‘Treating trivial things as matters of principle’ — Phrase of the Week

Our Phrase of the Week is: Treating trivial things as matters of principle (上纲上线 shànggāng shàngxiàn).

The context

A joke by a Chinese comedian has caused an uproar online, a $2 million fine, a police probe, canceled stand-up shows across China, and possibly the end of a promising career.

Stand-up comedian Lǐ Hàoshí 李昊石 (known by his stage name, House) was accused of making offensive remarks toward the Chinese military during one of his shows last Saturday. Li had invoked a well-known Chinese military slogan to describe a scene in which his two adopted stray dogs were chasing a squirrel.

His wisecrack was a play on words using the eight characters of a Chinese military slogan. It was used by Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 to address a military delegation in 2013, and has since been frequently repeated by Chinese state media:

Fight to win with strong discipline.

作风优良, 能打胜仗。

Zuòfēng yōuliáng, néng dǎ shèngzhàng.

Chinese authorities have since slapped a $2 million fine on Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media, the well-known comedy company that Li was working for, over the “severely insulting” joke. It is the biggest scandal yet to hit China’s stand-up comedy world.

One question being discussed in the fallout is: Where is the “bottom line” (底线 dǐxiàn) in stand-up comedy? Some argue that House went too far, crossing the line in what is still a relatively new art form to China. Others believe it was an unintentional mistake, and the reaction was over the top:

The law must be based on evidence, fairness, and morality must be clear and determinable. These are the bottom lines. We shouldn’t treat opinions as matters of principle, let alone turn public anger into criminal punishment. That is not the rule of law we want.

法律要讲证据，要公正，道德要清晰可判定，这些才是底线。不能将可商榷的事直接上纲上线，更不能直接将公众的愤怒变成刑事处罚，那都不是我们想要的法治。

Fǎlǜ yào jiǎng zhèngjù, yào gōngzhèng, dàodé yào qīngxī kě pàndìng, zhèxiē cái shì dǐxiàn. Bùnéng jiāng kě shāngquè de shì zhíjiē shànggāng shàngxiàn, gèng bùnéng zhíjiē jiāng gōngzhòng de fènnù biànchéng xíngshì chǔfá, nà dōu búshì wǒmen xiǎngyào de fǎzhì.

And with that, we have our Phrase of the Week.

What it means

Treating trivial things as matters of principle is a common phrase.

It describes a situation where something small, like a joke or an online comment, is taken too seriously.

The phrase is rooted in the Cultural Revolution. It was a way the masses were told to think and react during that tumultuous time, according to Baidu:

It was a common way of thinking or engaging in discourse during the Cultural Revolution, to analyze the problem at the level of class struggle and faction struggle. It means that when looking at people and things, we must not discuss the facts as they stand, but must “look at the essence through what is on the surface,” and raise all issues to the level of major principles.

把问题提到阶级斗争和路线斗争的高度来分析。一种思想方法、话语方式，在文化大革命时常见。这种方法要求，看待人和事物不能就事论事，而必须“透过现象看本质”，把所有问题都提到重大原则的高度。

Bǎ wèntí tí dào jiējí dòuzhēng hé lùxiàn dòuzhēng de gāodù lái fēnxī. Yī zhǒng sīxiǎng fāngfǎ, huàyǔ fāngshì, zài wénhuà dàgémìng shí chángjiàn. Zhè zhǒng fāngfǎ yāoqiú, kàndài rén hé shìwù bùnéng jiùshìlùnshì, ér bìxū “tòuguò xiànxiàng kàn běnzhí,” bǎ suǒyǒu wèntí dōu tí dào zhòngdà yuánzé de gāodù.

Nowadays, the phrase regularly appears online in social media comments and the media about volatile reactions of internet users. The punchline of a joke, for example, may become a matter of the highest political order if it catches attention on social media. So rather than class struggle, this phrase is now at the center of China’s cancel culture.

Treating trivial things as matters of principle is also how internet users feed China’s censorship machine by assuming what is offensive and should be censored, based on what they think is right and wrong. They then make such a noise about it that censors have no choice but to act.

Unfortunately for Li Haoshi, a number of very loud internet users believe the reaction to his eight-character pun is a matter of principle and he should have known better:

Some topics should not be broached and must be respected. Some things can be made into entertainment, but some must not. This is not about treating trivial things as matters of principle; it is about maintaining social order.

有些内容是不可触碰，不可消解的，必须保持敬畏和尊重，有些事可以娱乐化，有些事绝不能娱乐，这不是上纲上线，这是维护社会秩序。

Yǒuxiē nèiróng shì bùkě chùpèng, bùkě xiāojiě de, bìxū bǎochí jìngwèi hé zūnzhòng, yǒuxiē shì kěyǐ yúlè huà, yǒuxiē shì jué bùnéng yúlè, zhè búshì shànggāng shàngxiàn, zhè shì wéihù shèhuì zhìxù.

Another way to translate the phrase is: Take things way too far.