The value transformation of the linguistic and cultural type of “workaholic” in modern Chinese consciousness

The article is devoted to the study of the transformation of the linguistic and cultural type of “workaholic” in modern Chinese society. The relevance of the work is due to the revision of labor values in China: from the traditional Confucian sacralization of labor to criticism of hyperproductivity in the digital economy. Of particular importance is the analysis of how these changes are recorded in the language. The research uses an integrative approach combining the methods of linguocultural and sociolinguistic analysis. The material includes: 1) historical idioms (废寝忘食, 悬梁刺股), 2) modern vocabulary (996, 社畜)), 3) survey data from 105 respondents of different age groups. The methodological basis is the theory of linguistic and cultural types [2]. The main results revealed: 1) the change of axiological paradigms from positive connotations to ambivalent/negative ones; 2) gender-age differentiation of perception; 3) the formation of new discursive practices criticizing workaholism. The work contributes to the understanding of the transformation of Chinese identity and is important for intercultural communication.