Zhen Huan Myth

The introduction of television casted a wave of change in the lives of the American public. In Gary Edgerton’s The Columbia History of American Television, he described the uprising of television, “involved the most extensive and ballyhooed series of public relations events ever staged around any mass medium in American history. “ (Edgerton, p.1) The first presentation of television played a pivotal role on how the American public adopted the new medium of technology and communication. I will explore the grand manner of how television was presented to the American public during the early years by the direction of David Sarnoff, and televised special of the 1939 World’s fair. In addition, how this presentation of television generated the acceptation

In 690, Empress Wu assumed the title of emperor for herself –the lone woman to act as emperor in Chinese imperial history – thereby finally facilitating the great improvement in China that Wu’s legacy left for women, the Buddhist clergy and the classes less fortunate than the aristocracy. Despite her despotism in ascending to

Empress Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule China, ruled during the Tang dynasty, but exerted cruel and malicious methods to gain power. She was born with the name Wu Zhao into a wealthy family and learned to write, read, and play music. Because of her beauty and intelligence, Wu became Emperor Tsung’s fifth favorite concubine, or

The mother in the story tries everything in her power to make Jing-mei famous in some way. Yet Jing-mei was content to being herself.

In contrast, during the era of The Story Yingying, the cultural norm for a woman was to be submissive, patient, and passive. Yingying upheld all of these cultural standards. After meeting Zhang for the first time Yingying showed no interest in him at all but overtime Yingying finally gave into Zhang and fell in love and they became engaged. Unfortunately, Zhang had to leave for a year to go take a civil service examination, but he promised her he would come back to her. She waited patiently and after a year, her fiancé returned but shortly after had to leave again to retake the examination. Again she waited patiently for his return, but he never came back. After waiting for years for her fiancé to return, she became eager to

The name of Xin-hua translates to New China and it was her powerful belief for a new China that made her determination so strong. Throughout Forbidden City her determination seemed to grow. It required a lot of guts and determination for the powerless ordinary people to take on the all-powerful government. Determination, though not her only characteristic, was certainly the strongest one, but through her determination she showed Alex a different world. To die for your country is not as heart rending than to be executed by an army who used to die for their country instead of killing their people. Xin-hua, though fictional, was one among thousands of people who died for their beliefs and still had no effect on China's Communist Party.

Jook-Liang’s grandmother doesn’t let her become a movie star, because Poh-Poh thinks that Jook-Liang is a girl and that she is useless, she can’t be a movie star, she can do nothing. Conversely, that is just her opinion without any proof, even though Poh-Poh is also a woman. This kind of gender discrimination and ridiculous opinion makes Jook-Liang hate Grandmother. Thirdly, this traditional Chinese thinking makes her think about herself.

In the chapter “Waiting Between the Trees” Ying-ying’s past in China that she has kept from her daughter is revealed. When she was young she believed that she was too good for any man, however eventually she realized she had to settle and married an indecent man, despite her being extremely vain. She had given up herself for this man, only for him to

Women during this time were considered inferior to the men. A stereotypical woman in China was, “passive, dependent, obedient, and helpless”. Women were considered guests in their own houses before marriage and after marriage the women became part of their husband’s family. This must have meant that family loyalty for the women was not as important, but it was more important for the men. The expectation was that women were to agree with their husbands regardless of whether or not they were actually correct. When out in public, they should cover up as much of their skin as possible and not raise their voices when they are spoken to. This was a difficult time for women, but Empress Wu found a way to ignore these stereotypes. Her beauty and intelligence attracted Taizong and he made her part of his concubine. She eventually married the son of Taizong, Gaozong, making her empress of China. After the death of Gaozong their son Ruizong ruled as emperor, but eventually Empress Wu threw him into exile and took the position for herself starting her rule in 690. This represents her more brutal nature and how she would not let anything or anyone get in her way, including her son. Since she had overcome the adversities of women Wu worked hard during her reign to allow more opportunities for women than previously. In

