When he heard that China, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries jointly asked international human rights organizations to revise the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, causing controversy, and "Neo-Confucianism" resounded around the world, director Yang Dechang decided to revise the script of the comedy "The Age of Independence" that was being filmed to explore related topics in depth.
He realized that cultural exchanges between the East and the West require self-reflection on both sides.
There are some defects in Eastern culture and Confucian culture, and if you do not find and face them, and blindly follow a certain ideology, it will not only be difficult for Eastern and Western cultures to integrate, but also the problems of society will become more and more serious.
In the 1990s, Taiwan's economy developed rapidly, with per capita income and human development index reaching world-class levels, ranking among developed countries and regions.
The story of "Independent Era" takes place in such an "independent era" where everyone has money to earn, there is no need to worry about being starved to death, only need to work, do not worry about eating and drinking, whether male or female, anyone can rely on themselves.
The beginning of the film quotes a passage from the analects of the Analects.
The meaning is probably that what if a place has more people? Confucius's answer was to make the people rich first.
Taiwan has already met the requirements of the first step of "getting rich", and is in the "Confucian cultural circle", has always been deeply influenced by Confucian culture, and also meets the second step in the original text of the Analects, "teaching".
But in Yang Dechang's view, society has not become better and more harmonious, and the life of Taiwanese people has not become more relaxed, but is full of confusion and sorrow.
The so-called era of independence has actually become a tragic era in which everyone cries and lives very tired, loneliness and loneliness are rampant, and desires can never be satisfied.
Obviously, public opinion tends to emphasize benevolence and morality, Confucius has also been named a great sage, and Confucianism has become the victor of the hundred schools of thought more than two thousand years later.
Why is it that the whole society is still everywhere deceitful, false benevolence and false righteousness?
If Confucius had crossed over to modern times, he might have been confused.
Therefore, the English title of "The Age of Independence" is "A Confucian Confusion", the confusion of Confucians.
Through the intertwining of more than a dozen characters, "The Age of Independence" explains the reasons why the Confucian vision of a cosmopolitan society is impossible.
The rich woman Molly and the rich second generation Ah King, the couple, they were engaged early, but because it was a political marriage, their feelings for each other were not deep.
Molly worries about his company's chores every day;
King unconsciously invests in true affection, and because of Molly's peach scandal, he is irritable all the time.
Xiaoming and Kiki, the pair, each has a relatively stable job, and together they plan their future.
Kiki is worried about helping the wayward Molly with the company's affairs;
Xiaoming is dissatisfied because Kiki has deviated from his plan.
Xiaoming's father, and the second aunt, they rely on social relations for profit.
There are contradictions in their families, everyone looks at who is not happy, and the second aunt tries to mediate, but the result has been the opposite.
Larry and Xiaofeng are a pair, and they plan to step on the two rich second-generation stepping stones of Molly and Ah King.
But plans can never keep up with the changes.
Molly's sister and brother-in-law, one is a well-known host, the other is a well-known fiction writer, and the two of them have become famous and can easily have a lot of income.
However, the marriage between the two has reached the point of separation, the sister tries to save it, and the brother-in-law is discouraged from publishing serious novels.
Around these five pairs of Mandarin ducks, there are also several main characters.
Director Bir Jr., who is a classmate of Molly, Xiaoming, and Kiki, became popular by copying Molly's brother-in-law's novels.
But because he was afraid that his brother-in-law, who refused to sign the power of attorney, would really sue him for infringement, he was afraid every day and could not be at peace.
Xiaoming's colleagues, Li Ren and the Director, have constructed a small branch line to play with power.
There is also the person in charge of the construction site who begged the founder to cover up the mistake, because he was in a bankruptcy crisis.
The characters, like everyone in reality, have their own troubles.
This truly shows that in the society after the "rich", independent individuals will have to face all the choices and judgments about their own future.
Confucianism blindly requires all people to emphasize benevolence and morality, but does not teach people how to achieve their personal ideals and goals.
At this time, society is still blindly promoting Confucianism, and the problem arises.
Notice the first scene of the movie.
Director Bir Jr. proposed his understanding of "Datong", Datong Datong, that is, everyone is the same.
As a rogue artist, his understanding must have been wrong.
But if you think about it from another angle, what he said is not all wrong.
If everyone follows Confucianism and prefers to throw money on the street rather than take it for themselves, then Confucius's cosmopolitan society is probably just around the corner.
Therefore, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of a cosmopolitan society, it is necessary to make everyone think in unison.
The first thing that can put everyone to a standard is the law.
It's just that the law can't limit everyone's thinking, can't manipulate everyone to hate money, and can throw money on the street without picking it up.
Then, we must rely on the assistance and constraints of the moral environment.
In order to meet the requirements of Confucian thought, for thousands of years, many Eastern countries, especially in China, have vigorously promoted "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom and faith" and formulated unified moral standards.
The positive ones sing praises, and the negative criticism erases them.
So much so that each of us is indoctrinated from an early age to teach how to do it "right".
Because in this way, all people can think the same way as possible, so that "Datong" has the possibility of realization.
If someone does something different, they will soon encounter strong resistance and denial, and even be excluded and isolated.
Human beings are social animals, the vast majority of people do not want to be abandoned by the group, based on the instinct of human nature, some eastern countries have gradually formed a "co-flow culture", more and more people flatter the same "good" standards, less and less people dare to break the convention.
