People Are Taking Inspiration From The Chinese ‘Century of Humiliation’ To Make Predictions About The Future Of America

About

American Century of Humiliation is a catchphrase^[1] that takes inspiration from the “Chinese Century of Humiliation,” a phrase that emerged in Chinese discourse^[2] in the early 20th century to describe a period when China^[3] suffered military defeats, territorial losses and foreign domination. In 2025, the phrase came to be used in America by critics of U.S. President Donald Trump^[4]‘s policies, particularly his reciprocal tariffs^[5], anti-immigration stance^[6] and his domestic employment policies. Critics accused Trump of heralding an “American Century of Humiliation” marked by inflationary prices and a recession-like employment market, as well as diminished global stature. Memes about the “American Century of Humiliation” often depict Americans using Google Translate^[7] to pose as refugees fleeing to China, or feature GIF^[8] meme montages mocking various policies introduced in 2025.

Origin

From about 1839 to 1949, China endured military defeats, territorial losses and foreign domination. The phrase “Century of Humiliation” or 百年国耻 emerged in Chinese discourse in the early 20th century amid rising nationalism, with Chinese intellectuals and revolutionaries framing foreign aggression as a national disgrace to overcome.

The phrase “American Century of Humiliation” can be traced as far back as a May 8th, 2020, tweet by X / Twitter^[9] user @justinchina, and a February 10th, 2022, post on the subreddit /r/imaginarymaps. However, the phrase gained notable widespread traction only in 2025, with some critics jokingly rebranding the United States’ issues with tariffs, stagnating wages and uneven employment as its own “century of humiliation.”

However, the earliest notable post using the phrase was an April 2nd, 2025, post by X user @brianonhere that showed Google Translate converting the phrase, “hello, I am refugee from american century of humiliation. where can I get an iced americano around these parts?” to Mandarin. The post gathered over 1 million views and 70,000 likes in seven months.

Spread

On July 4th, 2025, the Instagram^[10] page @fashionruinedmylife posted a screenshot of Google Translate converting the phrase, “Hello I am feeling the American century of humiliation. Can you show me where to buy White Monster Energy Drinks^[11]?” The post gathered over 44,000 likes in three months.

In 2025, X user @GalaxyPeaBrain created a number of GIFs with a banner that read, “The American Century of Humiliation,” many of which can be accessed on their website.

On September 22nd, X user @GalaxyPeaBrain posted another “American Century of Humiliation” GIF, this time featuring the Michael Jordan No No No^[12] reaction. The post was in reaction to a news headline that read, “U.S. Manufacturing and Construction Facing Recession-Like Conditions — FT One-Third of U.S. States May Already Be in Recession — FT,” gathering over 1 million views and 60,000 likes in a week.

On October 1st, 2025, X user @arguablysomaya reposted a GIF featuring Anya Forger from Spy x Family in front of a scene from The End of Evangelion^[13] and text that read, “The American Century of Humiliation.” The GIF, originally created by @GalaxyPeaBrain, was used to quote a news headline that read, “BREAKING: The number of jobs created in August has been revised from 54,000 down to -3,000.” The post gathered over 100,000 likes in two days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References