Zhang Yimou’s Hero is a rare production in the history of Chinese cinema. Apart from achieving blockbuster status in the West that few Chinese movies have managed, it is also extremely successful domestically. Nevertheless, just as many other well-received films preceding it, Hero has been the subject of varied interpretations.
Critics seem especially unable to decide on the traditional Chinese philosophy behind Hero. Some view it as the epitome of Confucian teachings on loyalty (Louie), while others argue that it “chooses a Legalist narrative to judge the moral health of the nation … [and] challenge[s] the social morality of Confucianism” (Rawnsley). Few, however, have looked at Hero through the lens of Taoism. Yet, Taoist influence in this movie is undeniable. In depicting the lives of youxia (knight-errant), combining wen and wu (literary and martial), and expounding upon the idea of tianzizhijian (the sword of the Son of Heaven), Zhang Yimou brings Taoist ideals into the retelling of the classic Chinese tale, Jing Ke’s assassination of Emperor Qin.
Knight-Errant
The concept of youxia was first introduced by Sima Qian, in Shiji (around 100 BC), as someone “honest in words, effective in action, faithful in keeping promises and fearless in offering his life to free the righteous from bondage” (Guo 35). According to Sima Qian’s record, these brave individuals, most of whom lived at the eve of the Warring States Period, often resorted to violence to single-handedly ensure personal justice regardless of the consequences of their actions. As this image of youxia transcended through time, the individualistic personality, the anarchistic attitude, and the high moral standard have become the predominant features of knight-errant (Li...
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...lobal Chinese Cinema: The Culture and Politics of Hero. Eds. Gary D. Rawnsley and Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley. New York: Routledge, 2010. 27-42. Print.
Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way. Trans. Victor H. Mair. New York: Bantam Books, 1990. Print.
Liu, James J. Y.. The Chinese Knight Errant. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967. Print.
Louie, Kam. “The King, the Musician, and the Village Idiot: Images of Manhood.” Global Chinese Cinema: The Culture and Politics of Hero. Eds. Gary D. Rawnsley and Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley. New York: Routledge, 2010. 53-61. Print.
Rawnsley, Gary. “Hero: Rewriting the Chinese Martial Arts Film Genre.” Global Chinese Cinema: The Culture and Politics of Hero. Eds. Gary D. Rawnsley and Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley. New York: Routledge, 2010. 13-26. Print.
Zhang, Yimou, dir. Hero. Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd, 2002. DVD.
“The Death of Woman Wang”, written by Chinese historian Jonathan Spence, is a book recounting the harsh realities facing citizens of Tancheng country, Shandong Province, Qing controlled China in the late 17th century. Using various primary sources, Spence describes some of the hardships and sorrow that the people of Tancheng faced. From natural disasters, poor leadership, banditry, and invasions, the citizens of Tancheng struggled to survive in a devastated and changing world around them. On its own, “Woman Wang” is an insightful snapshot of one of the worst-off counties in imperial Qing China, however when taking a step back and weaving in an understanding of long held Chinese traditions, there is a greater understanding what happened in
Mao’s Last Dancer, directed by Bruce Beresford, is driven by Li’s experiences in the clash between American and Chinese culture and the journey to discovering his own identity. Through Li’s eyes this film shows us his search for identity which can sometimes be helped or hindered by the difference in cultures. These themes are shown during the film through the use of Symbolic, Written, Audio and Technical conventions (SWAT).
