Professor Biao Xiang, a 54-year-old anthropologist, has become an unlikely idol among young Chinese people facing anxiety about work, relationships and the pressures of a rapidly changing society. His discussions of uncertainty, self-worth and the search for meaning resonate with a generation increasingly disillusioned despite China’s economic and technological progress.

Around 500 people attended his recent talk in Singapore, where he argued that relying on competitive systems for approval can make people’s self-worth dependent on achievement. Xiang, who directs the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany, describes China as being at a turning point and uses ideas such as “floating” and “the nearby” to explain feelings of exhaustion and disconnection.