An incident where a random attacker was stabbing a woman in the eyes at random. That is absolutely terrifying.

What are the “Xianzhong-style” incidents discussed on the Chinese internet?

The incident took place in the Guangzhou University City, a commercial area situated at the heart of an educational district that houses multiple institutions, including Sun Yat-sen University and South China University of Technology. Immediately following the incident, tension gripped the area as nearby universities urged students to refrain from going out, and messages encouraging others to stay indoors spread rapidly across social media.

In recent years, China has seen a succession of reported incidents in which individuals—driven by financial hardship or societal grievances—indiscriminately target strangers. Online, these incidents have come to be known as “Xianzhong” (or “Xianzhong-style” attacks), a term alluding to Zhang Xianzhong, a 17th-century rebel leader notorious for orchestrating mass killings. Indeed, several major incidents of this nature have occurred in recent years—such as a vehicle ramming into a crowd in Guangdong Province that left 35 dead, and a random stabbing attack at a vocational school in Jiangsu Province that killed eight—causing the term to take root as an expression of growing social anxiety.