Privacy is something of a luxury in China, a land with a population of 1.4 billion. Personal space is not a concept that ordinary Chinese are familiar with. Pushing and shoving is a basic survival skill in cities. If you fail to push with fellow commuters to get on a packed underground train, you’ll be met with impatient stares.
Privacy is also political: the concept of “private property” or “private space” was castigated in the Mao era as an evil of the bourgeois class – and this communist ideal is very much alive today. Throughout China, people are happy to lie down for a nap just about anywhere: in an office pantry, on a park bench, even in a museum or concert hall foyer, looking as comfortable as if the public space were their own living room.
So it is a surprise to see Matti, a socially awkward Finnish cartoon character in the Finnish Nightmares comic series become something of a celebrity in China’s cyberspace. A new term in Mandarin has even been coined to describe people who are like the hero: jingfen, or “spiritually Finnish”. According to a widely distributed definition on social media, jingfen broadly refers to people who dislike socialising – like the Finns, apparently – and take their personal space “extremely seriously”.
Matti’s fear of crowds and small talk and his tendency to be easily embarrassed has struck a chord with many Chinese readers, who seem relieved that their longing for privacy has finally been voiced – via the medium of a stick figure from a faraway country. But it’s Finnish culture itself – of which privacy and personal space have long been part – that has also struck a chord.
“Finland is a paradise for people with social anxiety disorder,” wrote WeChat user Zhang Yanmei in a post. “I am a jingfen, please do not disturb me unnecessarily!” wrote an anonymous user in the title of his essay on the website Douban. “Can you see yourself in Matti?” he asked. “He is shy and introspective and the trials and tribulations of life are not just Matti’s nightmare. We’re all afraid of loneliness, but we crave even more for our personal space and privacy to be respected.” It is a sentiment that will ring true for many people in China.
