转发这条锦鲤

Imagine a chain letter, but make it a gorgeous golden koi fish and swap the ominous curse for wishful thinking. In 2018, Chinese internet users went wild forwarding koi images to summon good luck — acing exams, landing jobs, winning the lottery. It's equal parts superstition, humor, and collective cope. The koi itself is a traditional symbol of fortune, but netizens turned it into a self-aware ritual: everyone knows it's silly, everyone does it anyway.

The trend exploded after Alipay ran a sweepstakes featuring a koi photo of influencer Yang Kaixin, who won lavish prizes. Amid intense competition in China's high-pressure education and job markets, the meme became a lighthearted outlet for anxiety — a digital folk prayer that poked fun at its own helplessness while still daring to hope.

通过转发锦鲤图片祈求好运的网络迷信行为，源于支付宝抽奖活动，寄托对美好生活的期望。