Why China Cared About Kung Fu Panda | Video Essay

Accented Cinema - Episode 62

One commonly shared trivial is that Kung Fu Panda impressed the Chinese audience so much, there were conferences held to discuss why couldn't China make this movie. With this amount of attention paid to the film, you'd think Kung Fu Panda did an incredible job at representing Chinese culture. But the reality is... different.

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[AccentedCinema]

So I later realized the Jade Palace in this film might be based on the Temple of Confucius in Qufu. The front of the main building has 10 dragon pillars . It is such a special sight that legend has it, when a Qing Dynasty emperor came to visit, they had to cover up all the pillars with red cloths, just to "humble" it a little.
Of course, it is still pale in comparison to the dozens of golden red pillars in Kung Fu Panda. So the point still stands, I guess?

I'll be posting these kind of tidbits on my social media in the upcoming days. Come follow me on Twitter or Facebook!

Also, check out Xiran Jay Zhao's amazing video on the cultural inspirations behind Kung Fu Panda:

I swear I didn't plan for this video to come just two weeks after their video :)

[MatthewFTabor]

"There is a Chinese proverb for this, because there is a Chinese proverb for everything."
I will not be surprised if I learn that this is, in fact, a real Chinese proverb.

[jinngeechia]

I remember I was in a taxi in San Francisco driven by an immigrant Chinese driver. He told me in China nobody cared about pandas as stuffed toys until Kungfu Panda appeared. He went on to say that Hollywood has a cultural power that even the Chinese leadership envied. I think this was also voiced by Jiang Zhimin himself in one interview.

[nicholaswalsh]

"This film loves China more than China loves itself."

This is legitimately the funniest thing I have heard from you. And it's fucking brilliant.

[ksdtsubfil]

"The film is more interested in the badassery, and not so much it's culture."
That's when you know it's really American.

[PenneySounds]

I like that distinction between accuracy and sincerity. You can feel the appreciation of Chinese culture in the film, but there's no actual attempt to make it authentic.

[stewl]

Meanwhile in Chinese comics, the MC is always rich, the best, know everything, the most handsome and he never fails.

[Mazno]

I'm not well-watched in any kind of Chinese cinema, but it is very cool to learn that they are starting to embrace their own culture once again. Filmmakers need to understand that trying to be Hollywood doesn't make you Hollywood, it makes you a B-movie, and a Chinese perspective on Chinese culture is a market that can't exist anywhere else.

[XiranJayZhao]

It's interesting that we had two very different interpretations of this movie! Which isn't a bad thing or even unexpected, I looked on the Chinese internet while researching for my take and the opinions were divided too. Some thought it utilized Eastern philosophies in a faithful way, while others thought that Po being a chosen one automatically made it feel too American. I gave the creators a lot of credit in my video, but ultimately, since they're not actually Chinese, it's impossible to know how much was intentional and how much was stumbled onto by accident. Talking about the authenticity of cultural representation is tricky, since we live in such an interconnected world now that cultures influence each other all the time, so we get stuff like Chinese dragons spitting fire in even mainland-Chinese-made movies, even though that would be considered "inauthentic" by traditional standards.

But I really liked your interpretation of Po as a Chinaboo who ends up living out his fantasy of being a respected kung fu master. TBH, I'm not the biggest fan of characters like Po (I like the Tigress type way more), but they're so common as protagonists that I kind of just dealt with it 😂.

[taylorbee]

I would argue that him being trained as a strict warrior is actually playing into the foil of the series which is the leopard.
Tai lung is the result of training this way. In learning this you can learn that something about the sifu's training was wrong.

[TheElizondo]

Great analysis. A very similar debate sparked in Mexico after the premiere of Coco (especially when Disney tried to trademark “Día de Muertos). People were on one hand in love with the movie (which unlike Kung Fu Panda got all the details right) on the other hand frustrated at Disney/Pixar beating Mexico to the punch in the good portrayal and representation of Día de Muertos on screen. But this is going to keep on happening (Moana for Polynesia, Raya for South East Asia, etc.) unless countries invest in their local cinema industries in a smart way. Mexico had good tax incentives and public funding but it was unfortunately mostly aimed for art house cinema, and what little was meant for commercial cinema was either gobbled up by large international productions (like James Bond) or the movie establishment in Mexico (like Canana Films, and Televisa) very little went to the development of new talent and production companies.

[amanofnoreputation]

Based on my limited knowledge, there are a few concepts in Chinese philosophy that the film does actually manage to encapsulate, such as Oogway's lesson not to distort the essential nature of things by struggling to improve them into what they can never be, which is rather Taoist. Zhuang Zhou would call such efforts, "beating a drum in search of a fugitive."

