996福报 (jiǔjiǔliùfúbào): 'the 996 blessing' — Jack Ma's…

Meanings

1 'the 996 blessing' — Jack Ma's 2019 phrase framing 9am-9pm, six-day work weeks as a karmic gift; now ironic shorthand for brutal overtime culture in China

Characters

9

Examples

马云说996是福报，程序员们不买账。

Mǎ Yún shuō jiǔjiǔliù shì fúbào, chéngxùyuán men bù mǎizhàng.

Jack Ma called 996 a blessing; programmers weren't buying it.

又到了享受996福报的时候。

Yòu dào le xiǎngshòu jiǔjiǔliùfúbào de shíhòu.

Time to enjoy the 996 blessing again (sarcastic).

Tips

history

On April 11, 2019, Alibaba founder Jack Ma told staff that the opportunity to work 996 was 一种巨大的福报 ('a huge blessing'). The phrase 996福报 exploded on Chinese social media as mockery and became the defining slogan of the anti-overtime discourse, feeding directly into the later 躺平 (lying flat) movement.