美国价值观与中国传统文化元素的融合与冲突--以动画片《花木兰》和《功夫熊猫》为例
05-29, 2014
美国价值观与中国传统文化元素的融合与冲突--以动画片《花木兰》和《功夫熊猫》为例
The Compatibility and Conflicts between American Values and Chinese Elements in Animated Movies Mulan and Kung Fu Panda
摘要
美国好莱坞的迪斯尼公司和梦工厂公司分别于1998年和2008年制作了两部动画巨片--《花木兰》和《功夫熊猫》。通过把故事背景和角色设定在古代中国，影片给观众创造了一个神秘古老的东方世界。同时，影片中美国价值观与中国传统元素的融合与冲突也是两部影片不可忽视的特点。
作为文化全球化的产物，美国价值观与中国元素的融合是合情合理的。但是那些不可避免的冲突也在提醒着我们，中国文化依旧有一些无可取代的特性，它们绝不会随着文化全球化的深入而消失殆尽。
从跨文化研究的角度来看，美国电影人对待中国文化的理解和态度值得我们深思。同时，中国应以何种姿态应对这种文化借用也是需要我们讨论的问题。
关键词: 花木兰；功夫熊猫；美国价值观；中国元素；融合；冲突；文化全球化；跨文化
Abstract
Mulan and Kung Fu Panda are two animated films produced by American Hollywood industry in 1998 and 2008 respectively. With the cultural background and characters originating in ancient China, the films present a fascinating audio-visual world to the audience in which the compatibility and conflicts of the American values and Chinese traditional elements exist simultaneously.
The compatibility is a result of the ongoing cultural globalization while the conflicts arise as a sign that there are still some irreplaceable peculiarities of Chinese traditional culture.
In terms of cross-culture study, the attitude of American film makers towards Chinese culture is worthy of our penetrating thinking. Besides, how should Chinese deal with the products that contains Chinese traditional element but are produced by foreigners also needs our discussion.
Keywords: Mulan; Kung Fu Panda; American values; Chinese elements; compatibility; conflicts; cultural globalization; cross-culture
#p#分页标题#e#
Contents
Abstract I
摘要 II
Contents III
I Introduction 1
1.1 The Synopsis of Mulan 1
1.2 The Synopsis of Kung Fu Panda 2
II the Compatibility of American Values and Chinese Elements 3
2.1 The characters 3
2.2 Scenery, Architecture and other Details 4
2.3 Martial Arts 5
2.4 Chinese Philosophy 6
III. Conflicts of American Values and Chinese Elements 9
3.1 Conservatism VS Free Spirit 9
3.2 Family Priority& Individualism 10
IV. Conclusion 12
4.1 General Summary of the Study 12
Bibliography 14
I Introduction
1.1 The Synopsis of Mulan
As one of the representative work of ballads in ancient China, Ballad of Mulan is a celebrated folk tale which has been widely told from generation to generation in China for hundreds of years. It tells a story about a girl named Hua Mulan who is born and raised in a traditional Chinese family. However, unlike other populous Chinese families, Mulan has neither brothers nor sisters. When the war breaks out, Mulan substitutes for her aged father and joins the army to defend the country against northern invaders. Mulan's filial loyalty, valiantness and outstanding military ability make her one of the most respected heroine in Chinese history.
In 1998, American film tycoon, Disney company produced an animated film Mulan based on this well-known Chinese folk tale. The main characters and plot remain same: the brave Mulan, her old, sick father and the vicious enemies. However, while the yellow-skinned, black-haired girl evokes some warm and approachable feelings in many Chinese audiences' hearts, some of them find that the image of Mulan which represented in the American film is somewhat different from the traditional heroine image in Chinese textbooks. Therefore, the film Mulan is a story with a Chinese traditional structure but in essence, it is filled of American spirit and western values.#p#分页标题#e#
1.2 The Synopsis of Kung Fu Panda
In June, 2008, DreamWorks Animation Studio released globally another animated blockbuster Kung Fu Panda, choosing one of the most popular and renowned Chinese traditional elements, martial arts as the core element of the film.
The synopsis of Kung Fu Panda looks like something like this: a clumsy panda named Po lives with his foster father, a duck, in Peace Valley. On the surface, Po may look like just like another portly panda, but beneath his fur, he bears the mark of the chosen one. By day, Po works faithfully in his family's noodle shop, but by night, he dreams of becoming a true master of the martial arts. When an ancient prophecy has come to pass, Po realizes that he is the only one who can save his people from certain destruction. In the end, with the help of the legendary Furious Five, Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper, Monkey and their wise mentor, Master Shifu, the noble Po masters the martial arts and somehow transforms his greatest weakness into his greatest strengths. It is these incredible strengths that beat the malevolent snow leopard Tai Lung. He fulfills his destiny as the hero who saves his people during their darkest hour.