What this video leaves out as that the emphasis on martial prowess is a bait and switch: the movie isn't just telling you to be yourself, but that being yourself is the real purpose of Kung Fu, Kung Fu meaning "excellence of self, " in direct contrast to the flashie movies that everyone else in the movie, including the supposed mentor figure, Shi Fu, thought was so important.

The only person who gets it is Oogway who says,
"A man often meets his fate on the path he takes to avoid it."
This is not a Chinese quote, but it captures the same atmosphere as Zhuang Zhou; that self improvement is a red herring and of inferior virtue, whereas self acceptance leads to genuine growth because you become aligned to your own nature.

[afqwa]

At the time I first watched the movie, I found the "be who you are" moral to be pretty cliched. But I don't really think that anymore. In its way, I think it's a clever subversion of the wordless scroll trope and also somehow true to the idea of Kung-Fu being about self-improvement. And that message now does resonate with me now that I practice a martial art (not Kung-Fu, but HEMA).

And yeah, practicing a skill and improving yourself has no shortcuts. It's just hard work accumulated over a long period of time. Plenty of people are in love with the idea of being a writer or a musician, for example, but then only practice idly or not at all. And because you're an individual different from everybody else, your way of developing your talents really is personal journey that you've earned for yourself. The insights you obtain are uniquely yours and you'd be surprised at how much significance they lose even if you were to share them with other people in words.

The movie Ratatouille is basically about the same message, except that movie is entirely about cooking. And interestingly enough, Po is himself a cook and uses that same cooking metaphor about secret ingredients. But the basic message is the same. You can elevate the common ingredients into something special. And in writing, ideas alone have no value, it is entirely in their execution and craftsmanship that they are transformed.

That's why I think the Dragon Scroll is actually pretty funny in hindsight. The secrets can't be stolen nor written down because you really can't write down your experiences and no two people share exactly the same path on their journey to accomplishing whatever it is they set out to learn. As Wikipedia defines Kung-Fu:
_In China, it refers to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete. In its original meaning, kung fu can refer to any discipline or skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily martial arts._

And when you think about it that way, you realize how cheap and how completely a wordless scroll of secrets misses the point.

The sequel subtly reinforces this theme. Tigress initially resented Po for his outsider status, but by the second movie she's more confident in her strengths -- and they're genuine strengths. Even if Po is the acknowledged leader, there are things she can do that he can never imagine doing himself. (And he in turn, genuinely admires her for it.)

That initial scene with Shifu berating the Furious Five to be better is really meant to show his own immaturity at the beginning of the movie. He's still comparing the Five to his favorite student, Tai Lung, rather than nurturing their talents as unique individuals. Because in his mind, they'll still never be as good as him. He was the favorite child. Po is the student where he first looks past what he wants Po to be and encourages Po to instead be the best version of himself instead.

This too, in my opinion is a uniquely Asian American experience. You're often held to high standards of perfection, and in that process, something gets twisted up inside of you.

[DongHuaReviews]

I remember reading all the interviews from Chinese animators about how much Kung Fu Panda had infuriated and inspired them. It's amazing to think that that was the tipping point that sent the government into spending so much money on animation studios and creating the huge wave were still riding now of donghua flourishing.

I didn't know the wordless scroll of wisdom was a trope that already existed. Guess I need to step up my martial arts movie game, haha.

Loved seeing Nezha, Legend of Hei and Fog Hill at the end of this video! Your taste continues to be amazing xD. Thanks as always for an amazing video.

[上官竹喧]

I am Chinese, I love Kung Fu Panda very much, he is my childhood。

[Sjono]

Kung Fu Panda film franchise: “You revere me so much. Why?”

Chinese audience: “Mmmmm, monke.”

[qtwhat]

As a Chinese, almost cried at the end and at the moments Panda shouted I love kongfu. The world peace needs kongfu and needs art.

[foxsan]

It took me 10 years to realize shi fu's name meant master as in 师傅 and I'm Chinese.

[Wyzzkyd]

But at the end of the chopstick fight, Po tosses his dumpling back at Shifu, says he's not hungry, and bows...it's a reflection that he's learnt self-control and respect, two cornerstones of kung fu. That one scene said more about kung fu than a lot of mindless HK action movies in the 90s lol.

[Mantis]

I noticed too how much the 'Chosen One' cliche comes up in Western attempts at Eastern stories. Even Kung Pow has that plot point. I feel that sort of plot is derived more from Joseph Campbell and/or Christianity (ie a prophesied messiah) whereas traditional martial arts protagonists actually reflect Buddhist values of self development and enlightenment.