How to Identify Cinematic Themes & Visuals of Ancient China

May 1, 2024 8:40 AM

Part 1: From the S Dynasty to the Chin Dynasty. Part 2: From the Chu-Han contention, through the first Chinese golden age of the Han dynasty, to the Warring States, and the Northern and Southern dynasties. To clarify, this YouTube series is NOT about the actual history, but how Chinese history is interpreted through Chinese cinema. This is a continuing series from Accented Cinema. Previously from AccentedCinema. For those interested in the actual history, he recommends Cool History Bros.
posted by toastyk (8 comments total)

I just watched these last night. I've always been aware as I watch Chinese historical/kung fu cinema that I've got zero idea when the film is actually set. It could be 1850, it could be 300 BC. Unless its set during the Three Kingdoms and Guan Yu shows up. These are the sorts of thing that Chinese viewers would just know, the same way I can tell a film set in ancient Rome or Medieval England despite both being mainly about guys running around with swords and metal armor.
posted by thecjm at 8:52 AM on May 1

Well, it doesn’t help that most wuxia isn’t set in any particular time, in much the way that there are a lot of “medieval” films set in Europe that have elements from the best part of a millenniums just kind of mashed together. Set designers and costumers commit a lot of sins.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:12 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]

Can't wait to watch these. I'm about 2/3 through Longest Day in Chang'an (unbelievably good) and quickly became aware that this was a period and location in Chinese history I was pretty much completely unfamiliar with. Hopefully there's a little grounding in the actual history so I can understand a little better how close some things were to reality (not in terms of flying martial arts, but that there was east-west conflict between scattered groups and centralized coastal powers etc).

Oh, for poster and mods: and the links point to specific times partway through the videos - probably they should go to the starts.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 9:37 AM on May 1

Oh, my bad, could one of the mods fix that? Thanks!
posted by toastyk at 9:40 AM on May 1

Follow up comment, this was very interesting and informative while also being quick. Unfortunately it did not touch on the one show I wanted to learn more about, which is in the Tang period, but maybe that will be in the next video because if I understand correctly it takes place during the downfall of that empire. I added about 10 movies to my Chinese language "to watch" list, after I check they aren't terrible of course.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:07 PM on May 1

A cheat sheet for the major periods/dynasties:
Warring States/Chin Dynasty (秦): clothes have simple lines, dust everywhere
Han (汉) and the Three Kingdoms: stereotypical Chinese dress, think Mulan (the animated one)
Tang: empress waistlines in women's dress, everything is flashier ("Longest Day in Chang'an")
Song: closer to Han but more elaborate dresses ("The Story of Minglan")
Yuan: Mongols but very few shows are set in that period
Ming: big sleeves (no breakout shows about it in recent years)
Qing: rectangular headdresses on palace women ("Empresses in the Palace")
posted by of strange foe at 7:46 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]

it doesn’t help that most wuxia isn’t set in any particular time

I've not read any new wuxia in a long time, but this isn't really true for the classic Jin Yong (Louis Cha) novels; for example, 射雕英雄传 (The Legend of the Condor Heroes) is clearly set in the late Song dynasty, with a major plot point being the war between Jin and Song dynasties. And the main character is close to Genghis Khan.
posted by destrius at 10:39 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I was going to go into more detail about that. It’s true that the “Condor” trilogy is set in a specific time and real events punctuate the series, but most of the action takes place in the Jianghu, which is separated from the historical world. The presence of the Jurchen and Mongols in the story serve more to provide characters with motivation and plot pressure than as historical presences. It’s kind of like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; it’s an identifiable historical setting with some real people, places, and events used in the story, but the history (and historical inconsistencies) doesn’t matter very much.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:20 AM on May 2 [1 favorite]