Wu Zhao belonged to the Tang Empire, which according to the author which “…was a true empire, encompassing many lands, many peoples, and many ideologies. Multi ethnic and cosmopolitan, Tang China was perfectly suited for the ascent of a historical anomaly like Wu Zhao…” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 11) In a sense, there was a conflict of traditional Confucian values which promoted a patriarchal society and the liberal Steppe culture which gave women more freedom and rights. China at that time was a cocktail of these cultures which led to a significant impact on the lifestyle and values of peoples in that era. Women were bold and tough, and unlike earlier societies, were no longer confined socially and sexually (Rothschild, 2008, p. 12). While did not exist a perfect equality between men and women, women of that era were allowed to live without hiding under the dominance of the male Yang. As the author talks of the Silk Road, it is mentioned that,”…In this free-wheeling milieu, women donned men’s attire and rode horses…” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 15) .This “cosmopolitan” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 16) society was the foundation for the Tang Empire. Another important factor was the prevalence of Buddhism as a religion of the masses. Buddhism, in itself, helped united much of Asia, and was a common platform for men and women, unlike in Confucianism where

In this time in China, the role that women and men had were very different from each other. Women were expected to be quite, obedient, and respectful. While men were the provider, the intellectual and the decision maker in the family. In Shen Fu and his wife, Yun marriage it started out like the typical relationship in eightieth century China, each one fulfilling the roles that society had in place for them. But as they became to know each other more, Shen Fu saw Yun real personality and wanted someone to experience life, so he started to encourage her to be herself and told her she didn’t have to live up to this gender stereotypes for women. They both were always

Many people argued that Empress Dowager Cixi accelerated the speed of the demise of the Qing dynasty. Cixi might be a blasting fuse but she was not accounted for the final fall of the dynasty. The actions Cixi took had profoundly changed the foundation of feudal China so as to push China forward into a modern stage. Although many historical data suggested that whatever Cixi had done were to consolidate her authority and personal status. But no matter what, the impact on the country was obvious. Cixi broke the previous traditions from Confucianism that had been lasted for centuries. Tensions between the Manchus and Han Chinese had been greatly improved, which made a great contribution to China for later unification. Under the reign of the Empress Dowager, the social structure had undergone a series of changes. Qing 's demise is doomed, this was resulted from issues that had stacked up from previous generations. Moreover, Cixi did her best to secure China’s status in the world in such a chaotic period in history. She made undeniable contributions to China.

In subsequent years following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China came a revolutionary new approach to not only producing films, but also film’s very role in communist society. During this period the state gained complete control of the filmmaking industry, decreeing that the utilitarian functions of art and literature were to become a powerful weapon in serving the revolutionary struggle. In an otherwise artistically stifling period in which socialist realism pervaded all creative outlets, Xie Jin managed to retain some autonomy and emerged as one of the cleverest Chinese directors in the early 1960s. In his 1961 film Red Detachment of Women, Jin provides a classic revolutionary melodrama, yet also displays elements of formalism so that the viewer becomes conscious of the manipulations of his film technique. To analyze this film, I will use Mao Zedong’s 1942 “Talks at the Yan 'an Forum on Literature and Art,” clip #10 “Landmark 2,” and clip #6 “We are joining the red army” to elaborate on the major themes and cinematic style that distinguish Xie Jin’s work from his contemporaries.

This shows the respect that families had for each other during this time. He greets his mother for the first time in 7 years and doesn’t recognize her face. She then talks of how she is proud of her son as the Emperor of China. I saw it interesting how ordinary people have to turn away; they are not allowed to look at the Emperor because he is too important. He seems very harsh and demanding even at a young age. He tells his brother he cannot wear imperial yellow because it’s only for the emperor. I noticed how woman seem to be treated poorly in this time period.

Hanhan’s character in the film appears to be subtly comical, as well as rather silent and expressionless throughout the majority of the film. As Hanhan got more acquainted with Gu Qing, he also got more verbal. This reflects Hanhan’s possible oppression of being unable to voice his own opinions, as well as suggesting his character being overwhelmed by his living condition and social boundaries. He appears to be a caring brother to Cuiqiao, but is helpless in verbally aiding his sister’s pre-prescribed life of forced marriage and duties as a female. Hanhan’s character becomes closer to Gu Qing, allowing him to open up – We see scenes of Hanhan and Gu Qing being