"Raise the Red Lantern" (1991)

Director Zhang Yimou makes it easy for the audience to be captivated with the life of a nineteen years old girl who is forced into a world full of schemes, deceit, hatred, and constant battles for attention as she becomes the third concubine of a rich landowner.


The beauty of “Raise the Red Lantern" is that it uses a simple storyline to convey flawlessly the ugliness of human nature and its horrifying and damaging results. It is a film that not only focuses on the atrocious oppression and objectification of women, but also concentrates greatly on the helplessness and vulnerability of those trapped within such a system. “Raise the Red Lantern” does well to describe to the society of China in the 1920s, a society full of traditions, hierarchies, and the need for self preservation.

Song Lian may have had half a year of college education, but that does little to rid her of the dependence on men through family and marriage and to help escape her fate as a woman of the times. Her education may have set her apart from the three other mistresses of Master Chen, but it is simply a feature that poses as a temporary advantage to further entice her master before he grows tired of her company.

Although there may be a social difference between an educated woman and an actress (as in the case with the Third Mistress), as women, there is no difference; the two are both subjected to the same fate. Whatever they do and whatever is done to them is for the sole purpose of serving and pleasing men. A woman is “a piece of clothing” for the man to control when he wants to wear, toss, and destroy that insignificant item.

Yet, women still actively participate in the perpetual struggle for attention, power, and status in order to secure a desirable position in this vicious human food chain to preserve the individual. Song Lian’s independent will and pride of an educated female is broken down as she sheds tears for her surrender to such a life, and eventually she feels the need to lie about her pregnancy as she tries to be calculating like the other mistresses. The exposure of her lie is her failure to fight effectively. It not only leads her to a life of isolation, but also to the destruction of her spirit.

She comes to the conclusion that the endless competition is meaningless; life is meaningless. Everything is simply an act; everything is a lie.

Yet, that is the life you must lead. That is the life that you are forced to lead.

The world of Master Chen and his four mistresses is no different than the dog-eat-dog world that exists outside the walls of their home. There is no security. There is no truth. Those who rebel or fail to obey the valued customs and rules of tradition are ultimately destroyed.

What is human in such a society? It is one step away from being a ghost, and perhaps there is not even a difference.

The last scene of “Raise the Red Lantern” is particularly haunting. Song Lian is at last driven to insanity after she witnesses the murder of the Third Mistress (the punishment for the Third Mistress’ adulterous acts), and she wanders aimlessly inside an enclosed, rectangular area of Master Chen’s household surrounded by brightly lit red lanterns.

She is forever trapped in this place of red lanterns, a place where one man controls all the lives of those inside his walls.

She is forever subjected to lead a life in which she has no control over.

She is to live a life that cannot be claimed as her own.

What is human?

What is life?

The Woes of a Man

Fat man sees small door,
He knows he cannot fit through,
Tears flow freely.

Fat man hears laughter,
Tears run steadily down face,
The girl laughs harder.

Laughter travels far,
Fat man cries even louder,
Sounds of happiness.

Fat man has no hope,
Literally drowns in tears,
Laughter heard on land.

Trapped behind the door,
Nowhere to go, run, or hide,
Woes of a fat man.

The story of a man expressed in Haiku verses - a joint production with a dear friend.

~ October 23, 2011

An Evolving Culture

There have been so many cultural changes simply within the last century, and I do feel that cultural change is an evolutionary process. Nobody in the past would have expected that contemporary culture will be so cyber-focused, but reality has shown that what began as something so rare has expand into something nearly everyone can have some sort of access to the internet.

Who would have thought that social networking would become such an essential part of our lives?

When I first joined Facebook and used Google, I did not anticipate their scale and their impact today. I also feel that when these companies first started, they had not really anticipated this either, regardless of how ambitious they were or what high hopes they held.

Because of their presence and the dynamics of the industries where competition and product innovation have urged on an economic change, we (consumers and commoners) have also actively participated in this process to generate further progress in changing our culture, society, and lives.