In order to keep one's ideals and goals unhindered, everyone had to cooperate, so they all tried to echo them and strive to meet the standards of society.
Whether it's true or fake.
Just look like it.
The complexity of human nature determines that different people will take different means and make different choices.
Then some people who could not really achieve Confucian standards invented a "unique art" in order to achieve personal goals- "dressing".
Over time, some false "good" enters society.
Whether it is really "good" or pretending to be "good", everyone accepts it all.
So little Bir, the so-called artist who pretended to be, also became popular.
Larry saw this recipe for success, and he invented his own "theory of human feelings."
He found that a person cannot be too different from others.
Because everyone likes things that are full of sunshine and make people feel warm and happy, as long as they are like Kiki, they can attract attention, thus attracting investment, and thus making money.
Therefore, it is the best business to create a beautiful cultural business in a big way.
At the end of the day, it's about pretending to be what others want.
According to his own theory, he pretended to be the "think tank" that Ah King wanted, and regarded friendship as an investment to fight for his own interests.
He's pretending, and so are the others.
For his own interests, Xiao Feng obviously does not like Kiki, but he still has to pretend to be friendly and try to win over relations;
Xiaoming's father and second aunt also have to pretend to be a good face every day in order to socialize.
Down-to-earth Xiaoming does not like the set of pretense, so he is very disgusted with both his father and his second aunt.
In order to cater to the system, civil servants such as founders and directors must also behave in a disciplined manner and save the country and the people.
Molly's sister and brother-in-law, knowing that their marriage had broken down, still had to remain happy in public.
Because everyone doesn't like to see the negative news of divorce and breakup. Whether it is to really inspire the public, or to worry that the public will no longer worship her, the sister does not want the marriage with her brother-in-law to fail completely.
Almost all of them are pretending, so that Xiaoming and Kiki, who are not pretending, are also suspected of being pretending.
Their pair of golden children and jade girls are everyone's model and the perfect embodiment of "good".
But privately, however, they are not as sweet and affectionate as romance novels, but instead quarrel and quarrel.
As the number of people pretending becomes more, benevolence becomes false benevolence and false righteousness;
After a long time of pretending, I don't know what I was like.
Molly is a prime example.
Her heart does not belong to the cultural industry, it is likely that her sister did a good job, and her parents asked her to follow suit, and let her sister take her to do it.
That's why she said that her father would have invested too, and her sister complained about staring at her every day.
The good development of the economy has made women independent, and she has followed the trend and opened her own company in order to become a popular new woman.
It's just that she is the kind of person who wants to learn to dress, but she can't learn how to dress.
She is not like her sister, unhappy can be pretended to be happy, emotions are written on the face.
It wasn't until she realized she couldn't put it on that she began to ask herself what she was doing it for.
She hadn't even thought about why she wanted to be independent.
Her independence is not really independence.
Most people are used to dressing up, wearing a mask every day to play a familiar role for others, hiding many feelings in their hearts, feelings that are different from social standard opinions, causing everyone to become elusive and difficult to understand. Communication between people gradually became difficult.
Molly, Molly's sister and brother-in-law, little Bir, and even Xiaoming and Kiki, who are not pretending, they can't show the negative energy side, everyone only sees their bright side, how can they understand and understand their suffering?
Every day to pretend to be a different look, for a long time will naturally feel very tired;
Become another way, others can not understand themselves, the soul is naturally prone to loneliness;
After pretending for a long time, I don't know what I really want, I always feel that I don't feel enough to get anything, and my desires naturally can't be satisfied.
This is not so much an era of independence as it is an era of coercion.
The brother-in-law, who has already seen through everything, has been thinking about how to overcome hypocrisy.
Kiki's appearance and a small car accident inspired him.
His feelings are actually what Yang Dechang wants to express.
The reason why there is falsehood, there will be people pretending, is because a certain standard is regarded as the truth, even if some people do not recognize this standard, in order not to be excluded by society, they have to pretend.
The excessive abuse of Confucianism has led to a serious neglect of the differences between human beings and the fact that there is evil in human nature.
Everyone is unique, the law can't make everyone the same, and neither can morality.
Whether it is Confucianism or Western religion, in a certain place, forcibly promoting a certain doctrine and a certain belief, so that everyone can do it, it simply provides a hotbed for the word "hypocrisy".
In the end, the Datong society can only be reduced to formalities and empty slogans.
If we do not stipulate that there is only one truth, that a certain doctrine is correct, that a certain belief is superior, that a certain profession is more decent, that everyone can be more comfortable and honest.
Then there is no need to pretend.
In the end, Molly's refusal to marry and Xiaoming's resignation are all manifestations of the rise of self-consciousness.
Their choice is an expectation of Yang Dechang.
Each of us can also make self-choices, so that the future can produce a hope.
So, the way to overcome hypocrisy is for all to be able to live truly honestly.
Instead of having everyone believe in a certain doctrine, in a certain set of standards.
Of course, the premise of all this is that we can understand and respect each other.
Just like the Hong Kong drama "Heaven and Earth" said.
True harmony is not a hundred people saying the same thing.
It is that when a hundred people say a hundred different words, they can respect each other, understand each other, and tolerate each other.
This is the era of independence in the true sense of the word.