“市井”: The Very Ground Floor of Every City

The Chinese term "市井" (shì jǐng) encompasses meanings of "market" and "street" as well as connotations of being "vulgar" or "crude." 市井 is a form of lifestyle culture that is natural, unrefined, and chaotic. It refers to a type of civic culture that emerges in alleys and neighborhoods, characterized by commercial tendencies, simplicity, and a sense of randomness and flux. It is a "flow" — "Time passes like this, without pause day or night." It reflects the genuine daily lives and mindsets of the citizens, expressing superficial and simplistic emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. This culture is free and unrestrained, lacking in solemnity, depth, and psychological impact, and there is "no deep concern for reality and history, nor is there an awareness of tragic experiences marked by blood and fire."