On the Conceptualized Modes of World Engagement of Chinese Kung-fu Films

摘要

Kung-fu films are among the most heatedly discussed film products originated from China and appraised by the rest of the world. This article intends to go beyond a traditional paradigm of film analysis which is central on characters, plots and the like, so as to render a cognitive exploration of how such films are related to typical Chinese modes of conceptualization of world engagement. We find that Kung-fu films tend to simplify the relations between people and the world, foreground the self-fulfilment of individuals by means of dramatizing the way they overcome worldly obstacles, and advocate a peace fulness-oriented philosophy of Kung-fu in order to reconcile the contradictions between the self and the world. These features are true of many successful Kung-fu films almost without exception, thus indicating the research paradigm employed in this article may serve as a feasible model for further studies.