“The iron rice bowl” — Phrase of the Week
Civil service careers are hot again
Our Phrase of the Week is: the iron rice bowl (铁饭碗 tiě fànwǎn).
The context
After eight consecutive years of growth, the number of applicants for postgraduate entrance exams is declining.
According to data recently published, 4.38 million people have registered for China’s postgraduate entrance exams, or “kaoyan” in Chinese (考研 kǎoyán) in 2024. That’s 360,000 less than in 2023.
Whereas over 3 million people have signed up for the civil service entrance examination (公考 gōngkǎo) in 2024, 400,000 more than in 2023.
This trend is believed to be due to the “Great Fervour for the Public Examination” (考公热 kǎo gōng rè), a phenomenon seen in recent years, which is an increase in the appeal of secure public sector jobs in favor of working in the private sector.
A career in China’s dynamic, fast-paced private sector companies, especially the big tech giants, has become less appealing. The “involuted” (内卷 nèijuǎn), or intensely competitive, working culture has put people off.
Mass layoffs due to the economic downturn, and the toxic “996” working culture, mean people over 35 can be deemed too old, unable to keep up. Whereas, a job in the public service is seen as protected against such layoffs, and is less ageist.
So, more and more younger people are opting for a career choice in the public sector:
It’s human nature to seek advantages and avoid risks. Since one must have a job, it is of course more secure to be able to hold an “iron rice bowl” job. Nowadays, for many people, it is better to find a job now than to find a job three years laters (when they finish their Master’s degree), especially a job within the system. Therefore, in the past two years, the number of people taking the public examination, educator examination, and public institution staffing examination has increased sharply.
趋利避害、厌恶风险是人的本能，同样是找个饭碗，那能捧着铁饭碗当然更安心。如今对很多人来说，三年之后再就业，不如现在就赶快找个工作，尤其是体制内的工作，于是，近两年来考公、考招教、考事业编的人数都在激增。
Qūlì bìhài, yànwù fēngxiǎn shì rén de běnnéng, tóngyàng shì zhǎo ge fànwǎn, nà néng pěngzhe tiě fànwǎn dāngrán gèng ānxīn. Rújīn duì hěnduō rén lái shuō, sān nián zhīhòu zài jiùyè, bùrú xiànzài jiù gǎnkuài zhǎo ge gōngzuò, yóuqí shì tǐzhì nèi de gōngzuò, yúshì, jìn liǎng niánlái kǎogōng, kǎo zhāojiào, kǎo shìyèbiān de rénshù dōu zài jīzēng.
And with that, we have our Phrase of the Week!
What it means
The phrase, “rice bowl” (饭碗 fànwǎn) is a metaphor for job or income in Chinese, similar to the English idiom, “bread and butter”, which is a person’s livelihood or main source of income.
“Iron” (铁 tiě) mean unbreakable, or secure. The full phrase is “the iron rice bowl” (铁饭碗) translated as “secure job”, which in the China context, is a state sector job which brings with it good benefits, a solid career path, and a secure job.
The phrase has been in use since the 1940’s by the communist party as a metaphor for a job in public service.
An early reference to the “iron rice bowl” is from Cold Nights (寒夜), a novel by author Bā Jīn 巴金, set in wartime Chongqing in 1944-45:
Relying on this job to put food on the table? But our job is not an iron rice bowl!
吃公司的饭？我们这个不是铁饭碗啊！
Chī gōngsī de fàn? Wǒmen zhège búshì tiě fànwǎn a!
Another well-known reference is from Deng Xiaoping 邓小平, who said:
It doesn’t matter how bad you do your job, since it’s like an iron rice bowl. Once you’re in you’re in, and you can only go up, not down.
反正工作好坏都是铁饭碗，能进不能出，能上不能下。
Fǎnzhèng gōngzuò hǎohuài dōu shì tiě fànwǎn, néng jìn bùnéng chū, néng shàng bùnéng xià.
It’s from a speech he gave in 1980, criticizing the state sector, and how the civil service was in need of reform, and more competition injected into it. This set in motion policy reforms which led to wave of ambitious young officials to leave the public sector and become entrepreneurs, known as “going to sea” (下海 xiàhǎi) in Chinese.
Another related phrase is “golden rice bowl” (金饭碗 jīnfànwǎn), which has been around since imperial times in China: The emperor would eat from a “golden rice bowl.”
In modern Chinese the phrase has become a metaphor for a “sought-after well-paid and comfortable job”.
In China’s job market now, “iron rice bowl” state sector jobs are enjoying a resurgence and have become more sought after because of the uncertainty elsewhere in the economy.
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.