The Legend of the Grass Mud Horse

Reinforcements have arrived for Chinese netizens in their fight against the censorship efforts of the government...in the form of a mythical creature known only as the "Grass Mud Horse" (草泥马/cǎonǐmǎ). Originally conceived some two months ago by some anonymous party, the video has now drawn over 1.5 million hits on YouTube--and spawned countless other spinoffs, including t-shirts, dolls and other follow-ups like this cartoon rap.

Those of you with a basic knowledge of Chinese (or at least Chinese swear words) will quickly recognize that "caonima" is a homonym for "F*** your mother". The video, however, expands on the concept and tells of how these "fun-loving and nimble" horses fight to keep a horde of river crabs (河蟹/héxiè, a homonym for "harmony", the Chinese euphemism for censorship) out of their home territory, the Ma Le Desert (马勒戈壁/mǎlègēbì, a homonym for "Your Mother's C***").

The entire thing is simply meant to poke fun at the government's continued efforts to censor the internet, but according to Xiao Qiang, a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, the Grass Mud Horse “has become an icon of resistance to censorship.”

The expression and cartoon videos may seem like a juvenile response to an unreasonable rule. But the fact that the vast online population has joined the chorus, from serious scholars to usually politically apathetic urban white-collar workers, shows how strongly this expression resonates.

Cui Weiping, a prominent blogger and professor at the Beijing Film Academy, adds,

As for “Grass Mud Horse”, I applaud the one who invented such a pun. Its underlining tone is: I know you do not allow me to say certain things...So, I say “Grass Mud Horse”, not "f*** your mom". What is “Grass Mud Horse”? It always works hard in harsh conditions. See, it is from the vast grassland. I like it. I love it. This whole thing is too far away from you [the government], out of your jurisdiction. Oh well, why are you always staring at me? Am I not perfectly fine? I am innocent. I have not been snatched away by some crooked folks. I have not been put under their control. And I am not vulgar. Why do you have to worry so much about me?

I am singing a cute children’s song – I AM A GRASS MUD HORSE!

Update: Apparently there are two CaoNiMa's, MaLe and GeBi.  And their offspring is called FaKeNiMa (NiMa sounds like "your mother" in Chinese).  More from Shanghaiist .