Ne Zha 2: the ancient philosophies behind China’s record-breaking new animated film

Yanyan Hong, University of Adelaide

On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and visually stunning animated spectacle, full of hilarious moments and thrilling fight scenes.

But beneath all that, it’s something much deeper: a bold re-imagining of Chinese traditional mythology, cultural history and philosophies.

Unlike Hollywood’s classic hero’s journey, Ne Zha 2 is rooted in Chinese thought, weaving together ideas from Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism and more.

Through the story of a baby-faced warrior god who battles demons, it channels centuries of Chinese tradition into something refreshing, relevant and undeniably global.

The film’s success speaks for itself. Directed by Yang Yu (aka Jiao Zi), Ne Zha 2 has shattered multiple global box office records, pulling in more than US$1 billion in China in just one week.

It has entered the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time, and has become the highest-grossing animated film – outperforming Inside Out 2 (2024).

But what makes Ne Zha 2 so compelling beyond its visual spectacle? At its heart, it’s an inspiring story about identity, free will, self-determination and rebellion – ideas that resonate far beyond China.

A child hero forged in myth and philosophy

Ne Zha is a rebellious deity in traditional Chinese folklore – a boy born with immense superpower, who defies both divine and social expectations.

Most people who know of Ne Zha will trace his legend back to Fengshen Yanyi, or Investiture of the Gods, a Ming Dynasty novel that blends mythology with historical elements.

Ne Zha’s true origins, however, trace back to India.

“Ne Zha” is a shortened transliteration of the Sanskrit Nalakuvara (or Nalakūbara), an Indian mythological figure who appears in Buddhist and Hindu mythology.

As Buddhism spread to China during the Tang Dynasty, Ne Zha evolved from an intimidating guardian deity into the rebellious, fire-wheeled warrior we know today.

In Ne Zha 2, this “fighting spirit” against authority and hierarchy is taken even further, turning the story into a deeper philosophical exploration of morality, fate, self-worth and power.

Good and evil – a Daoist perspective

One of the most thought-provoking aspects of Ne Zha 2 is how it challenges the idea of good and evil.

In Daoist philosophy, evil and good, often known as Yin and Yang, are not absolute, but are rather shifting, interconnected forces.

Through its two protagonists: the “Demon Pill” (Ne Zha) and his noble dragon prince buddy, “Spirit Pearl” (Ao Bing), the film beautifully reflects this Daoist idea of balance and self-discovery.

Their merging further blurs the line between hero and villain and brings to life a core concept from the 2,400-year-old text Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), written around 400 BC by Chinese philosopher Laozi (also called Lao Tzu).

Laozi emphasises that righteousness and villainy aren’t always what they seem. “When the world knows beauty as beauty, there arises ugliness,” he says.

Those we assume to be noble may turn out to be dark inside, while those deemed evil might be fighting for what is right.

Ne Zha’s character in the film embodies this Daoist philosophy. Echoing the Xisheng Jing, The Scripture of Western Ascension, he declares, “My fate is up to me, not the Heaven.”

He is the demon child who is willing to die fighting for his own destiny, proving that even the smallest, most underestimated individual can change the world.

Beyond family bonds: rebirth of Confucianism

In one scene, Ne Zha is struck by the “heart-piercing curse”, a brutal spell that covers his body in ten thousand thorns, causing unbearable pain and keeping him under control by targeting his heart. Ne Zha’s human mother, Lady Yin, clings to him as his thorns pierce her skin – yet she refuses to let go.

It’s a moment of heartbreak, parental love and inner awakening. As his mother takes her final breath, in Ne Zha’s grief, his body shatters into a million pieces. And then, he is reborn.

This is the film’s emotional climax, in which the so-called demon child awakens to “Rén” (benevolence), a core Confucian virtue.

Confucianism teaches that true morality isn’t imposed by rules but arises naturally from within. Ne Zha doesn’t just seek revenge, he awakes to fight for those who have been oppressed, embracing his identity with unwavering resolve.

But perhaps the most profound transformation comes from the dragon prince Ao Bing. As the last hope of his people, burdened by centuries of expectation, he finally makes a choice, not for legacy, not for his ancestors, but for himself.

In this moment, his once-imposing father Dragon King releases his grip: “Your path is yours to forge.”

The weight of tradition gives way to something new, reflecting a changing China where younger generations are defining their own paths.

Wisdom of Legalism and Mohism

Beyond Daoist and Confucian ideals, Ne Zha 2 also weaves in Legalist reform and Mohist resistance. These philosophies challenge rigid hierarchies (or in Ne Zha’s case, “divine order”) and advocate for collective justice.

