Don't write for yourself: take the user's view (Y-type), and pin down the reader's 'A point' first
A leading figure in Chinese copywriting methodology, Li Jiaoshou (Li Jing, a former Baidu VP), drew a key distinction: X-type vs Y-type copy.
- X-type copy = the writer's own view: piling on flowery words, symmetrical rhetoric, and fancy vocabulary to mask hollow content, often aiming to 'move the writer' — producing baffling 'self-indulgent copy' (zi-hai wenan).
- Y-type copy = the user's view: plain language, vivid imagery, straight to the benefit — it simply paints the scene already in the reader's mind visually, then asks for one simple action.
Good copy is Y-type. This runs the same direction as earlier lessons' 'clear beats clever' and Ogilvy's 'we're here to sell, not to admire our own prose' — swap showing off for a picture and a benefit the reader gets instantly.
The demand triangle: lack x target x ability — remove one corner and the need collapses
Why do some pieces hype a product to the skies yet sell nothing? Li Jiaoshou's 'demand triangle' (xuqiu sanjiao) answers this: for a need to hold, three things must all be present —
1. Lack (quefa gan) = the gap between the ideal and reality — plainly, the pain point (the reader feels something is off or not enough);
2. Target = the concrete solution that fills the lack (i.e., your product);
3. Consumer ability = the willingness and the threshold to pay the cost for it (money / time / learning / self-image, etc.).
Remove one corner and the need falls apart. Many pieces fail precisely because they only shout 'the product is great' (the target) without first awakening the lack — the reader doesn't feel they're missing anything, so however good it is, it has nothing to do with them.
So copy should work the triangle in order:
- First amplify the lack: make the reader realize 'I really do have this pain' (this is the classic PAS — poke the pain, then agitate it);
- Then map the product clearly onto the target: let the reader see at a glance 'this is the cure' — don't make them guess;
- Finally lower the cost to act: cheap, simple, risk-free, low-threshold — this is the 'raise the consumer's ability' corner (in Fogg's behavior model, lowering the barrier matters as much as raising motivation).
In one line: awaken the pain -> match the cure -> make it easy to take that one step. Drop any of the three and the need can stall.
Xiaohongshu's four elements, and 'seeing through the formulas to the principles'
Down to a concrete platform. A hit note on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book / RED) is commonly broken into four make-or-break elements (order matters):
1. Topic — positioned by 'keywords': words people search often, with high demand, sit in front of a whole crowd wanting to solve the same problem;
2. Cover — in a two-column feed the cover is the first entry point, commonly 3:4 portrait (it fills more of the screen and stands out more than landscape; image-text notes often use 1242x1660px), and the first image must be understandable at a glance and carry a hook;
3. Title — under ~20 characters, with a hook;
4. Body — clear structure, resonates with the pain, delivers concrete, actionable value.
By order, 'topic > cover > title > body': get the topic wrong and no amount of polish downstream will make it a hit. (Note: for first-party platform methods, defer to creator.xiaohongshu.com's official creator academy; street 'formulas' vary in quality and shift as the algorithm changes.)
As for those common viral titles — numbered ('3 methods'), pain-warning ('you must avoid...'), contrast, identity-label ('office workers / oily-skin sisters'), suspense — don't treat them as templates to memorize. Underneath, they are the classic principles this course has covered all along:
- numbers / specifics = Caples's 'be specific';
- pain-warning = scarcity and urgency (Cialdini) + PAS pain;
- identity labels = precise self-selection (self-interest);
- contrast / suspense = Loewenstein's information gap (curiosity).
Chinese platforms' viral playbook is, at bottom, the localization of these principles; the only difference is that Chinese platforms lean harder on identity resonance, emotional intensity, and in-the-moment atmosphere, and bind the cover / first image tightly to the title. Formulas expire with the platform; principles don't — grasp the principles and you can keep writing hits as platforms change.
