Jin Sheng Yuan, Affinities of This Life / Woman Cheat

About

Jin Sheng Yuan, Affinities of This Life also known as Woman Cheat, refers to the Chinese song "今生缘," pronounced "Jīnshēng yuán" and when translated into English reads, "Affinities of This Life." Alternative translations include "Destiny In This Life." The ballad is originally sung by singer 川子, pronounced Chuan Zi and also known as Kawako. "Affinities of This Life" became a meme on American TikTok in early 2024, using a cover of the song by Douyin singer 三哥, pronounced Sān Gē and translated to Third Brother. Third Brother originally posted his cover in 2021. On TikTok, users created Phonetic Translations of the lyrics in English, reading, "Woman cheat, so true, in shit, sun sun…" The emotional nature of the song but the inaccessibility of its meaning made it akin to the This Probably Funny meme, similar to the Chinese Beaver trend. Many of the memes used the phrasal template Sing in Chinese or X."

Origin

On July 9th, 2020, Chinese singer 川子 (Chuan Zi) uploaded his album 今生缘 to Spotify, ^[1] including the song "今生缘," pronounced "Jīnshēng yuán" which roughly translates into English reading, "Affinities of This Life." The song was published on YouTube^[2] in 2022 (shown below).

On March 4th, 2021, Douyin^[3] user 三哥 (Third Brother) posted a video of himself covering "Affinities of This Life," receiving over 190,000 likes in three years (TikTok^[4] repost shown below).

Spread

Years later, on December 16th, 2023, TikToker^[5] @andrewemily16 posted a video of himself lip-dubbing the song, receiving over 3.8 million plays and 166,700 likes in five months (shown below, left).

In March 2024, TikTokers began using the sound^[6] of @andrewemily16's video. The earliest viral usage was posted by TikToker^[7] @frans_glamour on March 8th, 2024, who wrote, "Quit Alcohol or Sing Chinese," showing himself drinking and lip-dubbing the song. Over two months, the TikTok gained roughly 4.7 million plays and 250,700 likes (shown below, right).

On March 26th, 2024, TikToker^[8] @markodea8 posted a video of himself lip-dubbing the song with phonetic lyrics in English, reading, "Woman cheat, so true, in shit, sun sun." Over two months, the video earned roughly 12.8 million plays and 911,300 likes (shown below, left).

On April 6th, 2024, TikToker^[9] @chineseteacherlily01 posted a karaoke video showing the song's lyrics in both Chinese as well as the joke phonetic lyrics sung by English speakers, receiving over 11.7 million plays and 638,800 likes in a month (shown below, right).

On April 6th, 2024, X^[10] user @CarlZha tweeted a TikTok that had been reposted to Douyin, indicating that Chinese internet users had discovered the American trend. The tweet received over 300 likes in a month (shown below).

Chinese netizens finally discovering old Chinese song Jin Sheng Yuan 今生缘 going viral on TikTok and Instagram.

Chinese cultural export: pic.twitter.com/We7GQDGnRR

— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) April 6, 2024

By May 8th, 2024, the trend's primary TikTok sound^[6] had amassed over 143,000 posts.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References