It is not difficult to find that instead of applying the Chinese elements simply to film-making, the producers of Kung Fu Panda take some typical oriental philosophical themes, such as life, destiny, living and death into thorough consideration. The producers made great efforts to maximize the compatibility of American values and Chinese traditional culture and minimize the conflicts. If what Mulan presents can be generalize as Chinese form and American theme, Kung Fu Panda is more like a combination of Chinese essence and American spirit.#p#分页标题#e#
II the Compatibility of American Values and Chinese Elements
2.1 The characters
The title says it all with Mulan, a famous Chinese classic which tells a story about how an ordinary girl manages to be an honorable heroine. Since the plot background is set to be in ancient China, no wonder the characters closely resemble the Asian in terms of appearance.
Besides those black-eyed, yellow-skinned characters, there is also a little dragon which attracts much attention from the audience. Dragon used to be the symbol of Chinese royalty in feudal period. It stands for nobility, power and endless fortune. Even in today's communist society, dragon continues to serve as the mascot of the Chinese nation. Even if Muxu( the name of the dragon) is nothing like the noble and fierce dragon which represents the temperament of the Chinese nation，the adorable little dragon successfully bring about laughter and make the whole film much interesting.
The panda Po in Kung Fu Panda is another Chinese symbol which is probably even more popular than dragon in western world. While the dragon has historically served as China's national emblem, in recent decades the Giant Panda has also served as an emblem for the country. Its image appears on a large number of modern Chinese commemorative silver, gold, and platinum coins.
However, unlike a real black-eyed panda, the American panda Po has a pair of green eyes which resemble the Caucasian. In Kung Fu Panda Po is not a docile panda that everyone loves. On the contrary, he is chatty, obese, slothful, gluttonous, and has interpersonal relationship issue. Undoubtedly, the film aims to tell another typical "American Dream" story of how an extremely ordinary character manages to succeed in achieving a great accomplishment. All these seem to be reminding the audience that, this is, after all, an animated film made in the United States. No matter how much Chineseness the producers have attached in the film, it is impossible to get rid of American spirit.#p#分页标题#e#
2.2 Scenery, Architecture and other Details
The first scene of Mulan is when the invaders are about to invade China, the messenger takes the message to his commander. Here comes the significant Chinese symbol-the Great Wall.
The construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th century B.C. when the vassal states under the Zhou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country built their own walls for self-defense. After the states of Qin unified China in 221 B.C., the separate walls were interconnected and extended to more than 10000 miles. Constructed of masonry, rocks and packed-earth, the Great Wall is landmark of the earth. The Great Wall has long been incorporated into Chinese mythology and popular symbolism. As a film whose background is set in ancient China, the Great Wall is certainly an indispensable element.
Besides, there are many other Chinese architecture and decorations in film Mulan, such as drawbridge in the valley, tapestry hanging on the wall, festive red lanterns decorating the eaves. All these details give full expression to the oriental styles.
Likewise, in Kung Fu Panda, the producers also add a bunch of Chinese images and even present them in a more exquisite way. Audience may find the flying petals, tortuous paths, distant pavilion and terrace are as picturesque as the scenery that is depicted in many Chinese ancient poetry.
Moreover, the loanwords used in the movie make it more hilarious. By keeping the Mandarin pronunciation of words, such as "shifu" (master), "wugui" (turtle), "bingbong" (ice-cream), the producers shorten the distance between the English-speaking panda Po and Chinese people.
2.3 Martial Arts
Chinese martial arts have a long history, converging Chinese philosophy, medicine, military strategy, techniques, education, aesthetics, etc. and mirroring the character and sagacity of the Chinese people. With vigorous, graceful and somewhat laborious movements, Chinese martial arts provide the exercisers with beauty and strength. With the ongoing globalization and revitalization of the great Chinese civilization, more and more westerners find Chinese culture very attractive thus want to learn something more about it. However, for most westerns, it is never easy to fully comprehend the traditional Chinese ideology. Under the circumstances, martial arts appear as the perfect breakthrough point to start with. #p#分页标题#e#
In Mulan, when the army is in danger, there are several well-designed fighting scenes. At that time, martial arts are used fictitiously. Ten years later, in Kung Fu Panda, martial arts have become a necessity. The title Kung Fu has said it all. What is more comforting is that martial arts in Kung Fu Panda do not equal to superficially showing some fighting skills.
The top concern of the Chinese martial arts is to settle the relationship between the body and muscles and the internal exercises for breath. The functions of the martial arts in fighting are: defending oneself against the opponent, checking the attacks and winning the fight. On the level of philosophy, the martial arts stress "unification of man and nature", i. e, the unification of existence and nonexistence, acting and stopping, Ying and Yang. On the social level, the martial arts stress cultivation of mind and personality, awareness of the natural law and complacency. They thus break all prejudices with regard to winning and losing and to success and failures, and take a calm attitude.