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Li Jiaoshou splits copy into X-type and Y-type. Which statement is correct?
答案：X-type is the writer's view — piling on flowery words to 'move the writer,' the 'self-indulgent copy'; Y-type is the user's view — plain language, vivid imagery, straight to the benefit. Good copy is Y-type
Li Jiaoshou (Li Jing, a former Baidu VP) proposed X-type vs Y-type copy: X-type = the writer's view, piling on flowery words and symmetrical rhetoric to mask hollow content, aiming to 'move the writer' — the baffling 'self-indulgent copy'; Y-type = the user's view, plain language, vivid imagery, straight to the benefit, painting the scene already in the reader's mind visually. Good copy is Y-type — the same direction as 'clear beats clever' and Ogilvy's 'we're here to sell, not to admire our own prose.' (Sources: Li Jiaoshou, X-type vs Y-type Copy; Ogilvy on Advertising)
Regarding Li Jiaoshou's A-to-B points, which statement is correct?
答案：The A point = what the reader thinks before your copy; the B point = where you want them after; the effect of copy = B - A. The most common mistake is fixating on the B point you want while never mapping the reader's A point
A-to-B points: the A point is what the reader thinks before seeing your copy; the B point is where you want them after; the effect of copy = B - A. The common mistake is fixating on the B point you want ('I want them to see my product as premium') while never learning the reader's A point (what they think, care about, and worry about) — so you talk to thin air. The fix is to map the reader's A point (current beliefs / pain / objections) first, then design the shortest path from A to B — always start from the reader's real state right now. (Source: Li Jiaoshou, A-to-B points)
Li Jiaoshou's 'demand triangle' says a need holds only when three things are present at once. Which three?
答案：Lack (pain point), target (the solution that fills the lack), and consumer ability (the willingness and threshold to pay the cost)
The demand triangle = lack x target x consumer ability; a need holds only when all three are present: (1) lack = the gap between ideal and reality, i.e., the pain point; (2) target = the concrete solution that fills the lack (your product); (3) consumer ability = the willingness and threshold to pay the cost (money / time / learning / self-image). Remove one corner and the need falls apart — many pieces fail by only shouting 'the product is great' (the target) without first awakening the lack. (Sources: Li Jiaoshou, demand triangle; the ability corner maps to Fogg's behavior model of lowering the barrier)
A sleep tea's copy keeps praising 'hand-picked high-mountain leaves, exquisite craft' but won't sell. Through the demand triangle, which corner is most likely missing, and what should you fix first?
答案：The lack was never awakened — the reader hasn't first realized 'I've been sleeping badly and feel drained by day'; amplify the lack first, then map the tea clearly onto the cure
Praising 'high-mountain leaves, exquisite craft' throughout only stresses the target (the product is great) without first awakening the lack — the reader hasn't realized they sleep badly, so however good the product is, it has nothing to do with them. Follow the triangle's order: amplify the lack first (make them feel the pain), then map the product clearly onto the target (this is the cure), then lower the cost to act. With the lack corner unfilled, the need doesn't hold. (Sources: Li Jiaoshou, demand triangle; PAS — poke the pain then agitate)
A Xiaohongshu hit is commonly broken into four elements. Which statement about them and their order fits best?
答案：The four elements are topic, cover, title, and body, in the common order 'topic > cover > title > body': get the topic wrong and no polish downstream makes it a hit (defer to the official creator academy for first-party methods)
A Xiaohongshu hit is commonly broken into four elements: (1) topic — positioned by 'keywords' (words people search often sit in front of a crowd with the same need); (2) cover — the first entry point in a two-column feed, commonly 3:4 portrait with a first image understandable at a glance and carrying a hook; (3) title — under ~20 characters with a hook; (4) body — clear structure, pain resonance, concrete value. Order: 'topic > cover > title > body' — get the topic wrong and no polish makes it a hit. This is common platform practice; defer to creator.xiaohongshu.com's official creator academy for first-party methods. (Sources: Xiaohongshu creator academy; common platform practice)
On a two-column feed like Xiaohongshu, which statement about the cover / first image better fits common practice?
