| Recent Chinese martial arts films (wuxia pian) pose an interesting case of mythologized identity construction. Shared cultural myths form the basis for identity construction. By appealing to myth, identities gain historical, grounded credence while simultaneously adapting, changing, and renewing myths themselves. Several factors motivate Chinese directors to utilize this marginalized genre, including links to historical myth, appeals to timelessness, and less strict censorship. In order to explore the construction of a gendered, contemporary Chinese identity -- or 'Chineseness' -- this paper explores three films starring Jet Li (Li Lianjie). Each film uses a local or historic hero to present gender, nationalism, and recognition of worth (zhiji) in unique ways. What is crucial to these films is the manner in which China (zhongguo) is contrasted to a broader, mythic China (tianxia) and how the central character relates to these concepts. Further, each character comes from a different time period. Despite their temporal, geographic, linguistic, and cultural differences, each share in an idea of China which transcends mere nationalistic identity: their identities are informed by, and in turn inform, a broader sense of mythic 'Chineseness' which transcends categories of temporal and geographic frames. Finally, while Chinese directors are expected to adhere to a particular vision of nationalism, these films suggest that recent Chinese filmmakers use martial arts film for greater freedom in negotiating the boundaries of what it means to be Chinese, and these boundaries cross borders, both international and cultural. |