In Kung Fu Panda, the invincible secret of martial arts is supposed to be recorded in the dragon warrior scroll. However, when Po unfolds the scroll, to his great amazement, there is nothing written on it. Not even a single word. This "assume formlessness" method is the highest degree of martial arts to a certain extent, and the tactic does not rigidly adhere to a style. Instead of indiscriminately imitating the movements and techniques, the producers of Kung Fu Panda grasped the marrow of the Chinese martial arts.
2.4 Chinese Philosophy
In these two films, both Mulan and Po have been stuck in perilous situations. Mulan has to win a life-and-death battle for her country at the risk of being found out her real sex identity. And as for Po, he has to defeat Tai Lung, whose power is obviously several times greater than him. Although the hope of winning seems to be distant and dim, neither of them gives up on themselves. Their positive attitude can find its origin in Chinese Confucian philosophy.#p#分页标题#e#
The situation what Mulan and Po are facing in the films is very much like what sage Confucius and his disciple Yan Hui, were going through hundreds of years ago. How could they find delight and joy from critical time and harsh living conditions? There are two key possibilities. Firstly, none of them were ever depressed or in despair. They were optimists, holding fast to a philosophical attitude toward the status that downplayed their plight. Second, they were capable of self-reliance and tolerance, not in the sense of being content with what they were and what they had, but of being acceptance of whatever destiny might bring them.
Compared to the intelligence Mulan, the sloppy Po is even more unlikely to become a historic savior. Even if Master Oogway sticks to the idea that Po is the chosen one and the only dragon warrior who has formidable strength underneath, Master Shifu highly doubts it and treats Po as a joke. After a series of frustration, Master Shifu happened to know Po's biggest hobby-food. He thus decides to make full use of it to train Po who is seemingly incorrigible at that time. As expected, Po somehow transforms his biggest weakness into biggest strength and becomes a real martial-arts master.
Master Shifu's strategy seems to be superficial but on looking deeper, another more subtle truth emerges. His strategy makes the best use of Po's weakness according to the specific situation. It turns out, fortunately, very effective. This dialectical speculation which had been prevailing in ancient China indicates that everything has two aspects that are in a state of continuous opposition and mutual transformation.
There is another very impressive scene in Kung Fu Panda where Master Oogway is bidding farewell to Master Shifu. With the pink petals dancing about in the wind, Oogway is more like vanishing into the other world rather than "pass away", as we usually call it.#p#分页标题#e#
This scene represents another Chinese philosophical thought in two aspects. Firstly, many philosophers believe that the circle of life is just like the blooming and withering of a flower. Oogway's disappearing with the withered petals implies the end of his life. Secondly, the beautiful and romantic scene seems to be telling the audience that Oogway is not "dead" literally but is integrating into the entire universe. His flesh and blood may no longer exist but his soul has raise to higher level thus can remain immortal. This is very much similar to one of the most ideal concepts which are promoted by Taoism- Heaven-Man Oneness, in which the famous Taoist Zhuang Zi pictured the paramount level of human life that Chinese people have been always longing for.
III. Conflicts of American Values and Chinese Elements
3.1 Conservatism VS Free Spirit
As a country with a continued uninterrupted history of five thousands years, China has a unique cultural system which is deeply rooted in Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. This cultural system had been ruling Chinese people throughout the whole feudal time. One of the most distinguished scholars in China, Lin Yutang once wrote in his book, "one of the most notable characteristics of this system (Chinese cultural system) is that it not only asked about the meaning of life but also answered it in a way that left people satisfied with having found the meaning of human existence." The answer was solid and clear, so that it left people with no desire to speculate about the future life or to change the present one. Man naturally becomes conservative when he realizes he has got something that work and therefore something that is true. The Chinese people saw no other way of life, thought no other way possible.#p#分页标题#e#
The first sentence of Ballad of Mulan described a traditional Chinese girl who was weaving cloth. (唧唧复唧唧，木兰当户织。) Several years later, when Mulan returned from the army, the first thing she did was redid her hair and made up.（当窗理云鬓，对镜贴花黄。）This implies that no matter how many years Mulan had been pretending to be a man, she was still the same traditional Chinese girl at heart. It was never going to change. Even Mulan, the marvelous heroine herself, were unwilling to change.
In comparison with ancient China, the United States has a comparatively short history of no more than 300 years. The earliest immigration from Europe came to the American continent for the purpose of breaking the shackles of feudalistic autocracy and establishing an ideal society of their own. Due to the characteristics which had been shaping from the initial stage of American history, Americans view themselves as highly individualistic in their thoughts and actions. They value the individual freedom as one of the most indispensable rights that everybody is born with. They have been trained since very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situation in life and their own destinies. In film Mulan, Mulan is anything but a conservative Chinese girl. She knows little about the traditional manners, pays little attention to her appearance. Mulan maybe a Chinese girl by face, but by heart, she is totally a rebellious modern American girl.
3.2 Family Priority& Individualism
The whole Chinese ethic system is based on the solid family structure while the American values are rooted in individualism.
