The Legend of Mando part 2: the Way of Jianghu
In the first of this two-parter, I’ve explored how Din Djarin is the very model of a Xia, and how his quests mirror so many wuxia tales, but there’s much more to the series, and the universe of Star Wars that aligns with the Chinese genre.
Posted in Articles and tagged Chinese, fantasy, fiction, film, novel, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Wuxia
The Legend of Mando Part 1: a Tale of Quests in New Republic Jianghu
Whenever I wax lyrical about the wonders of Chinese wuxia, of clans, intrigue and swordsmen, I’m often told that people in the West will have a hard time understanding it, and yet, when I sit with my geeky friends, they are more than happy to info dump about old Republics, the Jedi Order, bounty hunters and the shadow organisations of Star Wars. Western nerds, you have been enjoying Wuxia stories, for nearly 50 years.
The main reason I hadn’t originally made the connection, was that I was relatively late to the franchise. I didn’t grow up in a culture where Star Wars was this huge thing, and it wasn’t really till the sequel trilogy came out that I sat down and actually watched the thing, and with 2016’s Rogue One, starring Donnie Yenn and Jiang Wen, I began to see the parallels with the martial arts fantasies I grew up with.
I had originally planned to write this as a two-part piece, the first for May the 4th, and the second for the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu. But the more I delved into the expanded universe, animations and series, the more I found I had to say. In fact, I’d like to begin away from the swords and sorcery of the Jedi’s story, and look at just how Wuxia-coded The Mandalorian’s story is. For a start, it’s three (and a half) season saga, and the imminent film release give it that feeling of modern Wuxia series, which often run to 30+ episodes, giving plenty of room for character growth amongst the battles and betrayals.
Posted in Articles and tagged jianghu, SFF, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Wuxia
Star Wars and China
“To rebel is justified”. Mao Ze Dong
Almost every geek in the Western hemisphere, and many on the other side, have anticipated the release of the Star Wars spin off film “Rogue One”. I managed to see it last week, and was impressed with it. I loved how it filled the narrative between Episodes 3 and 4 of the saga, without making itself a necessity, how it tied in very snuggly with animated series “Star Wars Rebels”, which I have also been following, and how, despite its gritty tone, was ultimately uplifting. There is something eternally gratifying about seeing a small, unlikely band of outlaws with more guts than ammo railing against the dread powers that be. What I most loved though, was seeing actors from my home country, Donnie Yen and Jiang Wu, in a movie that is part of a new, sprawling global mythology.
Posted in Articles and tagged china, Chinese, culture, Donnie Yen, film, Geek, Jiang Wu, Rebels, review, Rogue One, Star Wars