With over 1.5 billion views, the “Pre-Qin Lady’s Steps” has swept the entire Internet. What on earth are they being “plain” about?

Exploring how the "Pre-Qin Lady's Steps" went from being an internet meme to a cultural phenomenon, the article analyzes the communication logic and social media influence behind it, providing insights for content creators and marketing professionals.

The trend of the pre-Qin ladies' steps has also reached the "king of dramas" "Joy of Life". Who would have thought that the second prince, who was a good-looking man, would be teased by netizens for walking with a twist and a rhythm, and even the official account of "Joy of Life" specially released a collection of walking clips for publicity. The actor who played the second prince, Liu Duanduan, also surfed at 18G speed, and followed the hot spots to post a video imitating the "pre-Qin ladies' steps", jokingly saying that he was walking the "pre-Qin prince's steps", which was liked more than 510,000 times and once topped the Douyin entertainment hot list.

Netizens in the comment section were happy to watch the video, while some people were laughing foolishly while asking soul-searching questions: What is the meaning of the pre-Qin lady's steps? What role does "su" play? This has to start with a blogger named "Oxygen in Bali". In the video, the blogger took confident steps and shouted "Pre-Qin lady's steps, su~ every step has attitude, su~" with a rhythmic BGM, which successfully brainwashed thousands of netizens and set off a wave of imitation.

According to Xinbang's Douyin data tool XinDou, the Douyin topic #先秦淑女步# has been played more than 1.5 billion times, and the Douyin account "Oxygen in Bali" has gained more than 300,000 followers in a month. As of now, the number of Douyin fans has reached 500,000 .

Although the overall data is not as good as that of the top anchors, it is worth mentioning that it took two years for "Oxygen in Bali" to reach 100,000 fans. Now it only took one month to quadruple the number of fans. In the past 30 days, each video received more than 82,000 likes and was shared more than 122,000 times on average.

Screenshot from the editorial department of Xindou according to Xinbang

"Archaeology" and "Pre-Qin Lady's Steps" are different from those memes that became popular overnight. They were formed at the end of September last year and have gone through rounds of iterations in the past eight or nine months before finally spreading explosively. From the path of "Pre-Qin Lady's Steps" becoming popular, we can see how a popular meme is created, fermented, breaks through the circle, and then gradually fades away.

1. From being disliked by thousands to being loved by thousands, the counterattack of the "Pre-Qin Lady's Step"

The reason why the "Pre-Qin Lady's Step" became popular is actually very simple, it is magical and brainwashing. Many people first heard this rap because of a video released by "Oxygen in Bali" on April 18, in which he stood in front of a small piece of bamboo, walking towards the camera while shouting: "Pre-Qin Lady's Step, vegetarian~ every step has an attitude, vegetarian~ would rather eat without meat, vegetarian~ can't live without bamboo, vegetarian..."

This video has been liked nearly 300,000 times and forwarded more than 610,000 times. Many netizens said that when they first heard it, they thought "what is this?", but after watching it a few more times, they became addicted to it and even shouted out along with the rhythm.

Since then, "Oxygen in Bali" has started to frequently release videos related to "Pre-Qin Lady Steps, Su~". For example, when going to the Lin'an Drum Tower in Hangzhou, there was a video of "Pre-Qin Lady Steps, Su~ Step by Step with Attitude, Su~ Lin'an Drum Tower, Su~ Southern Song Dynasty Princes, Su...", which received nearly 400,000 likes. The magical rhythm made netizens more and more addicted to it, and they couldn't help but imitate it. The Douyin account "Xiao Rui Amor Fati" with 420,000 followers used the rhythm of "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" to recite "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital". Although he failed to recite the entire text, it was also liked 1.05 million times, which is the most popular content of the account so far.

The reason why it is so brainwashing is that the three essential elements of "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" + "Su~" + BGM rhythm are indispensable. And "Oxygen in Bali" combined these three elements, not just a sudden inspiration, but after eight or nine months of adaptation and re-adaptation. "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" refers to the noble women wearing clothes from the Warring States Period walking cautiously with cat steps, showing the dignity and elegance of ladies in the Pre-Qin era. The formation of this stalk can be traced back to the 2011 TV series "Empresses in the Palace".

In the drama, Noble Lady Fucha specially learned this "Pre-Qin Lady Step" in order to please the Emperor. An Lingrong also explained the characteristics of this step, "When walking, one can be as graceful as a willow swaying in the wind, very elegant."

The connection between "Oxygen in Bali" and "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" all came from the complaints of netizens. On September 29, 2023, he shot a video in Taikoo Li, Chengdu. In the video, he was carrying an LV bag on one shoulder, wearing a shirt, and walking while recalling his struggles in the past 10 years.

This video has gained some popularity, but netizens are not interested in what he has done in the past 10 years, but rather his walking posture, twisting his hips with every step, which looks quite "charming". At the time, someone complained, "Are you demonstrating the steps of a lady from the pre-Qin period?" This comment was liked thousands of times.

The netizen who wrote the comment probably didn't expect that this sentence would become the "root of all evil" - the place where dreams begin. "Oxygen in Bali" seems to be optimistic. Facing various mocking comments such as "clip voice, unsquare walk, fat girl", he responded "please don't easily define others, and don't live in the definitions of others", "I don't like to be defined by others, I only like to be defined by myself".

