The Cinematic Themes and Visuals of Ancient China - Part 3 | Video Essay

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Our journey brought us to the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties As the Sui Dynasty unified the empire once more China entered the Medieval Period Unlike the so-called Dark Ages of the West, however Medieval China was remarkably prosperous Raped with cultural development Dragons, paintings, Zen Buddhism These world-renowned aspects of China Took on their recognizable forms in these 700 years Naturally, such a strong visual identity Would also influence the art of cinema As a result, films set in this period Often look exotically Chinese to a foreign audience It's the Chinese equivalent of knights in castles, if you will Naturally, such fascinating visuals Come with a whole host of stories and history And we are going to take a look at just that These are the cinematic themes and visuals of Ancient China Part 3 Thanks to its emperor being a dumbass The Sui Dynasty lasted only 38 years Its reign was so brief that stories set in this period Often leak into the following dynasty Referred to as the Sui-Tang Period The Sui Dynasty is but a prelude to the majestic Tang Dynasty Welcome to the Tang Dynasty An era of silk clothing and ink paintings Wine, music, ceramics, and poetry The deep color of ancient times gave way to a vibrant palette It is the image that comes to mind When you think of China outside of war It's peaceful It's exciting It's also, to modernize, feminine Why? Because of the female emperor Oh, and that's that other chick We'll get to her in a bit If you ask someone to name a Tang Dynasty emperor There's a good chance their first answer is Wu Zetian The only female emperor in Chinese history Wu Zetian began her political life as an imperial concubine of little significance But when her royal husband kicked the bucket His son, the new emperor, married her Scandalous From there, she became his queen Gaining control of the court And eventually crowning herself emperor of China Despite her usurpation causing chaos in court Interestingly, civilian life was good under her rule To diminish the power of nobilities She reformed the imperial exam Allowing men of all classes to become officials Thus increasing social mobility Many Tang officials came from a grassroots background The meritocracy is one of the many aspects that made this dynasty feel very progressive Wu Zetian had the beauty The cunning The ambition And best of all The leadership Needless to say Chinese people today are enamored with this girl boss Numerous shows were made about her legendary intrigue I am a person I can do what others can't And I can do what others can't Better still Wu Zetian was but one capable emperor out of many in this dynasty Thus, China entered the second golden age Characterized by a flamboyant, wealthy aesthetic See its iconic dress The vibrant color And the loose collar Compared to the uptight style of the Han dynasty You can see why people would think this is more fashionable and sexy Tang China was also very cosmopolitan Traders and scholars would gather in major cities Goods from all around the world were sold in China In films, this translates to Byzantine envoys Japanese embassies And Turkic dancers It is truly the most appropriate setting for the multicultural travelogue Journey to the West Speaking of Journey to the West Buddhism really took off during the Tang dynasty As a result The era is frequently depicted with a Buddhist flair Reflecting the impressive mural and monuments of the era I think many of you would agree that Every frame I'm showing feels definitively Chinese It's no exaggeration to say that A large part of the Chinese identity Was shaped by the Tang dynasty It certainly felt that way for Disney As the makeup and clothing found in Mulan Were clearly influenced by Tang fashion That's the power of a culture Even if you don't know about the Tang dynasty You still know it without knowing it Though belovedly today Wu Zetian was, for a long time, reviled by historians Her violent usurpation overshadowed her good deeds Funny how that doesn't matter to male emperors Clearly, she needs better publicity If only she had Squarespace Imagine if she had a publicly accessible website Where she can explain her policies And, perhaps, share her interest in calligraphy You know, to humanize her Well, with Squarespace's Fluid Engine Making a personal blog is quick and easy She wouldn't even have to hire someone to do it With numerous templates She can achieve professional results all on her own Squarespace even offers tools to monitor web traffic She could adjust her content accordingly Or even change her policies according to feedback Or I guess she can just assassinate these loyal nobles Yeah, she did that a lot Too bad she couldn't enjoy the free trial But you can! This is squarespace.com slash Accident Cinema to get started Use the code ACCIDENTCINEMA for 10% off your first purchase Need a blog? Need a business page? Need to run for presidency? You should publicize yourself with a website Visit squarespace.com slash Accident Cinema today Man, coming up the heights of Wu Zetian Yang Guifei just seems so... Lame Yes, I know I'm being opinionated But, like, let me explain Yang Guifei is one of the four great beauties of China And arguably the most popular one She was the concubine of Emperor Tang Xuanzong And that's really all you need to know Unlike the other three beauties Who all made personal sacrifices for the greater good Yang Guifei's only contribution was being blamed for corrupting the Tang dynasty The emperor, as depicted in pop culture Loved her more than he loved the country His neglect of China led to a massive rebellion Yang Guifei was executed to appease the people Yeah, she's the Chinese archetype for Helen of Troy The misogyny is palpable Nevertheless, Yang Guifei is the other reason If not the