This week we looked famous Chinese action movie–Crouching tiger hidden dragon. Ang Lee’s “Crouching.Tiger,Hidden.Dragon”, talk about a place that called ‘jianghu’ and talk about a story.
In this movie, Li Mubai and Yu Xiulian are up the face, is want to sue Jen inside the soul. The ‘Crouching’ and the ‘Hidden’ are deep in the heart, longing for freedom, looking forward to indulge in a dream of ‘jianghu’.
All corners of the story, is associated with a warrior, and Crouching.Tiger,Hidden.Dragon, his name is Li Mu bai. He is the most traditional filial piety, righteousness and knight, everything, the heart of the common people in Wushu, to single handedly preserve peace, because wash hermit, a green night sword to Lord Beller, and later caused bloody.
Li Mubai and confidante, Yu Xiulian, are typical of the ‘jianghu’ in this story. They seem to be vast and random. They are at home, but the actual practice is very boring. The two met ten years uniten still did not dare to cross the stairs, because Yu Xiulian and Li Mu Bai had her dead husband brothers. This thought can keep silent and concomitant life, can be turned out not only Yu Jiaolong broke the two secret, bring a different kind of life for ‘jianghu’.
Miss Yu Jiaolong is the palace, the karma from the jade fox learned Kung Fu, and she want to do, it is more human mind, look forward to the real arena. From the bottom of her heart, she was a man without a proper life.
Ang Lee’s picture is really beautiful. When he patted Li Mubai, he paid attention to the restraint of Taoism under the so-called inaction, and Yu Xiulian was more like a firework. The film focus on Yu Jiaolong The shot is the art of the film, Ang Lee’s shot is his idea of the ‘jianghu’.
Many people say “Crouching.Tiger,Hidden.Dragon” between the kind of antiquity, but I think it’s just good to a proper extent of realism. This is not to live in the rivers and lakes in this novel is only for people to escape from the reality of the the Peach Garden, and it is the day we are experiencing, the inevitable vicissitudes of life. Even at the end of Jen, do not have to return to the original track? Life will have to follow this world, whether you are in the hall of the arena, only to let go, we can really put it down.
Thanks for writing one such awesome blog! I really like the idea of “jiang hu”. As a Chinese, I can understand the deep meaning of this word which can not easily to express in some specific words. I also like the word freedom you have talked about. When I was a young boy, I dreamed to be a swordsman who can use his sword to help good people and fight with bad guys. I think a true swordsman can go anywhere and do everything he wants. In my immatual and young brain, I think this is called freedom. But today, it is hard to say who is good and who is bad. With the time goes by, although I have changed the idea about freedom, I still cherish the memory of the dream in my childhood.
Thank you for your comment. I really like this film. When I watched this film first, as a child. I was attracted in ‘JiangHu’. I thought, what the ‘JiangHu’ is. In my dream, ‘JiangHu’ has a man or woman is good at Chinese Kung Fu and so brave. He or she can do any right things, such as Li Mubai in this film. I think there are many kinds of Chinese traditional culture. It can impact teenager to learn Chinese traditional culture. Traditional culture as a treasure has been inherited by young people. At the same time, Chinese traditional culture through a film let more and more another countries’ people knowing.
Agree with you two, every Chinese have a dream of Jianghu: dress in fine clothes and ride on well-groomed horses, having a life of righteous itinerant persons. Wine, sward, fair girls and faithful friends constitute a unique dream for Chinese. For thousands of years we are trying to find a place which have a relatively freedom, and this is why “Jianghu” is so popular for so many years.
Though Crouching tiger hidden dragon is telling a Chinese story in a very western way, it is very successful and has shown a very completed Chinese spiritual world.