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七万五千字辞职信背后：钉钉换帅，与阿里的自我拷问
Behind a 75,000-Character Resignation Letter: DingTalk's Leadership Change and Alibaba's Self-Reckoning
Advanced Chinese listening practice. The full story of the DingTalk resignation-letter saga: Teng Yaxin's 'Inside DingTalk', Ma Ruila's echo from 'Outside DingTalk', Alibaba's Partners Committee rebuke, Chen Hang's exit and Chen Yusen's rise, the AI reorganization behind it, and the question that cuts at every overworked person: are we creating value, or just performing effort?
This is an HSK 5-6 Chinese listening episode that runs about 6 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 14 key vocabulary words such as 辞职信、掀翻、复盘 and walks through 7 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
今天我们聊一件，这几天在中国互联网上几乎刷屏的事。
Today we'll talk about something that has basically flooded the Chinese internet these past few days.
一封辞职信，掀翻了一家大公司的 CEO。
A resignation letter toppled a big company's CEO.
故事的主角，是钉钉。
The protagonist of the story is DingTalk.
钉钉你大概率不陌生。
You're probably not unfamiliar with DingTalk.
在中国，它几乎是职场人每天都要打开的工具。
In China, it's a tool that working people open almost every day.
发消息、开视频会、打卡、审批，全都在上面。
Sending messages, video meetings, clocking in, approvals — it's all on there.
你可以把它理解成一个"公司版的微信"。
You can think of it as a 'corporate version of WeChat'.
而钉钉的背后，是阿里巴巴。
And behind DingTalk is Alibaba.
也就是中国最大的互联网公司之一。
That is, one of China's largest internet companies.
事情的起点，是一个人。
The starting point of this whole thing is one person.
他叫滕雅辛，花名"幽素"。
His name is Teng Yaxin; his nickname is 'Yousu'.
他是钉钉一个核心 AI 产品的产品经理。
He was the product manager of one of DingTalk's core AI products.
这个 AI 产品，曾经做到过每天三百万活跃用户。
This AI product once reached three million daily active users.
听起来很成功。
It sounds successful.
但是后来，这个项目，被一步步收缩、砍掉了。
But later, this project was step by step scaled back and cut.
6月4日，滕雅辛选择了离开。
On June 4, Teng Yaxin chose to leave.
他在阿里的内部网络上，发了一封辞职长文。
On Alibaba's internal network, he posted a long resignation essay.
题目叫《置身钉内》。
Titled 'Inside DingTalk'.
这封信，足足有七万五千字。
This letter ran a full seventy-five thousand characters.
这个长度，已经不是一封普通的辞职信了。
At that length, it's no longer an ordinary resignation letter.
它更像是一份完整的复盘报告。
It's more like a complete retrospective report.
他把那个 AI 项目，从立项、爆发、到最后收场，
He wrote out that AI project — from inception, to explosion, to its final end —
完完整整地写了下来。
completely and in full.
他用了很多隐晦的、带点文学色彩的说法，
He used many oblique, somewhat literary turns of phrase,
但是核心指向非常清楚。
but the core thrust was very clear.
第一，团队里弥漫着一种"向上讨好"的文化。
First, the team was steeped in a culture of 'pleasing those above'.
大家做事，第一位的不是用户，
When people did their work, the first priority wasn't the user,
而是让领导满意。
but satisfying the leaders.
第二，内部恶性竞争严重，互相内耗。
Second, vicious internal competition was severe; people wore each other down.
第三，很多决策，靠的是领导的个人喜好，
Third, many decisions were based on leaders' personal preferences,
而不是真正的战略判断。
rather than genuine strategic judgment.
第四，是无意义的加班，和随之而来的集体倦怠。
Fourth, there was meaningless overtime, and the collective burnout that came with it.
这封信发出来之后，在阿里内部迅速传开。
After this letter came out, it spread rapidly inside Alibaba.
很多员工的反应是：
Many employees' reaction was:
"他写的，就是我们的日常。
'What he wrote is exactly our daily life.'
6月8日，又有一个重量级的人物站了出来。
On June 8, another heavyweight figure stepped forward.
钉钉前副总裁、AI 产品负责人马锐拉，
Ma Ruila, DingTalk's former vice president and head of AI products,
在自己的公众号上，
on his own public account,
发了一篇呼应的文章，题目叫《置身钉外》。
posted an echoing article, titled 'Outside DingTalk'.