Across Ne Zha’s three major trials and the climactic celestial-demon war, a brutal truth emerges: those deemed unworthy – whether groundhogs, mystical beings, or ordinary humans – are sacrificed to uphold the elite’s rule.

Take the small groundhogs. Dressed in patched clothes, surviving on pumpkin porridge. They’ve never harmed anyone. Yet, they are mercilessly crushed in the name of celestial balance.

Then there’s Shiji Niangniang, or Lady Rock, a recluse who harms no one. She indulges only in her own beauty and speaks to her enchanted mirror. Yet the heavens brand her a demon, sealing her fate.

A similar cruelty befalls the Dragon Clan and the people of Chentangguan, all caught in a war where they are mere pawns on a celestial chessboard.

Even the last battle is not just Ne Zha’s fight, but a battlefield showing the Chinese spirit of collectivism. Dragons, shrimp soldiers, crab generals, octopus warriors, humans and millions of goblins stand side by side to rewrite destiny.

The celestial-demon war itself plays out like a lesson in Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which states that “All warfare is based on deception.” War is about strategy, resilience and the unstoppable will to rise.

Ne Zha carries the weight of Eastern cultural essence: Daoist balance, Confucian ethics, Mohist resistance, Legalist reform and the strategic wisdom of The Art of War. It is a truly Chinese story, igniting next year’s Oscar buzz and sparking a global awakening to Eastern culture.

Just as Ne Zha is reborn in flames, so too does Chinese animation rise, not by breaking from its past, but by forging a bold future.

Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........ → February 19, 2025

Chinese American actresses Soo Yong and Anna May Wong: Contrasting struggles for recognition in Hollywood

Soo Yong and William Boyd in a still from the film ‘The Secret of the Wastelands’ (1941). (Paramount Pictures) Gao Yunxiang, Toronto Metropolitan University

The recent Netflix series Hollywood creates a make-believe 1948 ceremony in which the noted Chinese American actress Anna May Wong wins an Oscar. In reality, an Oscar eluded Wong during her four-decade film career. Wong, who was born in Los Angeles in 1903, was famously passed over for the lead role of O-lan in the 1937 classic hit, The Good Earth. Instead, Austrian-born white actress Luise Rainer was cast — and for her work, won her second Oscar for best actress. Hollywood’s Motion Picture Production Code (known informally as “the Hays Code”) explicitly forbade depiction of screen intimacy between people of different races. Wong was reportedly heart-broken about the decison.

Anna May Wong, 1932 portrait by Carl Van Vechten. (Carl Van Vechten/Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)

The desire to posthumously grant Wong recognition as seen in the series Hollywood should also alert audiences to the significant contributions of the other actors of Asian descent who appeared in The Good Earth. One of those actors was Soo Yong. Yong had campaigned for the lead role but she was also passed over. Yong eventually accepted two supporting roles in the movie, one of the most influential Hollywood films on China. Yong’s journey to Hollywood and the way her career contrasted Wong’s reveals much about Hollywood’s racist casting decisions and the racial barriers faced by Chinese American actresses. Yong’s career also reflects the dynamic and shifting development of 20th-century Chinese-American relationships: When contrasted with Wong, Yong’s calculated path towards a “respectable woman” reveals much about how both American Hollywood and Chinese popular culture wanted to depict Chinese women.

Alternative to familiar stereotypes

Yong’s profile aligned with the concept of the Chinese New Woman promoted by the Chinese Nationalist government that emphasized education, chastity and patriotism. Yong strove to present a dignified and educated Chinese womanhood on screen and stage, an alternative to the familiar binary stereotypes of the subservient China doll and the vicious dragon lady. She showcased an aristocratic and intellectual style of sophistication and glamour, void of over-sexualization. Hollywood filmmakers were entranced by her talents and assured by favourable Chinese attitudes toward her as China was a significant market.

Soo Yong, seen seated facing the bride, in a supporting role in the 1937 film ‘The Good Earth.’ (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

Circle of Chinese intellectuals

Born in Hawaii to Chinese immigrant parents in about 1903, Yong was orphaned as a child, and largely raised by her sister, Harriet, who was later a force in Hawaiian politics. After graduating from the University of Hawaii, Yong ventured to mainland United States in 1926 to earn her master’s degree at Teachers College, at Columbia University. She was one of 50 women of Chinese descent in American colleges at that time, and one of the very few in graduate programs, who became recognizable figures in China’s intellectual life. Yong was a student of noted educator John Dewey. She grew close to other students who also studied with him, including Zhang Pengchun, a distinguished dramatist and professor from Nankai University, and Chih Meng, the future director of the China Institute in New York City. Yong became involved in the transpacific modern drama movement initiated by Zhang and Meng. After starring in plays written by Zhang, she began an acting career with bit parts in Broadway productions.

Soo Yong’s name was prominently mentioned in the poster advertising Mei Lanfang’s performance on Broadway, 1930. (Yunxiang Gao), Author provided

Yong on Broadway and in Hollywood

Yong’s big break came in 1930 when she was hired to interpret the performances of Mei Lanfang, the famous Chinese theatrical personality, sponsored by the China Institute. Yong enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Southern California between 1933 and 1936. She said her ambition was to be a great actress with a PhD. In the eyes of the public, her desire for advanced education helped to distinguish her from Chinese immigrants. It also positioned her as an equal to elite Chinese and American intellectuals.

Photo showing Soo Yong and Clark Gable in a still from the film ‘China Seas.’ Yong autographed it to ‘The Young Companion Pictorial,’ in November 1935, a popular magazine in the Republic of China. (Yunxiang Gao)

Hollywood casting agents chose Soo Yong for visible roles in films produced by major studios, starring Hollywood icons like Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Mae West, Gary Cooper, John Wayne and Marlon Brando. Despite her generally limited screen time, Yong frequently occupied within the first 10 spots on billing — the list of names at the bottom of an official poster — which testified to her respectability, popularity and great negotiation skills. She worked up to the highest level of Hollywood stardom allowed for a non-white actress.

Chinese ‘New Woman’

Eleanor Roosevelt and Madame Chiang Kai-shek in February 1943 in Washington. (Library of Congress)

The highly influential 1943 visit to the United States by Madam Chiang Kai-shek, the American-educated first lady of the Republic of China, dominated the contentious process of representing Chinese womanhood. Yong embodied Madam Chiang’s brand of glamour, defined by jewellery, high fashion, perfect English, advanced education, sophistication and a happy marriage. In 1939, The Chinese Digest, the leading English-language Chinese publication in the United States, said Yong belonged to “Madame Chiang’s school” of women. In 1941, Yong married C.K. Huang (黄春谷), a businessman who lived in Winter Park, Fla., after changes in immigration law enabled her to marry a Chinese citizen without losing her U.S. citizenship. With Huang, Yong ran the Jade Lantern, a successful Chinese novelty shop. Customers shopped there for a lifestyle associated with her glamour and were served by the star they recognized.

White Hollywood smitten

White Hollywood was smitten by Yong. She developed an educated, middle-class persona that contrasted with how Hollywood cast Wong. Unlike Wong, who often had to display bare skin and perform sexualized roles, Yong was always fully clothed and displayed sophisticated glamour in her roles. And unlike Wong, Yong never played parts that involved physical abuse or death. Wong’s film persona, created for her by racist Hollywood casting decisions, irritated China’s Nationalist government. Yong’s screen roles presented a softer orientalism that allowed ethnic dignity and did not offend her Chinese American audience or her nationalist friends in China. The Huangs visited China in 1948, recording two rare Cantonese operas while there (released on Folkways Records in 1960 and 1962). The Huangs lived in Winter Park until 1961, when they returned to Hawaii. That year, they were awarded the Rollins College Decoration of Honor for their community contributions. After a series of smaller roles in 1950s Hollywood classics including Sayonara, Yong made a cameo in the 1961 film Flower Drum Song, a Hollywood milestone with a largely Asian cast. Yong secured small parts in four episodes of Hawaii Five-O between 1971 and 1978, in which her husband also appeared. She also appeared in two episodes on Magnum P.I. in 1981 when she was 78. Huang died in 1980; Yong passed away in 1984. The couple’s estate established scholarship funds at the University of Hawaii and at Rollins College. Yong rejected western racist attitudes that associated being Chinese with ignorance and servitude and instead showed a cosmopolitan “Chinese woman at her best.” This is an updated version of a story originally published on April 25. It clarifies the preferred order of names for Zhang Pengchun in the customary Chinese way. Gao Yunxiang, Professor, Department of History, Toronto Metropolitan University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........ → September 27, 2023

​Chinese film market rebounds during Spring Festival

Cinemas in China excitedly welcomed back flocks of moviegoers to see movies on the big screen during the recent Spring Festival holiday, with the box office total reaching the second highest in history.

