Text | Zhang Jiande
Authoritative scholar of Hong Kong cinema
In his short acting career, Bruce Lee cut to the commonalities between Eastern and Western cultures and connected the two in this way. Looking at the history of Hong Kong cinema, I am afraid that I will not find a second person who can do this. He is the most powerful ambassador for Hong Kong cinema and a model that embodies Eastern culture and is embraced by the West.
If you look for other examples, similar to Bruce Lee's, you can count the Japanese film industry's sessue hayakawa and Toshiro Mifune, but the popularity of these two is far from the same as Bruce Lee.
Bruce lee
Bruce Lee's success stemmed from his martial arts moves, his unique kung fu, "Cut Boxing". Bruce Lee's physical skills laid a solid foundation for the cross-cultural reception of his image, but it was much more than that made him famous in the international film world.
Bruce Lee's violent death in 1973 made him a legend and earned him worldwide admiration, which also hinted at something in common in his image. There are a hundred Bruce Lees in a hundred people's hearts, but what is the real Bruce Lee like?
Since the late 1950s, Shaw and Denmao have become increasingly firm in their grip on the film market and ushered in a fascinating studio era. Both studio giants have their own contract stars and directors, which benefit audiences while driving the development of Hong Kong's film industry. Hong Kong's studio era largely coincided with China's period of international isolation, but the "left" and "right" competition in the early 1950s was replaced by a sophisticated, escapist genre of entertainment.
These two studio giants are adept at making epics and romances, and the stories of the beauties of the country are constantly put on the screen, and the emperor and concubines either revive the decadent dynasty or let it decline. This kind of film expresses an abstract concept of nationalism (or cultural nationalism).
In the 1970s, Bruce Lee's films continued this tradition. Kung Fu films are particularly conducive to expressing this abstract nationalism. The heroes of kung fu films have a masonic-like spirit, and they return to the traditions laid down by the awesome Shaolin monks and their disciples, vowing to restore the Qing Dynasty. Kung Fu masters fought for a cause, trying to restore the dignity of the Han regime.
Their credo is that Chinese should bow their heads in shame in the face of foreigners' repression. The fact that China was carved up and occupied by foreign invaders for a long period of time exacerbated the Chinese "inferiority complex." This syndrome of never bowing one's head in front of foreigners reveals Bruce Lee's nationalist spirit.
What is particularly interesting about Bruce Lee's case is that his international influence does not seem to contradict his insistence on "chineseness." Regarding Bruce Lee, Eastern admirers have very different views than Western admirers, and the center of the difference is Bruce Lee's nationalism. For many foreign audiences, Bruce Lee's nationalism was impractical.
Americans worship Bruce Lee for his martial arts skills against racism. Rob Cohen's Dragon: the bruce lee story (1993) is fascinating but slightly simplistic, and as this Bruce Lee biopic shows, white racism against Asian immigrants is an important motif in the United States.
Dragon: the bruce lee story (1993)
As for other details about Bruce Lee's philosophical concepts, the film also touches on, such as Bruce Lee (played by Hawaiian actor Jason Scott Lee, who is not related to Bruce Lee) being shown to be subservient to Chinese superstitions, bound by a certain fatalistic fate, and to get rid of it, it takes gossip charms.
Bruce Lee is tormented by nightmares in which he always engages a heavily armed knight (apparently a symbol of death). In the climactic passage at the end, Bruce Lee confronts the Death Knight at a cemetery where his own grave is located, more like diverting attention from the death of his son Lee Kwok-ho (Lee died unexpectedly on the set of a film in 1993).
Nationalism, as a framework for constructing Bruce Lee's personality traits, is linked to Bruce Lee's attempt to win public acceptance that Asians can also be integrated into American society. However, as Bruce Lee shows, what will appeal most to the audience is bruce Lee's kung fu and his theory, which is also an important part of Bruce Lee's philosophy.
Another component of Lee's philosophy is its sexual appeal and charismatic personality, which has nothing to do with xenophobicism in his Hong Kong-era films that attracts the attention of Western audiences.
British critic Tony Lane argues that Bruce Lee's narcissism is more legible than his nationalism. For the West, Bruce Lee was a narcissistic hero who made Eastern culture easier to understand. For the East, he was a hero with nationalist sentiments that made some aspects of Asian culture recognized by the world. The two views seem to be opposed.
Narcissism may be an aspect of Bruce Lee's image, and foreign audiences can understand Oriental-style motivations and behaviors through this, but this does not fully explain Bruce Lee's appeal to Chinese audiences. For them, Bruce Lee's narcissism is a manifestation of never bowing down to foreigners, encouraging characters to take action in kung fu films to defend national dignity.
Bruce Lee almost showed his fearless face (and body) that Chinese no longer had to swallow his breath. Kung Fu techniques require the use of strength and the body. Narcissism, then, coincided with Bruce Lee's impulse to shape the appearance of his body.
Chinese audiences are proud of Bruce Lee's image, which projects a masculine martial arts master, and this status is derived from "traditional" skills. They knew very well that Bruce Lee's kung fu did not rely on supernatural powers or special effects. They know from various versions and legends of Chinese history that this technique can be acquired through physical exercise and rigorous training.
