The characters combine literally to mean “the old hundred surnames.” In ancient China, “the hundred surnames” was a classical literary phrase used to refer to all the families in the kingdom, and thus, all the people. Adding a familiar 老 (lǎo) to the front creates the modern, colloquial term 老百姓 (lǎobǎixìng), a warm and universally understood word for the common people.
In Chinese culture, the concept of 老百姓 is deeply ingrained and carries significant weight. It implicitly creates a distinction between two main groups in society: the rulers (官员, guānyuán) and the ruled (老百姓). This isn't necessarily negative; it's a reflection of a long history where the government's primary duty was to ensure the well-being and stability of its people. A useful Western comparison is the term “the taxpayers” or “the general public,” but 老百姓 is more personal and less formal. While “the public” in the West often implies a body with civic power and agency (“public opinion,” “public outcry”), 老百姓 can sometimes carry a more passive connotation, referring to the people as the recipients of policy rather than the drivers of it. However, it can also be a source of immense moral authority. A government that loses the support of the 老百姓 is seen as having lost its legitimacy, a concept with roots in the ancient “Mandate of Heaven” (天命, tiānmìng). The term embodies a collectivist value: it's not about an individual but about the collective “folk.” When people say “我们老百姓” (wǒmen lǎobǎixìng - “we, the common people”), they are identifying with a massive, shared social identity.
老百姓 is an extremely common and versatile term used across all registers of speech.