," or "fleeting." It describes events that seem to appear suddenly and, as quickly as they appeared, disappear again.
That’s what many people in China think will happen to the sudden influx of American users onto Red Note, many of whom will probably not be there for very long.
What do you think?
Andrew Methven is the author of RealTime Mandarin, a resource to help you learn contemporary Chinese in context, and stay on top of the latest language trends in China.
Read more about how this story is being discussed in the Chinese media in this week’s RealTime Mandarin:
