Essence of the Year

By Ji Jing

At this time when it is customary to run year-end retrospectives， literature and art magazine Yaowen Jiaozi， as usual， recapped the language development in the year in its list of the 10 most popular Chinese buzzwords. Renmin zhishang， shengming zhishang， meaning “people fi rst， life fi rst，” and zhibo daihuo， meaning “live-streaming to sell goods，”made it to the 2020 list.

Huang Anjing， editor in chief of the magazine， said compared with previous years， this year there were more popular words to choose from as the whole country was involved in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease（COVID-19） epidemic. There have been more unexpected events and more exemplary individuals this year， giving rise to a variety of new concepts and words.

Huang said this years catchphrases have two characteristics. First， many of them refl ect the anti-epidemic theme. Second， compared with the catchphrases of previous years， which were popular among only a certain social group， this years phrases are well known among the entire society because the fi ght against the epidemic has become the focus of society.

Reflection of the times

Fighting the epidemic is the theme of the year and many of the selected catchphrases are related to the theme， such as renmin zhishang， shengming zhishang.

After the outbreak of COVID-19 in the beginning of the year， President Xi Jinping stressed putting peoples lives and health fi rst. The entire nation came together to combat the epidemic and it was soon put under control， bringing social and economic development back on track.

Participating in a discussion at the Third Session of the 13th National Peoples Congress in May， Xi said the Party puts the peoples interests first under any circumstances and will protect their lives and health at all costs.

Putting people first was the fundamental reason for Chinas achievement in the fight against the epidemic.

Sa， originally a mimetic word referring to the sound of the wind， is being used to describe women who are dashing， gorgeous and in high spirits. The word has been used in social media to describe the female medical workers who fought the epidemic on the frontline.

According to statistics from the National Health Commission， 28，000 female medical workers went to Hubei in central China to fi ght the epidemic， accounting for two thirds of all medical workers sent there.

Zhibo daihuo became an effective way to resolve the problem of overstocking and a new business model as people avoided brick-andmortar stores for fear of infection during the epidemic.