China's river crab and grass-mud horse

In order to circumvent internet censorship in China, bloggers have created a lexicon which makes puns out of words and phrases in the Chinese language, in order to talk about forbidden topics. It started with the 'grass-mud horse' (cáo nǐ mā) – a mythical creature which sounds nearly the same in Chinese as a dirty insult – as a tool to ridicule the government's blocking of vulgar content online. The grass-mud horse has achieved a personality, making its way into art, poetry and numerous online videos. 
 

The grass-mud horse has an enemy: the 'river crab'. 'River crab' is a near homophone of 'harmonious society', the term used by Chinese president Hu Jintao to describe the reasoning behind censorship. And in folk language, 'crab' is also used to mean 'bully'.  
 

In the song and music video 'Song of the Grass-Mud Horse', the horse fights the river crab and wins. With its tinny children's voices singing dirty words and images of lamas with shaggy hair, the video mirrors the patronising approach of censorship. It seems to say, “if you want to treat us like children, we'll act like children”. But its message is clear. As one blogger told Wired magazine, “The grass-mud horse (草泥马) represents information and opinions that cannot be accepted by the mainstream discourse, and 'Song of the Grass-Mud Horse' has become a metaphor of the power struggle over Internet expression”.
 

The grass-mud horse has inspired an entire vocabulary of words like this, called The Grass Mud Horse Lexicon -- filled with words netizens can use to talk about forbidden things.
 

The Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon functions in the same way that secret languages and codes always have. It is a downtooled version of encryption: hiding sensitive or dangerous information inside harmless-looking information. However, it outsmarts the government's sophisticated surveillance technology - designed to scan and block websites which host offensive content - because it relies on a code of understanding between people. 
 

A Dirty Pun Tweaks China's Online Censors, The New York Times, 2009.

I Am a Grass-Mud Horse, China Digital Times, 2009.

Ai Wei Wei on Citizenship and Freedom, China Digital Times, 2009.

China's Complicated Internet Culture, Ethan Zuckerman, 2009.

The Phenomenon of Grass Mud Horse on Chinese Internet, Li Nie's Weblog, 2009.

Fǎ Kè Yóu, River Crab, R.L.G, The Economist, 2011.
Sensitive Words: The Tiananmen Edition, China Digital Times, 2012.