The Chinese say that if you know the family. You do not need to know the individual. In China, family members share property, all material possessions, food, work and love, perform religious rituals together and often live under the same roof. An important Chinese culture value is filial piety. Traditionally, Chinese children felt a lifelong obligation to their parents, ideally exemplified by an unreserved devotion to please them in every possible way.#p#分页标题#e#
The Confucianism placed tremendous emphasis on filial piety, which is regarded as the "first of all virtues". So explains the Classics of Filial Piety (《孝经》).
Confucius said: "The reason why the gentleman teaches filial piety is not because it is to be seen in the home and everyday life. He teaches filial piety in order that man may respect all those who are fathers in the world. He teaches brotherliness in the younger brother in order that man may respect all those who are elder brothers in the world. He teaches the duty of the subject, in order that man may respect all who are rulers in the world. ...... Those who love their parents dare not show hatred to others. Those who respect their parents dare not show rudeness to others."
The family loyalty is the core of Chinese ethics and loyalty to the whole nation is the extension version. It is firmly believed that a nation of good brothers and good friends should make a good nation. In Ballad of Mulan, two parts were emphasized. One part is how Mulan made up her mind to join the army for her father and the other is how she returned home with tremendous honor. Why are these two parts so important? Because they represented the ultimate concern of Chinese ethics, that are, filial piety and patriotism.
However, in American values system, there is no such thing as filial piety. Although they also give much importance to family as Chinese people do, they treat each of their family members as independent individual rather than a relative they can depend on. For Americans, individual rights and obligations come first. There is a strong emphasis on individual rights and competition, which are enshrined in law like the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution, protected by the adversarial system in the courts, which is shared with other Anglo-Saxon countries, and incorporated into elaborate procedures to ensure fairness in examinations at school, and hiring for jobs and the like. In America, being born into lower class does not prevent them from success. It is important to understand what Americans mean when they say they believe in equality of opportunities. They do not necessarily mean that everyone is and should be equal. They mean that each individual should have an equal chance for success. #p#分页标题#e#
The film consciously avoids the filial piety and strong patriotism in Ballad of Mulan, instead, it stresses the American individualism in which the realization of individual values matters. When Muxu tries to comfort Mulan when she is frustrated, Mulan tells him that the purpose of her joining the army is not only helping out aged father, but also craving for proving to others that no matter how terrible she is at sewing or weaving, she is still a valuable person to her family or even to the whole country. We can see from it that the realization of individual values has replaced the filial piety and become the theme of the film.
The same theme also works well for Kung Fu Panda. The Furious Five are all mighty martial-arts masters yet Po, the not so mighty dragon warrior is the only one who can defeat Tai Lung. Would it be much easier if the six unite together? It might be. But the producers are not going to let that happen. If it is a team that eliminates the enemy, how can it present the typical American heroism in which most of the heroes are extraordinary lone rangers?
IV. Conclusion
4.1 General Summary of the Study
By studying these two animated movies, Mulan and Kung Fu Panda thoroughly, we can get to the conclusion that both of the two is a successful combination of American values and Chinese elements. The compatibility and conflicts exist simultaneously as inevitable outcomes of the cultural globalization.
Some cultural pessimists define this phenomenon as a bad thing because they think that wearing the bonds of nationality loosely may lead to the death of national identity. Certainly, it is often a shame if Chinese cultural traditions are lost. We should do our best to preserve them and keep them alive as possible. However, it is not always beneficial if we keep our extraordinary traditional cultures to ourselves. Only by sharing them with the world can our cultures be known and loved by more and more people all over the world. #p#分页标题#e#
It seems to be pointless to discuss whether it is good or bad that our traditional cultures are used by others and bring them considerable fortune since it is the evitable result of the ongoing globalization.
The only question which deserves our contemplation is that how to deal with the phenomenon that more and more products are using Chinese elements but are produced by non-Chinese. Since our culture is so fascinating and attractive, why can we make the best of it and spread it to every corner of the world? Being self-centered or taking a hostile attitude toward other cultures is never the solution. Only by getting a comprehensive and thorough understanding of our traditional cultures can we apply them into practical use and carry them on from generation to generation. Only by taking a generous and welcomed attitude towards different cultures and values can we gain respects from other countries and establish peaceful relationship with them. It is the only way to survive in such a multicultural world and keep our unparalleled tradition culture shinning on like it always did.
Bibliography
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[2]Nash&Jeffrey. The American People[M].北京：北京大学出版社，2006.
[3]孙维新. Highlights of China[M].上海：上海译文出版社，2004.
[4]井卫华. 中国社会与文化要略[M].北京：中国电力出版社，2005.
[5]曲洪志. 中美社会文化比较[M].济南：山东大学出版社，2002.
[6]李怀亮. 文化巨无霸--当代美国文化产业研究[M].广州：广东人民出版社，2005.
