Grass-mud horses and Chinese censorship

A YouTube children’s song about "a grass-mud horse" has drawn nearly 1.4 million viewers. A "grass-mud horse" cartoon has logged a quarter million more views. A nature documentary on its habits attracted 180,000 more. Stores are selling "grass-mud horse" dolls. Chinese intellectuals are writing treatises on the "grass-mud horse’s" social importance. The story of the "grass-mud horse’s" struggle against the evil "river crab" has spread far and wide across the Chinese online community.

Why?

Well "The Grass-Mud Horse" is a mythical creature whose name in Chinese sounds like "f*** your mother". Its relative "the invading river crabs" sounds like "harmony", which in China's cyberspace has become a synonym for censorship.

(warning: the video contains explicit language!)
Censored bloggers often say their posts have been "harmonized" — a term directly derived from President Hu Jintaos regular exhortations for Chinese citizens to create a harmonious society.

So, in short, a children's song and two mythical animal characters have become a collective attempt to criticize Chinese censorship, and are now treated as such in China. BLOCKED! (Full)