Shop top categories that ship internationally

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.

Added to

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Decoding the Chinese Internet: A Glossary of Political Slang Kindle Edition

by China Digital Times (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 7 ratings
See all formats and editions
In 2009, a strange creature emerged on the Internet from China. It was the grass-mud horse, a dopey alpaca frolicking in the Mahler Desert. It starred in a popular music video, staring buck-toothed into the camera while a chorus of children sang about the grass-mud horse’s defeat of the river crabs. It seemed innocent enough.

But the grass-mud horse was actually a subterfuge of Chinese Internet censorship.

For the past four years, China Digital Times has built a wiki dedicated to “grass-mud horse language,” inspired by an imaginary creature whose name invokes a curse word. Our Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon continues to evolve as Chinese netizens create new terms and give new meaning to older ones. This emerging “resistance discourse” steadily undermines the values and ideology that reproduce compliance with the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian regime, and force an opening for free expression and civil society in China.

This eBook distills the most time-tested and ubiquitous terms in our lexicon. Organized by broad categories, Decoding the Chinese Internet will guide readers through the colorful, raucous world of China’s online resistance discourse. Students of Mandarin will gain insight into word play and learn terms that are key to understand Chinese Internet language. But no knowledge of Chinese is needed to appreciate the creative leaps netizens make in order to keep talking.

This book is a revised and updated version of Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon: Classic Netizen Language published in August 2013.
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    107 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    September 10, 2014
  4. File size
    2566 KB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  8. See all details
Next slide of product details

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00NI1KHSS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ China Digital Times (September 10, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 10, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2566 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 107 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
7 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Lewis Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars Getting to know the Challenges of Free Speech on the Chinese Internet
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2017
Verified Purchase
For those with an interest in free speech rights worldwide it's important to realize how repressed Chinese culture is about writing and free speech. This excellent book helps decode the complex war of words free speech advocates must master to share their truths regarding what we in the USA call first amendment rights are what most free thinkers are working toward in China and worldwide. Support free thinking Chinese writers and artists at all levels. Buy and share this book.
Helpful
 Report
Geezer
5.0 out of 5 stars Trying to understand China? Buy this book.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book is great! Published by a website (chinadigitaltimes) it provides an insight to unofficial Chinese thinking. China is a wonderfully complex and multifaceted place with active censorship and this book relates the genius of Chinese critical thinkers. With a sense of humor, and at times naughty, the use of homophonous slang skirts censorship and pokes fun at the ridiculous nature of Chinese officialdom.

Read it. You will learn a ton.
Helpful
 Report
John Ross
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Informative
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2016
Verified Purchase
Fun and informative, and any book that can make Chinese politics fun really deserves five stars.
Will appeal to anyone who loves language and/or interested in understanding modern China.
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely informative
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2016
Verified Purchase
Excellent overview of Chinese online culture and online slang. Highly recommended to those with interest in modern Chinese life and society
Helpful
 Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report