[7]丁往道. 中国文化掠影[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2001.
[8]张从益. A Comparative Study of Western and Chinese Cultures[M].长沙：湖南人民出版社，2004.
[9]袁玉琴. 电影文化诗学[M].北京：中国电影出版社，2002.
[10]贾玉新. 跨文化交际学[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，1997.#p#分页标题#e#
[11]阎云飞. 《功夫熊猫》是写给中国的情书[J].新闻晨报，2008（5）.
[12]高莉. 试析《木兰辞》与美国电影《Mulan》中的中美文化差异[J].怀化学院学报，2006（3）.
[13]周琳玉. 从影片《木兰》看迪斯尼配方对"他者"文化的身份改写[J].四川外语学院学报，2006（9）.
The Compatibility and Conflicts between American Values and Chinese Elements in Animated Movies Mulan and Kung Fu Panda
摘要
美国好莱坞的迪斯尼公司和梦工厂公司分别于1998年和2008年制作了两部动画巨片--《花木兰》和《功夫熊猫》。通过把故事背景和角色设定在古代中国，影片给观众创造了一个神秘古老的东方世界。同时，影片中美国价值观与中国传统元素的融合与冲突也是两部影片不可忽视的特点。
作为文化全球化的产物，美国价值观与中国元素的融合是合情合理的。但是那些不可避免的冲突也在提醒着我们，中国文化依旧有一些无可取代的特性，它们绝不会随着文化全球化的深入而消失殆尽。
从跨文化研究的角度来看，美国电影人对待中国文化的理解和态度值得我们深思。同时，中国应以何种姿态应对这种文化借用也是需要我们讨论的问题。
关键词: 花木兰；功夫熊猫；美国价值观；中国元素；融合；冲突；文化全球化；跨文化
Abstract
Mulan and Kung Fu Panda are two animated films produced by American Hollywood industry in 1998 and 2008 respectively. With the cultural background and characters originating in ancient China, the films present a fascinating audio-visual world to the audience in which the compatibility and conflicts of the American values and Chinese traditional elements exist simultaneously.
The compatibility is a result of the ongoing cultural globalization while the conflicts arise as a sign that there are still some irreplaceable peculiarities of Chinese traditional culture.
In terms of cross-culture study, the attitude of American film makers towards Chinese culture is worthy of our penetrating thinking. Besides, how should Chinese deal with the products that contains Chinese traditional element but are produced by foreigners also needs our discussion.
Keywords: Mulan; Kung Fu Panda; American values; Chinese elements; compatibility; conflicts; cultural globalization; cross-culture
#p#分页标题#e#
Contents
Abstract I
摘要 II
Contents III
I Introduction 1
1.1 The Synopsis of Mulan 1
1.2 The Synopsis of Kung Fu Panda 2
II the Compatibility of American Values and Chinese Elements 3
2.1 The characters 3
2.2 Scenery, Architecture and other Details 4
2.3 Martial Arts 5
2.4 Chinese Philosophy 6
III. Conflicts of American Values and Chinese Elements 9
3.1 Conservatism VS Free Spirit 9
3.2 Family Priority& Individualism 10
IV. Conclusion 12
4.1 General Summary of the Study 12
Bibliography 14
I Introduction
1.1 The Synopsis of Mulan
As one of the representative work of ballads in ancient China, Ballad of Mulan is a celebrated folk tale which has been widely told from generation to generation in China for hundreds of years. It tells a story about a girl named Hua Mulan who is born and raised in a traditional Chinese family. However, unlike other populous Chinese families, Mulan has neither brothers nor sisters. When the war breaks out, Mulan substitutes for her aged father and joins the army to defend the country against northern invaders. Mulan's filial loyalty, valiantness and outstanding military ability make her one of the most respected heroine in Chinese history.
In 1998, American film tycoon, Disney company produced an animated film Mulan based on this well-known Chinese folk tale. The main characters and plot remain same: the brave Mulan, her old, sick father and the vicious enemies. However, while the yellow-skinned, black-haired girl evokes some warm and approachable feelings in many Chinese audiences' hearts, some of them find that the image of Mulan which represented in the American film is somewhat different from the traditional heroine image in Chinese textbooks. Therefore, the film Mulan is a story with a Chinese traditional structure but in essence, it is filled of American spirit and western values.#p#分页标题#e#
1.2 The Synopsis of Kung Fu Panda
In June, 2008, DreamWorks Animation Studio released globally another animated blockbuster Kung Fu Panda, choosing one of the most popular and renowned Chinese traditional elements, martial arts as the core element of the film.
