Introduction and Meaning

鸡汤, known in English as chicken soup, is a Chinese slang for advice that does not solve a person’s problems but makes them feel better. It also references bite size content that tells the user that everything will be okay, and the problems will be solved, even if we don’t do anything. Simply put, it’s useless encouragement or comfort. Another meaning it has is sentences or phrases that makes people more optimistic.

“只要你努力，一切皆有可能。”
(“As long as you work hard, anything is possible.”)

Origins

It originates from the 1993 book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul, that was filled with feel good and cheesy essays. The series was compiled by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. It gained traction in the early 2000s, as Chicken Soup for the Soul was translated and widely read. The books were great ways for people to get anecdotes that comforted the reader. As more social platforms like Weibo, WeChat, or Douyin became commonly used, 鸡汤, developed into having a more negative connotation as it was the response to positive messages. Netizens used it more as a mocking phrase, suggesting positive statements were unrealistic and manipulative.

Usage and Further Interpretations

鸡汤 originally was used to express warmth, nourishment and healing, as that was what chicken soup felt like. On the internet, it became a metaphor first for messages that promoted positivity. Motivational messages felt like chicken soup, helping alleviate stress. Overtime it developed its now new meaning of “toxic positivity”. 鸡汤 is a used within online discussions and answers to statements that only give encouragement. Example: Person A: Hey, as long you are trying your best you can make it. Person B: Thanks for the chicken soup. Another way that it is used is 毒鸡汤, or poisonous chicken soup. It is used as a two-sentence combination where the first part is positive then leads to a negative sentence. 毒鸡汤 is also used as responses when someone gives a brutally honest advice that counters the frequently given motivational messages.

“阳光总在风雨后” (“The sun always shines after the storm”)
“只要你坚持，没有什么是不可能的” (“As long as you persevere, nothing is impossible”)

These would at first be examples of possible 鸡汤 for netizens to obtain hope or emotional help in tough times, but 鸡汤 ending up being the response to these. Netizens became more skeptical of such idealistic sentiments. Rather than seeing these messages as helpful, people began to view them as shallow, manipulative, or even exploitative.

Cultural Significance and Social Context

The main cultural significance of “鸡汤” is deeply tied to the social and economic conditions during the time period facing contemporary Chinese youth. During the 1990s and early 2000s, these the working class or youth that have reached working age are experiencing the periods of rapid growth, urbanization, and intense competition. Despite growing up in a relatively prosperous society, they face surmounting pressure from family, employers, and the educational system. Many jobs have a developed a “996” work culture. Forced to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 6 days a week builds stress. This mostly likely lead to the first literal definition of the term. The working group found joy within the “鸡汤” messages. As the years go by, as jobs become scarcer, and obtaining a chance for a better school is limited, the future looked bleak to netizens. As the youth culture shifted from a positive view on the future towards a more skeptic and ironic view, the meaning of the words “鸡汤” flipped. A boss who tells employees, “Success comes to those who work the hardest,” while denying raises and pushing unpaid overtime, might be accused of feeding them “老板的鸡汤” (“the boss’s chicken soup”). It also acts as a meaning for emotional manipulation, demanding more while giving less. It fits into a larger ecosystem of slang and memes that reflect the lives of young Chinese citizens. Other terms like “内卷” (involution) describe the exhausting, unproductive competition in school and work, while “躺平” (lying flat) expresses a passive refusal to engage with unrealistic societal expectations. Together with “鸡汤,” these terms represent a quiet form of rebellion—language that exposes the gap between the realities of school and work in China with the social ideals implanted into them.

Appropriation, Commercialization, and Resistance

Commercialization of “鸡汤” was the development of the many emotional languages or slogans within companies and some that promote the unhealthy “996” work culture. Schools and workplaces often have posters or signs that emphasized hard work, self-sacrifice, and loyalty. Adverting campaigns and media would often use “鸡汤” to promote social harmony and downplay the inequality or collective struggle.

Resistance in this case, takes the form of parody and irony by turning the definition on its head. By using “鸡汤” quotes and mixing them with dark humor or absurd logic, “鸡汤” developed more of a negative meaning. This ironic distance matters. It suggests that young people today are no longer satisfied with shallow positivity. They desire authenticity, solidarity, and alternative narratives that answers to their pain, skepticism, and frustration. It also acts like a device that allows the youth to express and find comfort in others that are in a similar situation. That they aren’t the only ones faced with pressure that they will not achieve what they wish. In criticizing “鸡汤,” they are not abandoning hope itself, but demanding realistic answers and responses to the bleak future that they see.