This principle of relying on the actor's own physical skills has been inherited by martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan. A scene in Raptors Crossing the River (1972) describes the first principles of kung fu training and discipline: Bruce Lee warms up before dueling with Chuck Norris in the Colosseum, relaxing his muscles, moving his joints, and reaching out to touch his toes. The move was to show that Bruce Lee was a well-trained, genuine kung fu master, not an imaginary character created by an action film director.
Raptors Across the River (1972)
But Bruce Lee wasn't just a brilliant martial artist, and his kung fu skills went far beyond the strength of his body. His single-minded desire for success and kung fu philosophy prompted him to return to Hong Kong from the United States, which led to a short but sensational career as a kung fu star.
His saga of returning to Hong Kong (he was disappointed to lose the role of Guixiang/Cain in the Hollywood TV series Kung Fu and realized that racial prejudice still dominates the American film industry) made his first three films in Hong Kong unique and classic.
Seeing the image of Bruce Lee in these films, Chinese audiences realized that his kung fu skills to achieve his goals were enough to make the Chinese proud. He encouraged the Chinese to uphold their identity and culture, and never to bow their heads or lose face in shame.
Big Brother Tangshan (1971), Bruce Lee's first film to be produced by a Hong Kong production company ("Jiahe") after a setback in Hollywood, is ostensibly a simple, mediocre action film.
Bruce Lee plays Zheng Chao'an, a Chinese immigrant who has just arrived in a small Thai town, and is employed by an ice factory with a group of overseas Chinese workers. The main plot of the film is that Zheng Chao'an's co-workers disappear one after another, and he then investigates and becomes involved in a conflict with the owner of the ice factory (Han Yingjie), who kills people because he is discovered by workers for drug trafficking.
Big Brother Tangshan (1971)
Bruce Lee's martial arts moves show a natural but well-organized style, portraying a character defined by violence. However, Zheng Chao'an is not just a code for deciphering Bruce Lee's kung fu skills, he is a technically comprehensive figure, and without Bruce Lee's elaboration, he can arouse the sympathy of the audience.
Zheng Chao'an's use of force follows the principle of conscience. He wears a jade amulet given by his mother around his neck, reminding him not to abuse kung fu. Only when the thugs ripped off the necklace and broke the amulet, Zheng Chao'an showed his kung fu.
Zheng Chao'an is a character who is forced to use force only for some reason, in other words, he is famous for resorting to force. For better or worse, this reason is largely based on national consciousness, trying to portray the Chinese in the film as dignified, respected, and honorable characters. "Big Brother Tangshan" gains meaning through this message spread by Bruce Lee.
In his next film, Jingwumen (1972), Bruce Lee made the most forceful representation of this problem. The film provides Bruce Lee with a very rich character, playing Chen Zhen as a young student with patriotic feelings, bent on avenging his master and reviving the glory of Jingwumen (a Japanese sphere of influence in Shanghai).
Chen Zhen's master Huo Yuanjia was assassinated by the hostile Japanese martial arts sect, and at Huo Yuanjia's memorial service, the Japanese challenged the Jingwu gate. Through a flattering Chinese translator, the Japanese humiliated Huo Yuanjia's disciples by waving a plaque with the words "Sick Man of East Asia" written on it and asking if anyone in the Jingwu Gate dared to fight. Chen Zhen accepted the challenge and sneaked into the Hongkou dojo alone, beating the Japanese to the point of turning their horses upside down.
Jingwumen (1972)
In the role of Chen Zhen, Bruce Lee changed the image of the countryman in "Big Brother Tangshan". He was Huo Yuanjia's fifth disciple, and after his master's death, he was the only one in his group who wanted to use force. In order to avenge himself, he ventured against the creed of the Jingwumen, which emphasized that force should only be used for the sake of the country, not for the sake of bravery. The Japanese provocations overwhelmed him and prompted him to act.
Part of the reason why Jingwumen is fascinating is that Chen Zhen restrains his anger in order to release it using a variety of deadly kung fu moves (such as heavy punches, kicks, punches): it is really a perfect combination of action and intention, and his moves are elegant, concise, and stylized.
Chen Zhen's dilemma lies in the fact that in order to take revenge, he can abuse his kung fu skills at will, beat his opponents to the flesh and blood, or just for fun; but ironically, it is this "abuse" of force that has achieved Chen Zhen's sense of justice.
At the end of the film, Chen Zhen is arrested by the Shanghai police; however, a group of foreigners gathered outside the door to demand the maintenance of the colonial judicial system laugh at him, chen zhen rushes to them, and jumps up in the air at the moment they raise their guns and shoot, and the picture is frozen here, Chen Zhen becomes a martyr who died for the cause of the nation. If you need evidence of the nationalism that inspired Bruce Lee's image, look at this stop-motion shot at the end of the film.
Chen Zhen was also shown to resist the invasion of semi-colonial China by the great powers: in addition to the "Sick Man of East Asia" plaque that humiliated the disciples of Jingwumen, he also expressed anger at the sign "Dogs and Chinese are not allowed" hanging at the entrance of the park. Several Japanese suggested that if Chen Zhen was willing to crawl on the ground like a dog, they could take him into the park, and Chen Zhen beat the Japanese and kicked the sign to pieces.