main reason For the feminine dynasty perception In fact, she defined the dynasty's beauty standard Sort of You see, in a poem by Song dynasty writer Su Shi He wrote Short, tall, fat and skinny can all be beautiful Who can dislike Yang Guifei and Zhao Feiyan? Clearly, he meant beauty comes in all shapes and sizes But because he used Yang Guifei as an example People think that she must be the fat one This perception is further reinforced by Tang paintings In which women were drawn with round faces This led to people thinking the dynasty preferred women Who are, let's say, big and beautiful Of course, Su Shi was born some hundreds of years after Yang Guifei The whole thing is a misconception But the myth had become so pervasive Film adaptations have to account for this Thus, films depicting Tang dynasty women would often show up that... Boobs Alluding to the curves While still adhering to modern beauty standards Except, this isn't even a Tang dynasty movie We'll come back to that in a bit Anyway, beauty did not kill the empire Fractionalism did It would be more accurate to blame Yang Guifei For installing her relatives into the government Partially responsible for internal divisions Resulting in the infamous An Lushan Rebellion Though the rebellion didn't topple the dynasty immediately A slow death was followed China was fractured once more So began the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period A period that's even messier than it sounds To put it simply Northern China was sort of unified But went through five dynasties in less than a century Southern China was sort of fractured into ten states None of which was strong enough to unify the land Oh, and there was the Liu dynasty, too More on them in a bit Much like how the Sui dynasty is seen as a prelude This era is often depicted as an appendix to Tang This is why Curse of the Golden Flower is often misidentified as a Tang dynasty film It's the same sexy glamour But now, in a war-torn China As individual states only lasted a decade or so There wasn't much identity to speak of The cultural heritage of Tang China gradually waned So ends China's second golden age Amusingly, the Song dynasty also gets along together with Tang Unlike Sui-Tang, however The term Tang-Song pits the two dynasties as equals At least, in terms of artistic achievements The Song dynasty is often defined by what it wasn't It wasn't a dominating force like Han or Tang The Liu dynasty, established by the Khitan people Had grown increasingly powerful To ensure peace The weaker Song dynasty had to pay tribute to Liu and other northern empires That was seen as humiliating To be clear While they are often depicted as barbarians in Chinese pop culture These empires were Chinese The people saw themselves as Chinese And historians also agree But the Han-Chinese bias runs deep So movies and histories focus almost solely on the Song dynasty For the above reasons Song stories often have a somber tone Tragedies and heroic sacrifices are common themes Reflecting a dynasty perpetually in peril Water Margin is one such story In the novel The corrupt Song government turned a band of warriors into outlaws The rise and fall became the foundation for wuxia literature Similarly, the general of the Yang family Recounts the deeds of a military family Who protected Song China's northern border Their greatest enemy, however, isn't the Liu empire But the corrupt officials within the Song government That is, of course, the true story of Yue Fei A general who fought for Song China for decades Only to be sent to death by the government The reason varied between interpretations One popular view is that Yue Fei held too much power over the military The moment he ceased to be useful He was backstabbed Of these stories Show how the dynasty was seen as corrupt and bleak It was a time when things were not right It's a shame because this dynasty had a lot of good things going on Simply put The Song dynasty was weak Because the government shifted its focus from the military To arts and culture The dynasty saw the maturing of the iconic Chinese landscape painting genre That sense of scale against the Taoist tranquility Formed the aesthetic of which modern artists continue to strive for The most iconic painting, however, isn't even a landscape It's a 5 meter long scroll depicting the capital This bustling urban scene is also something we see often in Tang Song movies If the Tang dynasty has the best female fashion Then the Song dynasty was for all you pretty boys With the adoption of Neo-Confucianism The ostentatious colors of Tang was no more Song fashion was modest and clean The visual simplicity is timeless Poetry entered a silver age Literature, ceramics and other art forms As well as science and engineering Saw a great deal of development as well Its aesthetic and identity are just as strong as the Tang dynasty Hence, the Tang Song period Despite the bruised ego The Song dynasty was nevertheless a stable and even wealthy period While lacking in military might It was strong in civil effect Without stability Without offering people security There would never be such a flourishing art scene Clearly, the dynasty was doing something right At last, it didn't matter if you were weak or strong Because Oh sh** it's the Mongols And so, another 700 years have passed China went from a place you heard of To a place you can instantly recognize So much had happened I didn't even have time to talk about Journey to the West in detail Or discuss the Japanese adaptation of Yang Guifei Japan has a myth about her escaping to Japan Yeah, like, Jesus With that, our journey is nearing its end Join us next time As we explore the final 650 years of dynastic China In which China was first ruled by the Mongols Then the Han Chinese Then the Manchurians And then the colonizers came Oof Let's see how the late dynastic China Shaped our contemporary beliefs and culture See you next time