How National Interests Supports Individual Interests through Junzi in Hero Movie - Term Paper Example

How National Interests Supports Individual Interests through Junzi in Hero High-context cultures like China generally support the importance of national or collective interests over individual interests. Yu and Kwan highlight the importance of social identity to individuals and how this concept impacts individual behaviors. In real life settings, however, some individuals think that their personal interests matter too, perhaps even in more critical ways than the interests of the country. Confucius offers the concept of junzi, or the gentleman, to counter widespread moral and political corruption (Hourdequin 369). The movie Hero, directed by Yimou Zhang, tackles the conflict between individual and national welfare. Several assassins, specifically, Nameless, Flying Sword, and Fly, work together to assassin the King of Qin. Their efforts are thwarted when Broken Sword realizes the King’s ultimate goal that serves greater national interests. Hero shows that national interests can serve individual interests too if the former support Confucian junzi, where widespread moral and social reforms are aspired for and attained. Before this paper proceeds to the argument, it will provide an overview of the discourse between national and individual interest and Confucian junzi. National interests take form because individuals have developed a sense of “we” (Yu and Kwan 36). McCall relates this to the Marxist explanation of the rise of “class consciousness,” which cannot be entirely explained by individuals working together because of personal needs and desires (149). For him, the development of collective consciousness comes from the decision to cooperate together and to reduce the role of individualistic motives and desires in group attitudes and behaviors (McCall 149). On the contrary, individual interests are also important, especially when they aim to challenge social institutions and the social inequalities that they form. Individuals may feel that the national interests exclude their individual concerns (Bornstein 129). Confucius’s writings can be interpreted as having a nationalistic point of view also. He has constructed the idea of junzi, a gentleman whose main occupation is to attain moral leadership (Brindley 52). Junzi combines individual and collective interests, nevertheless, because the junzi hone their moral development, as well as induce others to develop the same moral values (Brindley 52). This essay proceeds to its arguments about the importance of national interests over and as part of individual interests. Hero shows that national interests can serve individual interests through subverting individual goals and nationalizing the people’s welfare. Nameless and Flying Snow have personal motives in killing the King. They both want to avenge their families whom the King’s armies have killed. For them, the King’s need for power has needlessly killed their loved ones. Sky and Broken Sword believe that King is a tyrant who must be stopped. They also have individual needs that focus on attaining the safety of their lands. Broken Sword, however, achieves an epiphany during his calligraphy activities. He realizes that the King has a noble goal: “All Under Heaven.” The King aspires to wield war against all Chinese kingdoms, so that he can unite China under one kingdom. This Kingdom will be stronger than the fragmented kingdoms of before. When viewed this way, the King promotes national interests, where he envisions a single national identity for all Chinese (Yu and Kwan 36). When people have developed a sense of “we,” they would stop fighting over different “I’s” or various individual interests. People with a national identity are less prone to interpersonal conflicts that have plagued China for centuries (Yu and Kwan 36). Nameless does not accept this idea of “All Under Heaven” easily. He understands later on that Broken Sword is right. Sometimes, individual interests can be served when the welfare of the whole is fulfilled. Broken Sword makes sense when he said: “One person's suffering is nothing compared to the suffering of many.” If the many have sacrificed for the “greater good,” it is possible that the sacrifice is good in the long run. This is what the King also believes in: that his wars will soon end with national peace. He might have hurt individual and group interests through his means of violence, but eventually, he will accomplish peace for China. Through peace, development efforts can be attained, and China will be a stronger and more unified state. “All Under Heaven” demonstrates how the national serves the individual too. Furthermore, national interests can align with individual goals through junzi. Confucius believes that certain people can be cultivated into becoming junzi (Brindley 47). Confucius lives in a time of political and moral corruption and he argues that moral revival can reverse the damages done by corruption (Kim 113). The li (rituals) can be revived to its former goodness, so that “cultivated, virtuous individuals, with knowledge of tradition and skill in ritual practice, could lead the world back to the Dao” where Dao is The Way or The Path (Hourdequin 371). Dao refers to a virtuous life. Confucius also teaches that junzi should initiate individual moral cultivation, while also promoting moral responsiveness in others (Brindley 52). In this case, Broken Sword can be seen as junzi, because he cultivated a virtuous character. He learns that the ultimate goal of the swordsman is to live without his sword in his/her heart and hand. To do this is to achieve peace and that peace is the best reality of all, because people no longer have to fight and instead, they can devote their times and energies in perfecting their talents and skills. Nameless is turned into junzi too, because he understands Broken Sword’s message. The King might have wrong means, but he has noble ends. In another interpretation, the King has junzi too, because he inspired moral development among his assassins. It is ironic that his most feared killers have become his most passionate believers. Both Nameless and Broken Sword sacrifice their lives for the greater ideal of the collective. Through their sacrifices, they hope to inspire other people into believing in what the King is fighting for- unity for a single powerful China, because it can also protect individual interests for peace and development. The King inspires others to develop junzi, which helps many people to understand his view of the national interest. Confucius believes that virtuous people who are dedicated to the li can reform society (Hourdequin 371). The Analects stresses that moral change is a “process emanating from those cultivated, upright persons who master the Dao” (Hourdequin 371). The Dao should be spread like a stone that is thrown to a pond and ripples “outward in concentric circles of influence” (Hourdequin 371). After these three assassins sacrificed their lives for the national interest, the King has successfully united China and built the Great Wall of China. The ending of the movie cites Machiavelli’s The Prince. The King might have hurt or killed individuals like Broken Sword, Flying Snow, and Nameless, but he cannot be “blameworthy” because he has greater ends in mind- the national interests of China. He has successful spread junzi and united his people, which justify his actions. This essay establishes that national interest can also serve individual needs through juanzi. Hero portrays a King, who seems to be a power-hungry tyrant, but can also be seen as a man of juanzi, because he aspires for moral regeneration among individuals, so that genuine social and moral reforms can be achieved. He wants people to understand that he does not aim for war per se, but peace in the long run. Juanzi maintains that a virtuous life is a path to and by virtues and though the King did not employ virtuous means, he did attain a virtuous path- a united China that is more peaceful and stronger than before. Works Cited Bornstein, Gary. “Intergroup Conflict: Individual, Group, and Collective Interests.” Personality & Social Psychology Review 7.2 (2003): 129-145. Print. Brindley, Erica. “ ‘Why Use An Ox-Cleaver To Carve A Chicken?’ The Sociology of the Junzi Ideal in the Lunyu. Philosophy East & West 59.1 (2009): 47-70. Print. Hero. Dir. Yimou Zhang. Perf. Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Cheung. Beijing New Picture Film Co., 2002. DVD. Hourdequin, Marion. “Engagement, Withdrawal, and Social Reform: Confucian and Contemporary Perspectives.” Philosophy East & West 60.3 (2010): 369-390. Print. Kim, Ha Poong. “Confucius's Aesthetic Concept of Noble Man: Beyond Moralism.”Asian Philosophy 16.2 (2006): 111-121. Print. McCall, Phil. “ ‘We Had to Stick Together’: Individual Preferences, Collective Struggle, and the Formation of Social Consciousness. Science & Society 72.2 (2008): 147-181. Print. Wong, Benjamin and Hui-chieh Loy. “The Confucian Gentleman and the Limits of Ethical Change.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 28.3 (2001): 209-234. Print. Yu, Fu-Lai Tony and Diana Sze Man Kwan. “Social construction of national identity: Taiwanese versus Chinese consciousness.” Social Identities 14.1 (2008): 33-52. Print. Read More