The Qin Dynasty

Term Paper # 100077

Asian Studies
Film
History > Asian

The Qin Dynasty

This paper explores ideas of space and time that are intertwined in the Qin period in China.

2,171 words () | 6 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper examines the film, "Hero," set in the Warring States period in China. The paper describes the Qin effort to unify the warring principalities that the character "Nameless" defeats, towards the rise of what came to be a Chinese nation-state. The paper highlights Chinese ideas of place and belonging, of how the world should be, the usual insignificance of persons and the strong chance of bad order as only the heroic can offset it and put in place new systems of order that will fit with both human need and the will of the cosmos.

Outline:
Introduction
A Southern Epic
Later, Historians and History
Qin Rule and Dissent
Conclusion - On Heroic and Other Myths

From the Paper:

"East Asian pre-modern ideas of time offer more than one conception of Time, and discussion of it, as evidenced in the 2002 film, Hero, set in the Warring States period. The principal character, "Nameless" is presented to the reader as not just a mercenary of the Qin state but as a kind of divine appointee. As an English subtitle explains "this land does not know a real hero - yet." (2004) All characters within this epic story seem to know they are part of a still unknown momentous outcome, part of a far longer epic of China's history, in the Qin effort to unify the warring principalities that Nameless defeats, one by one, towards the rise of what came to be a Chinese nation-state. Nameless, an orphan, had no family name to live up to, so devoted years to mastering the sword, aware of some particular purpose, a time in which he would serve a noble cause. Once competent, he presented himself to the Qin court with the swords of the Qin's adversaries. As Stephen Owen commented of very old Chinese ideas of the self and its purpose, "the ancients tell us that there are three kinds of achievement by which a person may hope to endure - moral power, deeds, and words." (p.72)"

Sample of Sources Used:

Ebery, Patricia. Trans. "Cultural Differences between the North and South." University of Toronto, EAS 209Y Course Materials - Approaches to East Asia, I of II, 2006.
"Hero". (DVD). Dir. Yimou Zhang. 96 minutes: Jet Li, Tony Leung, Chiu Wai. Mandarin with English subtitles, 2004.
Owen, Stephen. "The Self's Perfect Mirror - Poetry as Autobiography." University of Toronto, EAS 209Y Course Materials - Approaches to East Asia, II of II, 2006.
"The Writing of History." University of Toronto, EAS 209Y Course Materials - Approaches to East Asia, I of II, 2006.
Xin Lui. The Otherness of Self - a Genealogy of the Self in Contemporary China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. University of Toronto, EAS 209Y Course Materials - Approaches to East Asia, II of II, 2006.