Undoubtedly, the world has been changing. It is almost as if we need to actively participate in social networking sites now in order to stay competitive or to simply show that we've "kept up" with the world. I would hate to think that this was a coherent plan of some human mastermind out there, but rather, it was something that has evolved out from different actions, thoughts, and trends of the times.

On a more personal note, I was very against joining Twitter or even posting certain statuses on Facebook because I didn't feel that people really needed or cared about what breakfast I hated that morning. But now I have a Twitter (tweet!), Blogspot, LinkedIn, YouTube, you name it!

How have you seen culture evolve in our world & in your life?

Culture: Something You Have or Do?

A traditional dance performed by a group of dancers from Germany

Culture is not something that we are born with. It doesn't come naturally to us like breathing, but it becomes so influential in our lives that it is almost as natural as breathing and eventually leads us to naturally identify ourselves with it. But, is "culture" something you have or something you do?

Culture is learned, and it is not inborn or instinctive. The most common way of learning is active and repeated participation, and because of this factor, I lean towards saying that “culture” is something that we do.

Considering using "culture" as a verb instead of a noun - "culturing," because it truly is an endless and ongoing activity. As we practice certain customs and follow certain traditions, we are showing others the values that we've learned from a particular culture. Our understanding & expression of our own culture will continue to change and develop based on our thoughts and decisions throughout different stages in life.

"Have" has the connotation that culture is something you can hold on to, that it’s comparable to an object. Since I do think that culture is an ongoing activity, I did not feel that considering it to be an object was fitting to its definition. However, I also realize that culture is something that you can lose. How can you lose something if you didn’t have it in the first place?

Do you feel like culture is something you have or something you do?

The Fall of Tradition

“An Old and Established Name” is a fitting title for such a tale, because it is essentially a life story of the business The Fortune Silk Store.
“The Fortune Silk Store – an old and established name of years standing! – now demeaned itself into employing every kind of trick to rope in customers. Xin Dezhi’s mouth hung so far open in dismay that his face began to look like a dumpling that had split apart while boiling. An old hand, an old and established name, old rules – all had vanished along with Manager Qian, perhaps never to return again. Manager Qian had been very honest and gentlemanly, so much so, in fact, that the Fortune Silk store lost money.”
The business begins as a place that exercises solely on old rules, but as quickly as the leave of its old manager, its old customs are gone. There is a strong focus of the past practices of the Fortune Silk Store as a constant reminder and simply to emphasize how strong and important to these ideals once were. The old and established name was what the store sold; it did not need anything else.

However, because of the external forces of societal and cultural changes, the business cannot carry on to operate as it once did. It must change with the times in order to continue. Everything must change. The arrival of the new manager brings along with him the needed transformation. The old vanishes, and the new takes over. There is no return to the past even if one tries.

The life of The Fortune Silk Store embodies the conflict between the traditional culture and doctrine and the new and foreign western capitalism. The presence of capitalism in the city and in the country brought upon significant cultural change and cultural split in Chinese society in the 1930s. The changes in business operations resulted primarily from the increasing brutal competition and social transformation. There was a great urge to modernize simply to survive in the city, in the country, and in the world.

The demise of the old and established store symbolizes the losing battle of tradition against modernization. No matter how hard tradition fought, it cannot compete with the new, and ultimately, it will be overpowered. Honesty and simplicity can no longer guarantee survival; only facades and deceits can ensure a position in the new world.

Lao She’s “An Old and Established Name” is a direct representation of the struggles and failures in preserving the tradition in a new society as well as a clear representation of the conflicting inner turmoil of those helplessly affected by their surrounding environment.

"An Old and Established Name" (1936)

“An Old and Established Name” by Lao She depicts the striking contrast between an old, traditional society and a new, modern society during a constantly changing and competitive time. The story follows Xin Dezhi, a senior apprentice of operations in the Fortune Silk Store, as he witnesses the change from the honest Manager Qian, to the hustler Manager Zhou, and back to Manager Qian, and concludes with the final fate of the Fortune Silk Store.

