China's Toad Worship

We explore the remarkable journey of Moha (膜蛤, mó há), or “Toad Worship,” a unique political subculture in contemporary China centered on former leader Jiang Zemin. Once a tool of ridicule by dissidents and nationalists, Moha has transformed into a playful, nostalgic, and widely tolerated online practice. Drawing on Haoguang Li’s 2025 study The Political Subculture in Contemporary China: Moha and Its Transformation, this podcast examines the origins of Moha among Falun Gong practitioners, its spread through memes and videos like the “Three Pieces About Toad” (蛤三篇, Há Sān Piān), and its surprising reinterpretation as a form of political nostalgia in the 2010s and 2020s. We also discuss why the CCP has allowed Moha to flourish despite tight censorship, and what this tells us about humor, nostalgia, and resilience in authoritarian systems. With rich explanations of Chinese expressions, case studies, and cultural insights, this episode offers a clear and engaging guide to one of China’s strangest yet most telling subcultural phenomena.

Time Codes
00:00 - Jiang Zemin
00:58 - Part 1: What is Moha?
02:39 - Part 2: Early Negative Intentions
04:03 - Part 3: The Turn to Nostalgia
05:31 - Part 4: Collective Effervescence
06:55 - Part 5: The State’s Surprising Tolerance
07:44 - Part 6: Jiang’s Death
08:42 - Conclusion & Reflection

Moha 膜蛤 mó há
Toad Worship Jiang Zemin
Chinese political subculture
蛤三篇 Há Sān Piān
太年轻太简单有时天真 tài niánqīng tài jiǎndān yǒushí tiānzhēn
长者 Zhǎngzhě Elder
哈丝 Hā sī Toad’s Fans
Tao Guang Yang Hui 韬光养晦
Wolf Warrior Diplomacy 战狼外交
Chinese memes and politics
Nostalgia 怀旧 in China
Collective Effervescence 集体狂欢
Chinese censorship online
Drink tea 喝茶 police summons
Political humor in China
Chinese memes
Chinese Politics