How China's most enduring meme has lasted a decade

If you've spent any time on Chinese social media, you would've found it impossible to miss this unique style of reaction images.

They're often cartoonishly drawn outlines around a black-and-white photo, and they've become a part of everyday usage on platforms like Weibo and Wechat.

Credit: UBiaoqing/Baozoumanhua/Mashable Composite

Turns out, this image style has been a decade in the making, from its start as a 4chan-inspired meme, to the most enduring piece of Chinese digital culture.

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The comic's start can be traced to Wang Nima, the pseudonymous founder of a rage comic-style webtoon site called Baozou Manhua, which literally translates to "rage comics."

One of Baozou Manhua's posts on Weibo. Credit: Ng Yi Shu/Mashable

The site was founded in 2008, after U.S.-based Wang realised there wasn't yet anything like a rage comic in China's nascent social media scene that could succinctly express emotions as efficiently.

"I think the essence of [rage comics] is in helping people express their discontent towards some things -- it exaggerates.

"I intend to give the masses a 'spear', so they can say hi to creativity," he said in a 2012 interview.

Wang's website has since grown exponentially -- it now has nearly 9 million fans on Weibo, and claims to have nearly a billion views on all the videos it has produced, according to its website.

Via Giphy

Baozou Manhuaalso reshares viral user-generated content on its Weibo account and website, meaning its trove of pictures will virtually never run dry.

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We've now seen popular actors get worked into the fold. Here are the photos of several popular Asian actors -- from Chinese singer Jacky Cheung, to Filipino actor Gerry Alanguilan, and Korean actor Choi Seong-guk appropriated in hilarious forms:

From left to right: Jacky Cheung, Choi Seong-guk, and Gerry Alanguilan Credit: UBiaoqing/Mashable Composite

But the humble reaction image took a while to take off in the country.

Meng Qiang, the 24-year-old founder of UBiaoQing, a Chinese search engine for reaction images, said back in 2008, people were still on dumb phones and couldn't send and receive pictures on their mobiles.

Rage comics were mainly circulated on the desktop.

But with Weibo, a Twitter-like network, Chinese rage comics could really take off.

"There are some situations when you just can't get your point across with just some words and emoji," said Meng.

"Stop typing, use more images," says this reaction image. Credit: UBiaoqing

Meng's UBiaoQing website and WeChat mini-program now has around 8,000 to 10,000 visitors a day; his search engine looks for reaction images online using crawlers, and automatically tags them when they're uploaded by moderators.

Meng added that celebrities are now adapting these reaction images to engage with fans.

"Most celebrities welcome the public's use of their looks in reaction images, and openly use reaction images with their pictures on them," he said.

Authorities are starting to use popular reaction images to communicate, too. A civil defence department made a set of reaction images featuring firemen last year, while Beijing highway police used rage comics in public service messages as early as 2013.

"Don't be mad!" says this reaction image by China's civil defence department. Credit: China Civil Defence/Wechat Credit: Ningxia HighWay Police/Weibo

To engage readers, state-run news outlets and bloggers are also using reaction images in their articles.

"It's a sign of their variety and how interesting they are, and how they're leading a trend," Meng adds. "Reaction images are suited for people of different ages and communities...and I think reaction image culture is only going to become more colourful and well-loved."

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