Essay: Chinese Culture via Films

Exploring Chinese Culture Through Filmography

Movies express the ideals and realities that exist within a society. What are considered priorities and acts of heroism can be conveyed by which movies are released and become popular. In the United States popular movies would include superheroes, the western cowboy, and secret agents— examples of vigilantes who are self-made, self-reliant, living their own sense of justice and morality. In China, the movies convey a different brand of person as their hero because the ideologies of a country influence what type of people are held in high regard. The main characters in the films shown portray valued aspects of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. These characters are the heroes because they live the ideals of Chinese society while from a Western perspective the same characteristics that make these characters great to the Chinese are considered weak traits that hold these characters back from their individual potential.

In the film “Hua Mulan” (2009), Mulan embodies the patriotism of the Chinese people by putting her nationalism above her own trepidations of war and the man whom she loves. While initially hesitant to take on the duties of general, she realizes that she must live the path that she was given in order to save her many comrade-in-arms. Anatomy of the Chinese Business Mind describes such a phenomenon as, “wu wei or ‘take no action,’ follow Dao (“The Way”), and act naturally rather than willfully oppose or tamper with how reality is moving.” (p. 48) Since Mulan is a general, she must act like one for the sake of the soldiers that are under her command. At the end of the story, she chooses to lose the man that she loves in an arranged marriage in order to end the conflict and bring peace to China. This self-sacrifice is distinctly a part of Chinese culture as they value collectivism. Her decision to let him go to end the war shows strong personal sacrifice for the greater good, a fundamental aspect of Buddhist thinking as, “existence is suffering.” (BLTC, 1) Her resolve strengthens in the movie from that of an individualistic thinker to one who placed the needs of her country and its countrymen above herself. Once she was able to embrace this philosophy unreservedly, her troops became very successful in battle and only then was she able to be a hero for China.

In an American movie, Mulan would have married Wentai even at the cost of continued warfare and they would have survived even if China itself fell to its enemies. The movie “Hua Mulan” encompasses ideas of unity and personal sacrifice while a hero from the United States would exhibit personal strength that can overcome the realities that society gives them. For example, “The Lone Ranger”. One of the greatest heroes known in the United States, this average citizen takes on the role of a vigilante and deals with the problem of local outlaws due to the sheriff and deputy being inadequate to deal with the criminals. He fights his reality and refuses to yield to the obstacles given to him, coming up triumphant and preserving the town alone based solely on his character. His only companion is his traveling guide, Tonto, whom he rarely relies upon for assistance. He is justice, he is moral, and he does it himself. These are the aspirations of the American people. United only in the sense that it is easier to accomplish personal goals with an assistance from others, Americans are self-serving and prefer to live by their own sense of morality instead of what society deems acceptable.

According to politifact, “Carter said that more than 70 percent of American adults have committed a crime that could lead to imprisonment. Based on a strictly technical reading of existing laws, the consensus among the legal experts we reached is that the number is reasonable. Way more than a majority of Americans have done something in their lives that runs afoul of some law that includes jail or prison time as a potential punishment.” (p. 4)

If this does not make sense, simply recall the case of Linda Barnette, a woman who stopped issuing marriage licenses because she did not support homosexual marriage. Or the case of Aaron Klein who lost his business instead of catering dessert for people whose lifestyles he did not approve of. Americans choose to live in opposition to society because of their personal morality. The heroes of their movies do so and they follow suit, living the same principles applied to their own lives. Valuing the vigilante who controls the justice system, a large group of United States citizens are willing to break the law in order to mold their environment to fit personal morality and values. Like Batman.

For a Chinese individual, this is not the case. “In many ways the Chinese view themselves more as part of a family rather than an independent individual,” (Anatomy of the Chinese Business Mind, p. 37) By viewing themselves as part of a larger whole, the Chinese are willing to give up many things for the sake of this harmony that an American would deem unthinkable. For example, in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien are deeply in love with each other but neither of them are willing to start a relationship out of respect for Li’s dead master. Until Li manages requital for the death of his master at the hands of Jade Fox, he cannot start a relationship with his love. Li Mu Bai is an honorable man with high morality in the film. This is shown by his inner peace which allow him to fight on top of bamboo and to easily overcome Jen’s fighting techniques. In contrast, Jade Fox is a woman who only thinks about her personal advancements instead of societal harmony and her role as a woman. Her fighting style is more wild and unrefined, making her relatively beatable. Since she is at a natural disadvantage due to her struggle with Daoism, she often resorts to poison to gain the upper hand. Her embodiment of Western ideology in her futile struggle to gain personal prestige in addition to her role as the main villain show that the characteristics that she portrays are not in line with Chinese ideology. The film shows peaceable people who live in harmony with each other and nature fighting in opposition to individualism and pride. As a communist-driven country, the people also live with reverence to harmony. In an American movie, Jade Fox would have been shown as a brave woman fighting the system and all of the other characters would have been characterized as being stubborn and oppressive to her individual capabilities.

In conclusion, the desired characteristics and motivations of a society are shown through their films. In the United States, the films often display characters of strong personal integrity and capability fighting against the world to secure their own position in life and to enforce their personal sense of right and wrong. This is reflective of a highly individualistic society that strongly promotes capitalism and personal achievement even at the cost of others. In China, the movies show characters that live in harmony with others and their environment who are forced to action by the chaos outside. Their display of congruity with their lives and accepting the roles that they were given is in line with the heavy influences of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism that shape Chinese culture and thus the mindsets of those who dwell within. To understand a culture, the first step would to ask, Who are their heroes?

Works Cited

BLTC Research. "The Conquest of Suffering : Buddhism versus Utilitarianism." The Conquest of Suffering : Buddhism versus Utilitarianism. BLTC Research, 1995. Web. 12 March 2016. http://www.bltc.com/buddhism-suffering.html
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Dir. Ang Lee. Perf. Chen Chang and Michelle Yeoh. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2000. DVD.

Greenberg, Jon. “Watch Out, 70% of us Have Done Something That Could Put us in Jail.”  

politifact.com Politifact, 8 December 2014. Web. 12 March 2016.
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/dec/08/stephen-carter/watch-out-70-us-have-done-something-could-put-us-j/

Hua Mulan. Dir. Jingle Ma and Wei Dong. Perf. Wei Zhao and Kun Chen. Starlight International Media Group, 2009. DVD.

Yuan, Fangyuan, and Meiru Liu. Anatomy of the Chinese Business Mind: An Insider's Perspective. Singapore: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.