A woman walks past movie posters during the Spring Festival holiday at a cinema in Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang province, Jan. 27, 2023. [Photo/VCG]

Due to COVID-19's negative impact last year, China's film market has suffered numerous blows over a prolonged period of time. But after restrictions were removed when the Chinese government adopted new pandemic prevention policies at the end of last year, the much-anticipated lucrative Spring Festival film season eventually arrived, and soared.

The holiday box office sold 129 million tickets from Jan. 22-27, generating a staggering revenue of 6.76 billion yuan ($996 million), according to big data entertainment platform Beacon. The earnings overtook that of the same holiday last year, making this year's Spring Festival holiday the second highest-grossing to date in history, only second to that of 2021.

Six new domestic titles were released during the holiday. Zhang Yimou's period suspense thriller "Full River Red," a twist-filled plot mixed with comedy, was the biggest winner during the Spring Festival, raking in 2.61 billion yuan and accounting for 38.6% of the holiday's box office total. Its takings have made it the biggest film in Zhang's already legendary career and it looks to continue to accumulate a stunning box office total in the coming weeks.

Frant Gwo's Chinese sci-fi film "The Wandering Earth 2," a prequel to the blockbuster's first installment in 2019, also delivered phenomenal box office performance during the holiday, taking a haul of 2.16 billion yuan, accounting for 32% of the box office total. Its momentum will continue after the holiday, with the cast and crew announcing they will embark on a national meet-and-greet tour to promote the film. The film, praised by the audience and critics as a new milestone in Chinese sci-fi filmmaking, also had a limited opening in some countries around the world during the Chinese Lunar New Year, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Malaysia.

The animated film "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code" took third place on the box office chart. The ninth installment in one of China's longest-running movie franchises grossed 748 million yuan, pushing the franchise's total box office takings to over 5 billion yuan.

Other high-performing films included Cheng Er's spy-action thriller "Hidden Blade" starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, which grossed 493 million yuan; "Deep Sea," a critically-acclaimed animated fantasy from Tian Xiaopeng, the helmsman of "Monkey King: Hero is Back," which grossed 359 million yuan; and "Five Hundred Miles," a romantic comedy starring comedian Zhang Xiaofei, best known for her part in the 2021 dark horse "Hi, Mom," which grossed 290 million yuan.

Even "Avatar: The Way of Water" grossed a remarkable 49.5 million yuan during the holiday. The film has extended its run in China until Feb. 14, but its screening arrangements were mostly cut on the first day of the holiday to give way to China's new blockbuster releases. However, more and more cinemas started to put it back into schedule over the few days following, with many of its showings in large premium formats sold out. The film's total China takings have now surpassed 1.62 billion yuan, making it the best-performing foreign film during the pandemic era. Its worldwide total has grossed more than $2.07 billion, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of all time.

Theaters supporting large premium formats did quite well during the holiday. For example, IMAX China reported that it collected 231 million yuan from its IMAX screens, which is the best Spring Festival performance for IMAX ever, accounting for 8.22% of the total box office takings in China from only 1% of all screens in the market. The IMAX version of "The Wandering Earth 2" led the way, grossing 178 million yuan across the IMAX network. Of the top 10 Chinese cinemas to make the most profit, eight had IMAX screens.

There was also a little drama during the holiday, with the sports film "Ping-pong of China," directed by Deng Chao and Yu Baimei and starring Deng himself, delaying its release until Jan. 24 from its originally planned release of Jan. 22 due to some last-minute changes to the film. The distributors then found that there was so little room and potential for the film to thrive during the highly competitive season that they decided to delay its wide release to Feb. 17. Nevertheless, after screening for just two days, the film grossed 38.14 million yuan.

Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, said the movie frenzy made him feel that Chinese films are off to "a new start towards a better future" after being hampered by COVID-19 for years. There have been calls from critics for more quality films to be made to draw more moviegoers back to cinemas, citing their significance to the recovery of the film industry overall.Notable new releases in the coming weeks include the much-anticipated crime film "Where the Wind Blows," directed by Philip Yung and starring Hong Kong megastars Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung, which will hit Chinese screens on Feb. 5. Disney and foreign film companies will also put out new releases in China soon, including "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which will be released in China on Feb. 7 and Feb. 17, respectively, and marks the first Marvel Cinematic Universe titles to enter the Chinese market since 2019. Warner Bros/DC's "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" will also be released in China, adding to the line-up of foreign blockbuster films making their way to Chinese theaters.​ Source: China.org.cn

Read More........ → February 08, 2023