What's inside doesn't count

'Feeling the presence' meme just adds fuel to the fire for selfie addicts

There is an unwritten rule in Chinese: Be very careful when you say someone "has a good presence" (有气质, yǒu qìzhì). Although it may sound like a compliment, it's a dig that suggests the subject doesn't have a good appearance, so people need to instead focus on their "presence".

Think of the faint praise "she has a great personality". In short: they're ugly.

There's no exact equivalent for the abstract word qizhi which can be translated as presence, temperament, disposition, manners or charisma, depending on the context. Recently, you may have found that you can't close a browser in China without seeing photos captioned, "Just feel my presence." (主要看气质, zhǔyào kàn qìzhì)

Although the phrase didn't appear until late last year, it was listed as one of the top 10 popular online buzzwords by Excessive Wording magazine. Its origin comes from a micro-blog post by Taiwan pop singer Cyndi Wang, who released a photo for her new album that featured her eating a hamburger.

Netizens, as they so often are, were unkind. In the spirit of things, Wang replied: "Just feel my presence."

Few were as interested in Wang's album as they were in this new phrase. Shortly after, a competition was launched online for people to post pictures themed on "feel the presence".

Obviously the most dangerous thing about this phrase is that it has given selfie addicts yet another excuse to bombard the planet with pictures of themselves. The line accompanies the photos of every preening selfie addict.

Self-mockery is all the rage on social media - well, mockery of anything really - so when that photo doesn't work out, you can always just post, "Don't mind my weird looks, just feel my presence."

Of course, the hoi polloi of Internet society quickly joined the fray; performing, doing exercises, or just hanging out with friends, they displayed their "presence" in full view.

And it wouldn't be the Internet if people didn't get their pets involved. You can find pictures of puppies with luxury glasses and cats in suits stressing their "presence".

Presumably, you can find people using the nonsarcastic use of presence - dolled up in exquisite makeup and posing carefully while still begging for people to notice their inner beauty. As you might imagine, folks tend to dish out a lot of online rage at these vainglorious showoffs. The phrase has taken on the facade of an all-purpose insult.

You might hear two young women discussing a film. The first will say: "I can't believe you went to see such a terrible movie. Did you go to feel the presence?" (我真不敢相信你居然去看了这部烂片儿。你是去看气质的吗? Wǒ zhēn bùgǎn xiāngxìn nǐ jùrán qù kànle zhè bù lànpiānr. Nǐ shì qù kàn qìzhì de ma?).

But the other isn't going to put up with that, so bites back with: "You should feel lucky that we have such a presence-feeling society." (你应该庆幸现在是一个看气质的社会。Nǐ yīnggāi qìngxìng xiànzài shì yēgè kàn qìzhì de shèhuì.)

However, you might want to keep in mind that it was not always the case that online faux vanity was the bedrock of civilization. People who grew up in an age without the Internet may praise someone's presence instead of their good looks to show they are not shallow. In this case, take a step back and realize that having a good presence actually is more important than a pretty face.

Courtesy of The World of Chinese, www.theworldofchinese.com

The World of Chinese

(China Daily Africa Weekly 04/08/2016 page23)