Since October 2023, "Oxygen in Bali" has launched the slogan "Pre-Qin ladies walk with attitude at every step". Many videos start with this sentence, followed by copywriting that matches the shooting scene, and each sentence rhymes, for example:

"Don't call me a fat girl, that's a title of confidence; the footsteps of the ladies of the pre-Qin period, that's a confident attitude..."

"The steps of ladies in the Pre-Qin period were full of attitude; the Year of the Rabbit is coming to an end, and the Year of the Dragon is on its way..."

At the beginning of 2024, "Oxygen in Bali" began to match the "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" with a drum rhythm BGM, and added a whistle at the end of each sentence, and made a hand gesture of passing the mouth when blowing. Since then, the basic template of the "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" stalk has been finalized, but the scope of dissemination is still limited. The appearance of "Su" has injected soul into this stalk, making it truly break the circle.

"Oxygen in Bali" himself said in the video that he once filmed a video of "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and someone suggested that he use "素~" instead of the whistle sound, "it might sound better". He accepted the suggestion and filmed the video "I'd rather eat without meat, vegetarian~ than live without bamboo, vegetarian~" in front of a bamboo background.

Although some netizens are very curious about "what exactly is being posted", they are brainwashed by the magic rhythm and forwarded and imitated it crazily, which set off a big group building of "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" on the Internet. From September last year to April this year, the "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" meme also achieved a counterattack in word of mouth under the impetus of "Oxygen in Bali". So far, the topic of "Pre-Qin Lady Steps" has been played more than 1.5 billion times on Douyin.

In response to the requests of netizens, "Oxygen in Bali" also specially recorded a "vegan version" of the Pre-Qin Lady's Steps and uploaded it to major music platforms.

2. Behind the “vegetarian” trend, a tried and tested method to break the circle

If the meme "先秦淑女步，素~" was just mechanically repeated endlessly, this meme might not have the influence it has today. When netizens still thought that "先秦淑女步，素~" was a simple and crude funny meme, "Oxygen in Bali" combined it with content of different themes, divergent creation, and broke this stereotype.

For example, he would teach netizens to write a resume like this: "The steps of a lady in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, with attitude at every step, keep the format simple, no more than one page, please use an ID photo, avoid daily photos,..." Or he would write a navigation voice package like this: "The steps of a lady in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, with attitude at every step, control your speed, there is a speed limit ahead, there seems to be a traffic jam, drink some water to replenish your energy,..."

Many netizens lamented that under the "Oxygen in Bali" activity, it seems that everything can be "vegetarian", and a brainwashing comedy has the vitality to be continuously extended by creation.

"Oxygen in Bali" constantly refreshes netizens' views and perceptions of him, and his personal experience is also known by more people. According to the narration of "Oxygen in Bali" in the video, he is 36 years old this year, graduated from the 985 university University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, has worked in Huawei, Alibaba and other companies, is fluent in English and Spanish, and has been sent to work overseas for 10 years, including South America, Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and other regions, and has also traveled to Europe for study.

He often shares his experiences in videos, teaching netizens how to find a job, how to learn English, how to be confident, and also talks about his past experiences of studying in Europe and skilled immigration. Many people do not understand or even question him: "Why would someone who has received higher education and worked at Huawei and Alibaba post such embarrassing and funny content?"

"Oxygen in Bali" doesn't seem to mind. He will actively play with various malicious nicknames given by netizens, and even said in the video, "The greatest success in life is to live this life the way you want", and "Please yourself first to please others, take care of yourself. " This stable spiritual core forms a contrast with the magical humor of "Pre-Qin Lady Steps, Su~", and many netizens have "turned from haters to fans".

This may also be one of the boosters for a hot topic to continue to spread and rejuvenate. Netizens are willing to watch, share, and interact, rather than just finding it funny and then swiping it away in disgust. Similarly, Teacher Liu, who made "Shuan Q" popular, was imitated by netizens for his peculiar pronunciation when singing English songs. He also gained countless fans with his inspirational experience of self-studying English. He now has 2.88 million fans on Douyin and has opened his own restaurant.

The same is true for "Wanyan Huide" who became popular last year. She once had countless black fans, and memes such as "best friend's enemy" and "pushing her out" were played by netizens online and offline. When her story was retold through a documentary, many netizens who played the memes were moved to tears and apologized to her.

A funny joke may just be a gimmick to become popular, but the sincere story or expression behind it is more likely to touch people's hearts. After the word-of-mouth reversal of "Oxygen in Bali", it has gained many fans and successfully received advertisements for products such as Proya Double Anti-Aging Essence, Foreverkey Blush, and Notai Waist Belt, using the rhythm of "Pre-Qin ladies' steps, plain~" to promote and bring goods. Such stories of becoming popular are now common.

However, some netizens feel numb. Some people commented that every time such a story is told, the same "click-click" dubbing is used. Another person commented "Enough, stop your god-making plan, Douyin", which was liked nearly 100,000 times. The sustained attention that a meme can bring is ultimately limited.

Perhaps realizing this, "Oxygen in Bali" chose to show more of himself in the video. He said that the vegetarian series will not stop, and "I will also post useful information about personal growth and learning in the future." Author | Truffle

Author: Truffle; Editor: Zhang Jie; Source public account: Xinbang (ID: 746092)