A go-getting executive in a multi-national company just a few years ago, Tu, 31, now lives just "one day at a time", as he puts it. That might be the motto for a growing group of fatigued young, white-collar Chinese known as "eraser" or "plasticine" men (xiang pi ren).

　　Brow-beaten out of shape by life, they show little if any response as they are kneaded this way and that, reported a local news magazine which has popularized the term now spreading in Chinese cyberspace. Broadly defined, they are mostly white-collar workers who are somewhat numb to life, have no dreams, interests or ideals, and do not feel much pain - or joy - reported the Guangzhou-based magazine.

　　These "plasticine men" can be found among doctors, bank employees, teachers, journalists, traffic policemen, civil servants, actors and taxi drivers, the magazine reported. Typically, they work alone and for more than 50 hours a week. They feel as if they have expended all their energy and all they get in return is a sense of emptiness.

　　The term comes from a 1986 book, Xiang Pi Ren (Plasticine Man), by still-popular novelist Wang Shuo, that was later made into a film entitled Out Of Breath (Da chuan qi).

　　If there is a growing group of "plasticine men" among China's white-collar class, it is hardly surprising, said outspoken sociology professor Zhou Xiaozheng of Renmin University in Beijing. "We are all slaves these days. Buy a house and you're a 'house slave' (fang nu). Buy a car and you're a 'car slave' (che nu). Bear a child and you're a 'child slave' (hai nu)," he said. The root source of these woes is the great inequality in Chinese society today, he said, noting that powerful elite interest groups keep a stranglehold on wealth.

　　For his part, Tu is concerned less with money than about finding his zest for life again. "Maybe this numbness is just a phase," he said, thinking aloud. "Or maybe life will just be this bland for me and I'll just have to accept that this is it."

　　新加坡《海峡时报》9月13日文章：“橡皮人”一代的崛起

　　房地产经纪人凯文-徐(音)每天早晨8点钟差不多一睁眼就觉得已经疲惫不堪。拖着疲乏的身子来到公司，然后坐在电脑前一呆就是9个小时。下班后回到位于北京南部的一居室小公寓，一个人盯着电视看。

　　31岁的徐几年前是一家跨国公司的管理人员，是个雄心勃勃的人，而今用他自己的话来说，日子是“过一天算一天”。这也许就是中国日益壮大的疲惫的年轻白领的座右铭，这个群体就是众所周知的“橡皮人”群体。

　　中国一份杂志报道，这个群体被生活的压力捏成各种形态，任由涅拿玩弄，毫无反应。“橡皮人”这个词如今走红中国的网络，而使之名声大噪的正是这家杂志。该杂志说，广义上讲，这个群体大多是白领，他们对生活有些麻木，没有梦想，没有兴趣或者理想，不觉得多么痛苦也不觉得多么开心。

　　该杂志还称，“橡皮人”常见于如下职业：医生、银行员工、教师、记者、交通警察、公务员、演员和出租车司机等。一般来说，这些人习惯于无需分享的孤独工作，每周工作时间超过50个小时。他们觉得似乎耗尽了所有精力，换来的只有空虚感。这个词源于1986年一本名叫《橡皮人》的书，该书作者是至今仍然走红的小说家王朔，该书后来被拍成电影《大喘气》。

　　中国人民大学一贯坦率直言的社会学教授周孝正说，中国白领阶层中出现越来越多的“橡皮人”，这一点不令人吃惊。他说：“如今所有人都是奴隶。买房子的成了‘房奴’，买车的成了‘车奴’，生了孩子的就成了‘孩奴’。”他说，这些不幸的根源在于当今中国社会严重缺失公平，他指出有权有势的精英利益集团牢牢把持着财富。

　　就涂先生来说，他更担心的是重新找到对生活的热情，而不是赚钱。他若有所思地说：“也许这种麻木只是一个阶段，又或者生活对我来说就是这般乏味，我只能接受这个事实。”