Chinese anthropologist Biao Xiang has emerged as an unlikely idol for Gen Z youth facing intense economic pressures and societal uncertainty. As director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany, the 54-year-old scholar is drawing crowds of hundreds of young people across Asia who feel overwhelmed by intense career competition and rigid social expectations.
The Rise of an Academic Icon Among Gen Z
Crowds of young people are packing auditoriums to hear Biao Xiang speak about modern anxiety and how to handle it. During a recent packed event in Singapore, roughly 500 attendees—many of them Chinese diaspora youth—listened to Xiang lecture for over an hour in Mandarin before participating in a question-and-answer session. Following the talk, attendees formed long queues to meet the professor and take photographs, leading young attendees to describe the gatherings as academic fan meetings.
Xiang’s commentary has resonated strongly with a generation facing stark employment realities and a fast-paced economy. A 23-year-old recent graduate from China who attended the Singapore event noted that youth are searching for a sense of direction amid widespread uncertainty. People need life anchors, according to the young graduate, who spoke anonymously to protect their employment prospects. Xiang’s words create the feeling that someone truly understands their situation.
Media interest in Xiang has surged across China, with major outlets interviewing him and prestigious institutions, including his alma mater Peking University, hosting his lectures. Demand for his appearances has exceeded auditorium capacities, prompting one of his sessions early this year to be live-streamed. The phenomenon has even generated a popular online phrase in China: “If in doubt, ask Biao Xiang.”
Diagnosing the ‘Pain Points’ of Modern Society
Xiang focuses his research and public lectures on what he terms the “titik nyeri” or the pain points of the current era. In his lectures, he addresses the exhaustion young people face when they tie their self-worth to external validation systems, such as competitive examinations and jobs that guarantee stability. He advocates instead for seeking meaning through genuine human connections and using those interactions to build self-awareness.
While acknowledging that his insights do not offer instant fixes, Xiang continues to speak openly about structural anxieties in a political environment where public discontent is heavily restricted. Academics hold an advantage in confronting these realities because they can describe and analyze them rather than fear them, Xiang explained during his appearance in Singapore.
China stands at a turning point where citizens search for personal meaning while trying to comprehend rapid socioeconomic shifts, according to Xiang. He points out a clear contradiction between young people feeling unmoored and a powerful state driving immense technological and economic progress.
Key Concepts Describing Modern Anxiety
To help explain the pressures felt by younger generations, Xiang utilizes specific descriptive frameworks:
- “Floating”: A term describing individuals who work incessantly merely to stay afloat, likened to hummingbirds constantly beating their wings just to hover in midair.
- “Immediate Environment”: A concept addressing the physical and social space directly surrounding an individual. Xiang argues that people often fixate on things that are either extremely close or very distant, thereby neglecting the intermediate spaces and feeling disconnected from their surroundings.
These conceptual tools have struck a chord with young adults trying to bridge the gap between their daily survival efforts and their broader social environment. By naming these structural pressures, Xiang continues to provide a framework for a generation seeking clarity in a time of profound economic transition.
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