他证实了滕雅辛描述的种种状况。
He confirmed the various conditions Teng Yaxin described.
他还说了一句很扎心的话。
He also said something piercing.
他说，他那段时间一度分不清，
He said that during that period he could, at one point, no longer tell
自己到底是在创造产品，
whether he was actually creating a product,
还是只是在精疲力竭地，
or just, utterly exhausted,
追赶一个永远在后退的节奏。
chasing a pace that was forever receding.
这两篇文章，一内一外，互相印证。
These two articles — one inside, one outside — corroborated each other.
舆论彻底被点燃了。
Public opinion was completely set ablaze.
6月10日，阿里巴巴的合伙人委员会，
On June 10, Alibaba's Partners Committee
专门发了一篇内部回应。
specifically posted an internal response.
题目意味深长，
The title was meaningful,
大意是：有情有义、有成长，才是阿里该有的文化。
roughly: 'Warmth, loyalty, and growth — that's the culture Alibaba should have.'
这等于是阿里最高层，
This amounted to Alibaba's highest level
公开否定了钉钉这套管理方式。
publicly rejecting DingTalk's style of management.
而真正的重头戏，在6月11日。
And the real main event was on June 11.
阿里宣布，钉钉 CEO 陈航卸任。
Alibaba announced that DingTalk CEO Chen Hang was stepping down.
陈航这个名字，懂行的人都知道。
The name Chen Hang — people in the know all recognize it.
他花名"无招"。
His nickname is 'Wuzhao'.
钉钉这个产品，最早就是他一手带出来的。
DingTalk, the product, was originally built single-handedly by him.
可以说，他是钉钉的灵魂人物。
You could say he is DingTalk's soul.
后来他离开过一次。
Later, he left once.
2025年3月，他又回归，重新执掌钉钉。
In March 2025, he returned and took the helm of DingTalk again.
但是这一次回归，只持续了四百多天。
But this return lasted only a little over four hundred days.
如今，再度离场。
Now, he departs once more.
接替他的，是一个相当年轻的人，叫陈宇森。
Taking his place is a fairly young person, named Chen Yusen.
他出生于1992年，今年才三十四岁。
He was born in 1992, and is only thirty-four this year.
一举成为阿里最年轻的事业部 CEO。
In one stroke he became Alibaba's youngest business-unit CEO.
陈宇森不是普通人。
Chen Yusen is no ordinary person.
他22岁就创业，做的是网络安全。
At 22 he started a company, doing cybersecurity.
公司后来被阿里云收购。
His company was later acquired by Alibaba Cloud.
2025年，他又做出了一款 AI Agent 产品，
In 2025, he made an AI Agent product,
在海外四十多个国家都有用户，
with users in over forty countries abroad,
据说很快就跑通了商业模式。
and reportedly found a working business model quickly.
所以阿里选他，信号其实很明确：
So Alibaba choosing him sends a very clear signal:
要用一个更懂 AI、更像创业者的年轻人，
to use a younger person — more fluent in AI, more like an entrepreneur —
来给钉钉换血。
to give DingTalk a transfusion of new blood.
说到这里，我们退后一步，看看更大的图景。
Speaking of which, let's step back and look at the bigger picture.
钉钉换帅，并不是一个孤立事件。
DingTalk's leadership change is not an isolated event.
它是阿里这一整年，
It's part of Alibaba's whole-year
围绕 AI 进行组织大调整的一部分。
major organizational restructuring around AI.
旧的、按部门和职能划分的架构，
The old architecture, divided by department and function,
正在被打散、重组。
is being broken up and recombined.
那么，这件事到底给我们留下了什么？
So, what exactly does this leave us with?
我想，至少有两点，值得我们记住。
I think there are at least two points worth remembering.
第一点，是关于真话的力量。
The first point is about the power of truth.
一个没有职级、没有权力的产品经理，
A product manager with no rank and no power,
仅仅是认真地、完整地，写下了他看到的真相。
simply, earnestly, and completely, wrote down the truth he saw.
就撬动了一家万亿市值公司的人事变动。
And it moved the personnel of a trillion-dollar company.
