River crab

河蟹 (héxiè): river crab

River crab wearing three watches (带三个表 dài sān ge biǎo), alluding to Jiang Zemin’s Three Represents (三个代表 Sān ge dàibiǎo).

Invented by Chinese netizens, the river crab (河蟹 héxiè) is a troublesome creature whose name echoes “harmony” (和谐 héxié), a euphemism for censorship. The term was coined in light of the fact that the Chinese government often uses its goal of constructing a “harmonious society” as a justification for censorship.

Both “harmony” and “river crab” can be used as verbs. Instead of saying something has been censored, one might say it has been “harmonized” (被和谐 bèi héxié) or “river-crabbed” (被河蟹了 bèi héxiè).

A “crab” is also a bully.

In Chinese Internet mythology, the river crab threatens the habitat of the grass-mud horse, also a symbol of online deviance. A popular cartoon illustrates this struggle.

“Harmonious” written with the insect radical (虫) to suggest “crab” (蟹).

Flag of the Republic of Rivercrabs.

Flag of the People’s Republic of China.

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