Why is Kung Fu So Popular in China?
By admin on 2015-01-07

Chinese wuxia (kung fu) stories are world famous. They are called fairytales for adults. The novels of Louis Cha, known to most by his penname Jin Yong, all of which are adapted onto the big and small screens, are the most popular among them. What does our addiction to Jin say about us and our society?

Jin’s kung fu world is full of imagination, the core of which is the extraordinary ability to defend oneself and harm others.

Of course, having this ability doesn’t necessarily mean that you should harm people. A true warrior (xia, a righteous and chivalrous kung fu master) doesn’t abuse his/her extraordinary force, but protects the weak and sticks up for justice.

Want to become such a warrior? It comes with a few benefits.

First, ordinary people like you and me can become one of the kung fu masters. You don’t need a special family background or superb talent. No need for hard work; a couple of encounters can give you the kung fu that takes others decades of practice.

Once you become one of them, you’d win over beautiful women.

Your name becomes renowned and respected in jianghu (the world created in kung fu novels). You can live on the name without a day’s work. No need to worry about livelihood or the errands of daily life.

Last but not least, you are above the law. A warrior can kill thousands without getting onto the wanted list. No curfews, no IDs or hukou. No need to register when checking into hotels.

Actually I’d be satisfied with just one or two of these privileges.

Of course we understand the difficulties of upholding justice. In contemporary society, it takes the prosecutors, attorneys and judges lots of time, effort and resources just to keep the system acceptable. The notion of kung fu master, who can distinguish right from wrong in a short time and uphold fairness and justice with violence, is of course a myth. But myths make the most convenient stories. They play into our fantasies of conjuring up justice, like fairies without trouble or price.

You see, our daydream turns out to be like a lazy but righteous man’s fantasy of wealth.

Why is that? Think about it. Who possesses the power that protects him from danger and allows him to do whatever he wants? Who is wealthy and privileged and has beautiful women all around? Who is in the position to uphold justice and obtain legal and legislative power through violence?

Only one person in Chinese history: the emperor. An emperor’s life is probably the happiest secular life imaginable to the Chinese people. But Jin created a role even better than the emperor, the xia.

An emperor is not completely free, but a xia is. He has no obligations and can enjoy life as much as he wants. Nothing restrains him, except his own heart.

So in a word, the dream of xia is Chinese men’s dream of becoming the emperor.

There’s nothing wrong with such dreams. In those dreams are the shared fantasies and longings of mankind. They are simple, childish and even self-contradictory. But that’s what we love about them: the simplicity, the childishness and the contradiction.

Why is kung fu fiction especially popular in China? Besides our fantasies, our social atmosphere seems also particularly suitable for this genre.

Chinese people have discovered in their long history the secret to everything: the barrel of a gun – it brings about political power, wealth, respect, women, success, everything. To fantasize about kung fu is to fantasize about the gun, or the mighty capability to harm.

We can compare our dreams with those of people in other societies and times. Men in the West, for instance, probably don’t dream about becoming xia, but billionaires.

Their fantasies stem from literature such as The Million Pound Bank Note, The Count of Monte Cristo and biographies of the wealthy. They can focus their fantasies on wealth, while the same wealth in China may be undesirable. In a society that lacks security and order, people yearn for the ability to harm and defend more than wealth.

In other words, our fantasies about extreme force, about fairness and justice, indicate the flaws of our society. Our legitimate guardian has long been negligent and therefore justice is very much lacking. That’s why we crave it so much in our fantasies.