The synopsis of Kung Fu Panda looks like something like this: a clumsy panda named Po lives with his foster father, a duck, in Peace Valley. On the surface, Po may look like just like another portly panda, but beneath his fur, he bears the mark of the chosen one. By day, Po works faithfully in his family's noodle shop, but by night, he dreams of becoming a true master of the martial arts. When an ancient prophecy has come to pass, Po realizes that he is the only one who can save his people from certain destruction. In the end, with the help of the legendary Furious Five, Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper, Monkey and their wise mentor, Master Shifu, the noble Po masters the martial arts and somehow transforms his greatest weakness into his greatest strengths. It is these incredible strengths that beat the malevolent snow leopard Tai Lung. He fulfills his destiny as the hero who saves his people during their darkest hour.
It is not difficult to find that instead of applying the Chinese elements simply to film-making, the producers of Kung Fu Panda take some typical oriental philosophical themes, such as life, destiny, living and death into thorough consideration. The producers made great efforts to maximize the compatibility of American values and Chinese traditional culture and minimize the conflicts. If what Mulan presents can be generalize as Chinese form and American theme, Kung Fu Panda is more like a combination of Chinese essence and American spirit.#p#分页标题#e#
II the Compatibility of American Values and Chinese Elements
2.1 The characters
The title says it all with Mulan, a famous Chinese classic which tells a story about how an ordinary girl manages to be an honorable heroine. Since the plot background is set to be in ancient China, no wonder the characters closely resemble the Asian in terms of appearance.
Besides those black-eyed, yellow-skinned characters, there is also a little dragon which attracts much attention from the audience. Dragon used to be the symbol of Chinese royalty in feudal period. It stands for nobility, power and endless fortune. Even in today's communist society, dragon continues to serve as the mascot of the Chinese nation. Even if Muxu( the name of the dragon) is nothing like the noble and fierce dragon which represents the temperament of the Chinese nation，the adorable little dragon successfully bring about laughter and make the whole film much interesting.
The panda Po in Kung Fu Panda is another Chinese symbol which is probably even more popular than dragon in western world. While the dragon has historically served as China's national emblem, in recent decades the Giant Panda has also served as an emblem for the country. Its image appears on a large number of modern Chinese commemorative silver, gold, and platinum coins.
However, unlike a real black-eyed panda, the American panda Po has a pair of green eyes which resemble the Caucasian. In Kung Fu Panda Po is not a docile panda that everyone loves. On the contrary, he is chatty, obese, slothful, gluttonous, and has interpersonal relationship issue. Undoubtedly, the film aims to tell another typical "American Dream" story of how an extremely ordinary character manages to succeed in achieving a great accomplishment. All these seem to be reminding the audience that, this is, after all, an animated film made in the United States. No matter how much Chineseness the producers have attached in the film, it is impossible to get rid of American spirit.#p#分页标题#e#
2.2 Scenery, Architecture and other Details
The first scene of Mulan is when the invaders are about to invade China, the messenger takes the message to his commander. Here comes the significant Chinese symbol-the Great Wall.
The construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th century B.C. when the vassal states under the Zhou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country built their own walls for self-defense. After the states of Qin unified China in 221 B.C., the separate walls were interconnected and extended to more than 10000 miles. Constructed of masonry, rocks and packed-earth, the Great Wall is landmark of the earth. The Great Wall has long been incorporated into Chinese mythology and popular symbolism. As a film whose background is set in ancient China, the Great Wall is certainly an indispensable element.
Besides, there are many other Chinese architecture and decorations in film Mulan, such as drawbridge in the valley, tapestry hanging on the wall, festive red lanterns decorating the eaves. All these details give full expression to the oriental styles.
Likewise, in Kung Fu Panda, the producers also add a bunch of Chinese images and even present them in a more exquisite way. Audience may find the flying petals, tortuous paths, distant pavilion and terrace are as picturesque as the scenery that is depicted in many Chinese ancient poetry.
Moreover, the loanwords used in the movie make it more hilarious. By keeping the Mandarin pronunciation of words, such as "shifu" (master), "wugui" (turtle), "bingbong" (ice-cream), the producers shorten the distance between the English-speaking panda Po and Chinese people.
2.3 Martial Arts
Chinese martial arts have a long history, converging Chinese philosophy, medicine, military strategy, techniques, education, aesthetics, etc. and mirroring the character and sagacity of the Chinese people. With vigorous, graceful and somewhat laborious movements, Chinese martial arts provide the exercisers with beauty and strength. With the ongoing globalization and revitalization of the great Chinese civilization, more and more westerners find Chinese culture very attractive thus want to learn something more about it. However, for most westerns, it is never easy to fully comprehend the traditional Chinese ideology. Under the circumstances, martial arts appear as the perfect breakthrough point to start with. #p#分页标题#e#
In Mulan, when the army is in danger, there are several well-designed fighting scenes. At that time, martial arts are used fictitiously. Ten years later, in Kung Fu Panda, martial arts have become a necessity. The title Kung Fu has said it all. What is more comforting is that martial arts in Kung Fu Panda do not equal to superficially showing some fighting skills.