In The Pathos of Failure, Thomas Elsaesser explains the emergence of a new ideology within American filmmaking, which reflects a “fading confidence in being able to tell a story” (280) and the dissolution of psychologically relatable, goal-oriented characters. He elaborates that these unmotivated characters impede the “the affirmative-consequential model of narrative [which] is gradually being replaced by another, whose precise shape is yet to crystallize” (281). Christian Keathley outlined this shape in more detail in Trapped in the Affection Image, where he argued that shifting cultural attitudes resulted in skepticism of the usefulness of action (Keathley). In Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, this crisis of action is a key element of the main characters’ failure, because it stifles the execution of classical narrative and stylistic genre conventions.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
The Chinese possessed strong beliefs about astrology, so when it was prophesised that a women ruler would soon ascend the throne word quickly spread throughout the common people. It was predicted that within 30 years this woman known as ‘The Prince of Wu’ would rule over China. Whether or not Empress Wu’s rise to power was due to ‘heaven ordained fate’, she fulfilled the prophecy and became China’s first woman ruler in the 7th century. Historians, scholars and common people alike have long debated Wu’s reign. She is commonly referred to as an evil usurper due to the way she took power. However whether she fully deserves this reputation is to be examined. As the only female Chinese ruler, Wu challenged traditional gender roles and legitimized herself as a leader at a time when women were not meant for such positions. Empress Wu came to power through self-determination and a remarkable gift for politics. Once on the throne, she kept her power by all means necessary, often those means being murder and betrayal. Some of her actions were undoubtedly cruel. However once she was established as an empress conducted a mostly peaceful and prosperous reign. Empress Wu was by definition a usurper of the Chinese throne however not necessarily an evil one. She was manipulative and ruthless yet brilliant and exceptionally gifted. Her rise to power through sheer determination is to be commended despite the harsh tactics she used along the way.
Ever since the establishment of cinema in the early 1900s, Hollywood has continuously recreated elements of history to reenact for its future generations. In order to clearly broadcast a specific theme or message to relay to viewers around the world, Hollywood executives tend to embellish real life events, in order to provide a “fairytale” aspect to a seemingly not so “happily- ever-after” story from history. As part of this “fairytale” aspect, Hollywood tends to delegitimize as well as provide a more disrespectful and more comical version of societies and cultures in the specific time frame that the film is being set. Through the art of story telling, the movies Mulan and Kung Fu Panda, depict the two sides of Hollywood, the falsifying and mockery making of Chinese people, their society, beliefs and true events of history and that of an accurate portrayal.
“Taoism: Taoist Ethics.” BBC: Religions. BBC. n. pag. 12 Nov. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
The next major influence on the Taoist belief was Chang Tzu. To him, Tzu’s writings defined the truth of life. He went on to write f...
Any generic film hero is a model of their community and culture. They help to clearly define and outline the community’s values and cultural conflicts by embodying prime characteristics in their persona. The western hero, like Ethan in The Searchers, is always a figure for civilization amongst the savagery of the wild west. By portraying the roles of a civilization, the hero ...
Kracauer, Siegfried. “Basic Concepts,” from Theory of Film. In Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, Seventh Edition, edited by Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, 147–58. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
The Warring States is the subject and title of Griffith’s third chapter, which gives an enlightening look at the life and times in China after the defeat of the rule of Chin at Ching Yang in 453. (p. 20) The country was divided into eight individual warring sects (with the exception of Yen...
Modernization in the 1980s paved the way for the Hong Kong New Wave, as the studio system set up in the 1950s was dismantled, the film industry experienced more freedom. Since decolonization was heavily present 75% of Hong Kong’s box office revenue were home grown movies, while the meager 15% was left for the foreign market. As one can see the political context of Ho...
For over 20 years Jackie Chan has been the biggest action star in most of the world. First becoming popular in his native Hong Kong in the early 80s, his popularity slowly spread across the globe, and finally hit the U.S. with the 1996 release of Rumble In The Bronx (1994.) Since then Chan has made three highly successful films with American studois and several more with the Hong Kong studio Golden Harvest. He is easily one of the most recognizable Asian movie stars or all-time. Jackie Chan’s movies are famous for their over-the-top stunts and hilarious-but-amazing fight scenes, so much so that the actual plots of the films are sometimes forgotten. However, if one looks past the all the fights and laughs present in almost all of Jackie Chan’s films and just examines the stories behind them, an odd set of recurring themes soon make themselves present. Many of Chan’s best and most well-known works are attacks on colonialism and racism, not just in Hong Kong, but also across the world. At the same time Chan is making these rather blatant anti-colonial films, other films of his seem to be defending colonialism while reinforcing negative stereotypes about the Chinese people and even other races. Some of his films even seem to do both, attack and defend colonialism, at the same time. It is my goal to show that the majority of Jackie’s films, especially his more recent work, all deal heavily with themes of colonialism and racism, whether it is good or bad, and that this has to do greatly with Hong Kong’s relationship with Europe and America. I will also attempt to show, that while Jackie has begun to make films in America, his anti-colonialism, and to some extent his anti-European and anti-American vi...
McDonald, Keiko I. Cinema East: A Critical Study of Major Japanese Films. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson Press, 1983.
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