Told from the perspective of a side character, the focus is not on the change in personnel of the business, but rather the audience is drawn into the business and its transformations through the protagonist’s earnest response on the subject matter. Lao She clearly illustrates the value of a person experiencing continuous emotional waves and survival difficulties.

Without a doubt, the thoughts and emotions of Xin Dezhi makes the story most intriguing. Throughout the whole ordeal, he never once abandons his ideals of maintaining and valuing the traditional culture, morals, and doctrines. Although he cannot refute the fact that Manager Zhou’s management can prosper the business, he cannot bring himself to fully admire and accept such new ways of doing things. He observes that in order to make money, one has to be a “combination magician and burlesque comedian.”

When Manager Qian returns and the store is back to the way that it was in the past, Xin Dezhi readily welcomes the reversion because he truly loves the good times that the store once had. Even as reality and fate finally arrives at the Fortune Silk Store & it can no longer escape their hands, Xin Dezhi comforts Manager Qian with tears in his eyes to not to worry.

As sorrowful as it is to witness the gradual dismiss of his beloved old values all the while knowing deep in his heart that the past cannot be recovered, Xin Dezhi held on as long as he could to the shattered bits and pieces until the new inevitably took over.

"To Live" (1994)

“To Live,” a film directed by Yimou Zhang, follows the life of a man and his family as they are forced to adapt constantly in order to survive the drastic transformations that China undergoes during a short period of thirty years. The powerful presentation style along with the sorrowful plot filled with countless sufferings and obstacles effectively captivate the audience through the truthful depiction of people’s living conditions at the time. Such a film deserves recognition because it successfully illustrates the adversity and injustice throughout history and exemplifies universal themes that trigger the deeply rooted emotions residing within the human heart.

Fugui began as a stubborn, spoiled, and privileged man, and solely from his own doing, he loses everything that had given his family the high status that he used to frequently exploit. Yet, it is because of this seemingly terrible loss in becoming ordinary citizens that allows him and his family to follow the strong and unpredictable currents produced by the rise of the revolution and that ultimately grants them survival thereafter.

Viewers follow intensely to witness exactly how much Fugui must endure and how far he must bend his character simply to live – to live under constant anxiety, fear, and pressure. The tension remains for the rest of the movie, and there is no lasting, dependable source of relief. However, life does not stop for the person, and people must move on with life nonetheless. The arguably sole source of comfort is in the person’s ability to survive and remain resilient. Such is the pain and the inescapable living conditions forced upon people due to the radical political changes.

The challenges in Fugui’s life demonstrate the many different yet common and significant values for people, such as the importance of family, the devastation and repercussions of loss, and the power of love. They draw upon deep emotions in order to build a substantial connection and relationship by making the characters’ lives relatable to the external party. There is a strong sense of empathy from the audience because of the great focus on family unity and individual as well as family survival. In spite of all the tragedies, people can remain strong and endure the hardships thrown at them, for we cannot give in so easily. Humans are adaptable creatures, and in time, we learn to live with the sorrow and pain that mold and shape us into who we are today.

“To Live” truly is a movie that not only touches, but digs deep into the issues of the heart. Its realistic representation of the significant political events and their effects on mere citizens speak volumes about people’s mentality and approach towards life.

“To Live” is a movie for those who want to experience and witness how people deal with the complicated emotions that come with unexpected turmoil that arise in life.

Fresh Continuation

Everyone talks about having a fresh start - well this time, it's going to be my fresh continuation.

A new quarter has started, and this time, I am enrolled in 4 classes that require me to share some intense discussion and analysis on all sorts of reading and media materials! Certainly brings back some memories as to how this particular blog got started.

So, here I am, once again, asking you to be patient with me, and follow me in my journey -
this time through late 19th Century - early 20th Century British literature, modern Chinese literature, & contemporary business anthropology.

Enjoy!

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As usual, a simple disclaimer:
I must say that I truly mean no offense with what I will say. I understand that I may touch upon sensitive subjects, and I will try to be as careful as I can. I do not mean to attack or insult anyone out there. Please consider my commentaries with a carefree spirit~