Traditional Confucian Culture And Chinese Movies Of The National Character Constitute

Starting with the carrying-forward of traditional Confucian culture in modem times, this dissertation focuses on the important influence of the central values of Confucian culture on the cultural construction of subject matter, theme, style and thought, in the films of China's mainland. Thus, under the positive and negative influences of Confucian culture, the overt dominative power and the potential penetrative language caused by the nationality of China's films are obviously revealed. By employing such theories as traditional Confucianism, cultural research, psychology and film science, distinction is made of the historical origin and the spiritual tendency between China's films' art and Confucian culture, the internal combination and contradiction are examined between traditional Confucian culture and China's film art in different historical periods and cultural context, the advantages and disadvantages of Confucian cultural ideology are probed which is deeply hidden in China's film art, and overt and covert approval and refutation to the central proposition of Confucian culture are displayed which are expressed by Chinese film artists.This dissertation is constructed on three propositions: "moral idealism", "family ethics", and "reflection on culture". The relationship between traditional Confucian culture and components of nationality of China's films is illustrated in five sections: Introduction, Part A, Part B, Part C and Conclusion. In Introduction, the main concepts, research subject and train of thoughts are explained, the status quo of similar researches is introduced, and the significance of the proposition is discussed. In Part A, the influence is discussed of Confucian culture morality on the theme, style, and characters, in China's films. The illustration is conducted from four levels: recognition of moral idealism and the nationality of China's films, social criticism spirit and the theme of hardship and world-saving consciousness, artistic perspective of Confucianism and the political interference in China's films, and Confucian ideal personality and the pedigree of characters in thematic films. In Part B, the artistic expression of Confucian culture values is illustrated in family ethical films, the genre of film closely associated with Confucianism, and the influence of Confucian rural belonging in China's films is analyzed. Five chapters are divided in Part B to analyze the symbolic construction in family ethical films and traditional Chinese culture, filial piety, culture form in family ethical films of China, the image of father-son relationship in China's films, the clash and agreement between ideological discourse and ethical rules, rural belonging in Confucian culture, and the national aesthetic tendency in China's films. In Part C, the relationship is analyzed between the negative influence of traditional Confucian values on posterity, and the cultural reflection on China's films. The analysis is made from four levels: the proposition of culture adherence and social changes of China's films, the suffering of women's marital destiny and the anti-feudal ideas in China's films, women's tragedy in career in traditional ethical context, and mediocrity of personality and the promotion of China's films as the main body in consciousness. In Conclusion, from the plight faced by both Confucian culture and China's films under global context, and the reconstruction and transformation of Confucian culture in China's films under trans-cultural context, the significance and ways of China's films' nationality caused by Confucianism are explored under current social and cultural backgrounds.The exploration into China's films can reveal both the developmental process of film in different historical periods and the common importance of some cultural elements. From the theoretical level, film's literary nature and its ideological nature are interpreted, and the intensive reading of specific films is incorporated in macro-theoretical perspective.