The top concern of the Chinese martial arts is to settle the relationship between the body and muscles and the internal exercises for breath. The functions of the martial arts in fighting are: defending oneself against the opponent, checking the attacks and winning the fight. On the level of philosophy, the martial arts stress "unification of man and nature", i. e, the unification of existence and nonexistence, acting and stopping, Ying and Yang. On the social level, the martial arts stress cultivation of mind and personality, awareness of the natural law and complacency. They thus break all prejudices with regard to winning and losing and to success and failures, and take a calm attitude.
In Kung Fu Panda, the invincible secret of martial arts is supposed to be recorded in the dragon warrior scroll. However, when Po unfolds the scroll, to his great amazement, there is nothing written on it. Not even a single word. This "assume formlessness" method is the highest degree of martial arts to a certain extent, and the tactic does not rigidly adhere to a style. Instead of indiscriminately imitating the movements and techniques, the producers of Kung Fu Panda grasped the marrow of the Chinese martial arts.
2.4 Chinese Philosophy
In these two films, both Mulan and Po have been stuck in perilous situations. Mulan has to win a life-and-death battle for her country at the risk of being found out her real sex identity. And as for Po, he has to defeat Tai Lung, whose power is obviously several times greater than him. Although the hope of winning seems to be distant and dim, neither of them gives up on themselves. Their positive attitude can find its origin in Chinese Confucian philosophy.#p#分页标题#e#
The situation what Mulan and Po are facing in the films is very much like what sage Confucius and his disciple Yan Hui, were going through hundreds of years ago. How could they find delight and joy from critical time and harsh living conditions? There are two key possibilities. Firstly, none of them were ever depressed or in despair. They were optimists, holding fast to a philosophical attitude toward the status that downplayed their plight. Second, they were capable of self-reliance and tolerance, not in the sense of being content with what they were and what they had, but of being acceptance of whatever destiny might bring them.
Compared to the intelligence Mulan, the sloppy Po is even more unlikely to become a historic savior. Even if Master Oogway sticks to the idea that Po is the chosen one and the only dragon warrior who has formidable strength underneath, Master Shifu highly doubts it and treats Po as a joke. After a series of frustration, Master Shifu happened to know Po's biggest hobby-food. He thus decides to make full use of it to train Po who is seemingly incorrigible at that time. As expected, Po somehow transforms his biggest weakness into biggest strength and becomes a real martial-arts master.
Master Shifu's strategy seems to be superficial but on looking deeper, another more subtle truth emerges. His strategy makes the best use of Po's weakness according to the specific situation. It turns out, fortunately, very effective. This dialectical speculation which had been prevailing in ancient China indicates that everything has two aspects that are in a state of continuous opposition and mutual transformation.
There is another very impressive scene in Kung Fu Panda where Master Oogway is bidding farewell to Master Shifu. With the pink petals dancing about in the wind, Oogway is more like vanishing into the other world rather than "pass away", as we usually call it.#p#分页标题#e#
This scene represents another Chinese philosophical thought in two aspects. Firstly, many philosophers believe that the circle of life is just like the blooming and withering of a flower. Oogway's disappearing with the withered petals implies the end of his life. Secondly, the beautiful and romantic scene seems to be telling the audience that Oogway is not "dead" literally but is integrating into the entire universe. His flesh and blood may no longer exist but his soul has raise to higher level thus can remain immortal. This is very much similar to one of the most ideal concepts which are promoted by Taoism- Heaven-Man Oneness, in which the famous Taoist Zhuang Zi pictured the paramount level of human life that Chinese people have been always longing for.
III. Conflicts of American Values and Chinese Elements
3.1 Conservatism VS Free Spirit
As a country with a continued uninterrupted history of five thousands years, China has a unique cultural system which is deeply rooted in Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. This cultural system had been ruling Chinese people throughout the whole feudal time. One of the most distinguished scholars in China, Lin Yutang once wrote in his book, "one of the most notable characteristics of this system (Chinese cultural system) is that it not only asked about the meaning of life but also answered it in a way that left people satisfied with having found the meaning of human existence." The answer was solid and clear, so that it left people with no desire to speculate about the future life or to change the present one. Man naturally becomes conservative when he realizes he has got something that work and therefore something that is true. The Chinese people saw no other way of life, thought no other way possible.#p#分页标题#e#
The first sentence of Ballad of Mulan described a traditional Chinese girl who was weaving cloth. (唧唧复唧唧，木兰当户织。) Several years later, when Mulan returned from the army, the first thing she did was redid her hair and made up.（当窗理云鬓，对镜贴花黄。）This implies that no matter how many years Mulan had been pretending to be a man, she was still the same traditional Chinese girl at heart. It was never going to change. Even Mulan, the marvelous heroine herself, were unwilling to change.
