“Involution” (内卷化) has taken the Chinese internet by storm in the last two years, becoming one of the most commonly used terms online in 2020. It implies a growing sense of futility that many young ...

Last September, a student at Beijing’s élite Tsinghua University was caught on video riding his bike at night and working on a laptop propped on his handlebars. The footage circulated on Chinese ...

When the Chinese term first emerged in popular culture in China a few years ago, the initial application was to Chinese students and young people trapped in highly competitive schools and jobs that ...

The Chinese government is taking steps to rein in what it calls “involution,” or excessive competition that is hurting local companies and fueling the country’s deflationary spiral. Auto parts inside ...

If you are feeling dispirited at work or burned out by the general pressure of life, there is a perfect word for you: "involution." The Mandarin Chinese word for "involution" — neijuan — is now a ...