答案：Covers commonly use 3:4 portrait (fills more screen, stands out more than landscape), and the first image must be understandable at a glance — 'who it's for, what they get' — and carry a hook; a weak cover is invisible in the feed
Xiaohongshu is a two-column, cover-driven feed: users first see a cover thumbnail, and whether they open it is largely decided by cover + title. Common practice: covers use 3:4 portrait (fills more screen and stands out more than 1:1 or landscape; image-text notes often use 1242x1660px), and the first image should be understandable at a glance — 'who it's for, what they get' — with a hook; cover text echoes the title without repeating it. A weak cover / first image gets no chance to be opened in the feed — it's effectively invisible. (Note: this is common practice with medium confidence; defer to the official creator academy for first-party specs.) (Source: Xiaohongshu cover guidance, creator academy)
'See through the formulas to the principles' — which pairing of a common Xiaohongshu title formula to its underlying principle is correct?
答案：Numbers/specifics = Caples's 'be specific,' pain-warning = scarcity/urgency + PAS pain, curiosity/suspense = Loewenstein's information gap — the formulas are localizations of these classic principles; the principles hold while the formulas churn with the platform
The underlying logic of common Xiaohongshu title formulas is the classic principles this course covered: numbers/specifics = Caples's 'be specific' (adds credibility); pain-warning = scarcity/urgency (Cialdini) + PAS pain; identity labels = precise self-selection (self-interest); contrast/suspense = Loewenstein's information gap (curiosity). Chinese platforms' viral playbook is largely the localization of these principles, differing only in leaning harder on identity resonance, emotional intensity, and in-the-moment atmosphere, and binding cover to title. Grasp the underlying principle and you can migrate as platforms change; a formula fails the moment it dates. (Sources: Caples 1932; Cialdini 1984; Loewenstein 1994; this course's East-West mapping)
True or False: As long as you download 5,000 viral headline templates and plug them in one by one, you can reliably produce hits even without understanding the reader's A point or any underlying principle.
答案：False
False. Plugging in templates without understanding the reader's A point or the underlying principles is carving the boat to find the sword: the platform's algorithm and users' tastes keep changing, so a formula dates and fails the moment it does. See through the template to the principle (Li Jiaoshou's demand triangle / A-to-B points + classic principles from Caples / Cialdini / Loewenstein) so you can keep writing as platforms change. 'Download 5,000 viral headlines and just plug them in' is exactly the first misconception this lesson breaks. (Sources: Li Jiaoshou, copywriting methodology; Xiaohongshu creator academy)
True or False: The more flowery the words and the more symmetrical and fancy the rhetoric, the more skill the copy shows and the more it moves the reader.
答案：False
False. This is exactly the X-type 'self-indulgent copy' Li Jiaoshou called out — using flowery language to mask hollow content, moving the writer but not the reader. Good copy is Y-type: take the user's view, visualize the scene, go straight to the benefit, so the reader gets it instantly. Flowery wording is not skill; clear beats clever. (Source: Li Jiaoshou, X-type vs Y-type Copy)
True or False: Amplifying a reader's 'real' pain (a lack) and 'manufacturing' anxiety out of nothing are not the same thing — the latter spikes volume short-term via clickbait but gets throttled by the platform and collapses trust long-term.
答案：True
True. Amplifying a real lack makes the reader aware of a pain they genuinely have — a legitimate use of the demand triangle; manufacturing and selling anxiety out of nothing via clickbait is another matter — it spikes volume short-term but gets throttled by the platform and collapses user trust long-term. Keep the two apart: the answer is always to grasp the principles + take the user's view + deliver real value. (Sources: Li Jiaoshou's copywriting methodology; platform content governance and long-term trust)