If you are thinking of picking up some Chinese during your stay in the Middle Kingdom, there's one character you will definitely want to know. 囧 (jiong), which first appeared on oracle bones about 3,000 years ago, has become one of the most frequently used icons by the Chinese Internet community.

The character has gained iconic status and has come to mean "sad and frustrated", as it resembles a frowning face. The symbol, whose original meaning is "bright", has attracted a lot of online buzz with its new Net definition.

This new meaning has found wide-ranging use in expressions such as, "I was terribly 囧 to find myself in the same elevator as my boss after I had complained to him about a colleague", or "It's really that I was in such a hurry that I threw my handbag instead of the garbage bag into the trash can".

This character has also given birth to a great many expressions appropriate for a variety of social situations. Bloggers are using it in their blog names, such as Jiong Pig. More than 500 Jiong BBS were born overnight, such as "Jiong Village" on baidu.com. And some Net users have even built an official website for Jiong, such as "Jiong Everyday" on Youku (a hot video sharing site), which hosts a daily humorous video on the emerging Jiong culture.

Bowls and mugs feature patterns inspired by the Jiong character.[China Daily]

A recent report about Ig Nobel - a parody of the Nobel Prizes by the scientific humor magazine, Annals of Improbable Research - in a Beijing-based newspaper even used Jiong Science as a headline to describe quirky research on such questions as, does drinking coca cola kill sperm and why do people pick their nose. A cartoon of a robot carrying test tubes and wearing a Jiong face, won over many readers.

But despite its popularity, 90 percent of Chinese can't pronounce this character, according to an online survey. It is believed 囧 is inspired by the shape of a window and the fact that a window lets in light and hence, brightness. No one is sure how this ancient character has come alive to gain increasing popularity in today's life.

Jiong now is not just another Chinese expression but has come to represent a particular lifestyle. At first, the character was popular only on the Net but has now begun to infiltrate people's offline lives as well.

Jiong is proving invaluable to brands wooing young consumers and turning to the Internet for inspiring ways to sell themselves. The character has found its way to handbags, shoes, and even to trademarks.

Early this year, sports brand Li Ning designed a shoe line that featured Jiong and a milk tea shop in Beijing which named itself Jiong is reportedly enjoying booming business.

(China Daily October 27, 2008)