In comparison with ancient China, the United States has a comparatively short history of no more than 300 years. The earliest immigration from Europe came to the American continent for the purpose of breaking the shackles of feudalistic autocracy and establishing an ideal society of their own. Due to the characteristics which had been shaping from the initial stage of American history, Americans view themselves as highly individualistic in their thoughts and actions. They value the individual freedom as one of the most indispensable rights that everybody is born with. They have been trained since very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situation in life and their own destinies. In film Mulan, Mulan is anything but a conservative Chinese girl. She knows little about the traditional manners, pays little attention to her appearance. Mulan maybe a Chinese girl by face, but by heart, she is totally a rebellious modern American girl.
3.2 Family Priority& Individualism
The whole Chinese ethic system is based on the solid family structure while the American values are rooted in individualism.
The Chinese say that if you know the family. You do not need to know the individual. In China, family members share property, all material possessions, food, work and love, perform religious rituals together and often live under the same roof. An important Chinese culture value is filial piety. Traditionally, Chinese children felt a lifelong obligation to their parents, ideally exemplified by an unreserved devotion to please them in every possible way.#p#分页标题#e#
The Confucianism placed tremendous emphasis on filial piety, which is regarded as the "first of all virtues". So explains the Classics of Filial Piety (《孝经》).
Confucius said: "The reason why the gentleman teaches filial piety is not because it is to be seen in the home and everyday life. He teaches filial piety in order that man may respect all those who are fathers in the world. He teaches brotherliness in the younger brother in order that man may respect all those who are elder brothers in the world. He teaches the duty of the subject, in order that man may respect all who are rulers in the world. ...... Those who love their parents dare not show hatred to others. Those who respect their parents dare not show rudeness to others."
The family loyalty is the core of Chinese ethics and loyalty to the whole nation is the extension version. It is firmly believed that a nation of good brothers and good friends should make a good nation. In Ballad of Mulan, two parts were emphasized. One part is how Mulan made up her mind to join the army for her father and the other is how she returned home with tremendous honor. Why are these two parts so important? Because they represented the ultimate concern of Chinese ethics, that are, filial piety and patriotism.
However, in American values system, there is no such thing as filial piety. Although they also give much importance to family as Chinese people do, they treat each of their family members as independent individual rather than a relative they can depend on. For Americans, individual rights and obligations come first. There is a strong emphasis on individual rights and competition, which are enshrined in law like the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution, protected by the adversarial system in the courts, which is shared with other Anglo-Saxon countries, and incorporated into elaborate procedures to ensure fairness in examinations at school, and hiring for jobs and the like. In America, being born into lower class does not prevent them from success. It is important to understand what Americans mean when they say they believe in equality of opportunities. They do not necessarily mean that everyone is and should be equal. They mean that each individual should have an equal chance for success. #p#分页标题#e#
The film consciously avoids the filial piety and strong patriotism in Ballad of Mulan, instead, it stresses the American individualism in which the realization of individual values matters. When Muxu tries to comfort Mulan when she is frustrated, Mulan tells him that the purpose of her joining the army is not only helping out aged father, but also craving for proving to others that no matter how terrible she is at sewing or weaving, she is still a valuable person to her family or even to the whole country. We can see from it that the realization of individual values has replaced the filial piety and become the theme of the film.
The same theme also works well for Kung Fu Panda. The Furious Five are all mighty martial-arts masters yet Po, the not so mighty dragon warrior is the only one who can defeat Tai Lung. Would it be much easier if the six unite together? It might be. But the producers are not going to let that happen. If it is a team that eliminates the enemy, how can it present the typical American heroism in which most of the heroes are extraordinary lone rangers?
IV. Conclusion
4.1 General Summary of the Study
By studying these two animated movies, Mulan and Kung Fu Panda thoroughly, we can get to the conclusion that both of the two is a successful combination of American values and Chinese elements. The compatibility and conflicts exist simultaneously as inevitable outcomes of the cultural globalization.
Some cultural pessimists define this phenomenon as a bad thing because they think that wearing the bonds of nationality loosely may lead to the death of national identity. Certainly, it is often a shame if Chinese cultural traditions are lost. We should do our best to preserve them and keep them alive as possible. However, it is not always beneficial if we keep our extraordinary traditional cultures to ourselves. Only by sharing them with the world can our cultures be known and loved by more and more people all over the world. #p#分页标题#e#
It seems to be pointless to discuss whether it is good or bad that our traditional cultures are used by others and bring them considerable fortune since it is the evitable result of the ongoing globalization.
The only question which deserves our contemplation is that how to deal with the phenomenon that more and more products are using Chinese elements but are produced by non-Chinese. Since our culture is so fascinating and attractive, why can we make the best of it and spread it to every corner of the world? Being self-centered or taking a hostile attitude toward other cultures is never the solution. Only by getting a comprehensive and thorough understanding of our traditional cultures can we apply them into practical use and carry them on from generation to generation. Only by taking a generous and welcomed attitude towards different cultures and values can we gain respects from other countries and establish peaceful relationship with them. It is the only way to survive in such a multicultural world and keep our unparalleled tradition culture shinning on like it always did.
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