这在任何时代，都是稀有的。
In any era, that is rare.
它提醒我们：真相本身，是有重量的。
It reminds us: the truth itself has weight.
只是大多数时候，
It's just that, most of the time,
我们都选择了沉默，
we all choose silence,
因为说真话，往往要付出代价。
because telling the truth often comes at a cost.
第二点，是关于人和效率的。
The second point is about people and efficiency.
滕雅辛信里最痛的一句，
The most painful line in Teng Yaxin's letter
其实不是骂谁，
wasn't actually cursing anyone,
而是那个问题：
but that question:
我们这么忙、这么累，
We're this busy, this tired —
到底是在创造价值，
are we actually creating value,
还是只是在表演努力？
or just performing effort?
这个问题，不只是问钉钉的。
This question isn't only for DingTalk.
它问的是今天每一个，
It's for every single person today,
在格子间里、在工位上、
in their cubicle, at their desk,
深夜还在加班的普通人。
still working overtime late at night.
所以节目最后，我想把这个问题，留给你。
So at the end of the show, I want to leave this question with you.
回想你最近的工作和生活。
Think back on your recent work and life.
你所做的那些事，
The things you do,
那些让你忙到喘不过气的事，
the things that keep you so busy you can't breathe —
有多少，是真的在创造价值？
how many of them are truly creating value?
又有多少，
And how many
只是在追赶一个，
are just chasing a pace
永远在后退的节奏？
that is forever receding?
这个问题，没有标准答案。
This question has no standard answer.
但是值得你，为自己，认真想一想。
But it's worth you, for your own sake, thinking it through seriously.
The 75,000-character letter at the heart of the story. 辞职 (resign) + 信 (letter).
一封辞职信，掀翻了一家大公司的 CEO = a resignation letter toppled a big company's CEO.
更像是一份完整的复盘报告 = more like a complete retrospective report. Originally a Go/chess term, now common in business.
一种'向上讨好'的文化 = a culture of pleasing superiors. 讨好 = to curry favor.
互相内耗 = wearing each other down internally. 内 (internal) + 耗 (consume).
HSK 6. 很多决策，靠的是领导的个人喜好 = many decisions relied on leaders' personal preferences.
集体倦怠 = collective burnout.
舆论彻底被点燃了 = public opinion was completely set ablaze.
钉钉 CEO 陈航卸任 = DingTalk CEO Chen Hang stepped down.
重新执掌钉钉 = took the helm of DingTalk again.
给钉钉换血 = give DingTalk a transfusion of new blood — i.e. bring in fresh leadership.
就撬动了一家万亿市值公司的人事变动 = moved the personnel of a trillion-dollar company. Vivid lever metaphor.
还是只是在表演努力？ = or just performing effort? The episode's sharpest phrase.
一家万亿市值公司 = a company with a trillion in market value. 万亿 = trillion; 市值 = market cap.
* beyond level超纲词
你可以把 X 理解成 Y (you can understand X as Y)
A framing device — gives the listener an analogy for an unfamiliar thing.
你可以把它理解成一个'公司版的微信'。
第一 ... 第二 ... 第三 ... 第四 ... (enumeration)
Ordinal listing — structures a multi-point argument.
第一，团队里弥漫着一种'向上讨好'的文化。
第二，内部恶性竞争严重。
第四，是无意义的加班。
不是 X，而是 Y (not X, but Y)
Strong correction, central to the letter's argument.
第一位的不是用户，而是让领导满意。
其实不是骂谁，而是那个问题。
这等于是 + Clause (this amounts to)
Interpretive marker — restates an action's real meaning.
这等于是阿里最高层，公开否定了钉钉这套管理方式。
Subject + 到底 + 是 ... 还是 ...? (after all, X or Y?)
Sharpened either-or question for rhetorical weight.
自己到底是在创造产品，还是只是在精疲力竭地，追赶一个永远在后退的节奏。
到底是在创造价值，还是只是在表演努力？
仅仅 + Verb，就 + Result (merely X, and Y followed)
Emphasizes a large outcome from a small action.
仅仅是认真地、完整地，写下了他看到的真相。就撬动了一家万亿市值公司的人事变动。
值得 + Subject + Verb (worth doing)
Marks something as worthwhile.
值得我们记住。
但是值得你，为自己，认真想一想。