Chi
Kung Culture Society of TAIPEI
What the movie House of Flying Daggers is talking about ?
The movie House of Flying Daggers is talking about the Tang government. The movie actually uses two types of image: the special police administration forces (representing authority, traditions, absolute forces, ego, rigidity and arrogance) and the House of Flying Daggers (representing rebellion or opposing forces on one hand and mysticism, negative force, liberation and opportunism). In other words, in this movie any movement against the special police administration forces (or Captain Leo [played by Andy Lau] representing authoritarianism or chauvinism) could be regarded as a sort of betrayal or failure.
These movie images can be applied to modern day life at different levels. At the level of the national government of China (the People’s Republic of China), the special police administration forces represent the ruling party and the House of Flying Daggers represents the reformers. These forces struggle with each other. On the ruling party’s side, some of the people who follow it do not entirely agree with its ideas. Here in Taiwan we could see that the Kuomingtang KMT (Chinese Nationalist Party) represent the blue side, and the People First Party (PFP) and the New Party (NP) are on the same side but they represent different voices. On the other hand is the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (the DPP) that is still challenged by the KMT/PFP/NP forces and even some of its old members like Shen Fu-hsing or former members like Chen Wen-chien and former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang.
Images from the movie can also be applied to the personal interactions between people. Captain Leo (Andy Lau) and Captain Jin/Wind (Takeshi Kaneshiro) appear to be colleagues who follow the same idea, but they have other thoughts that they don't express, too. This type of personal interaction phenomena can be commonly found all over the world and fits the taichi theory that yang embodies yin whereas yin holds yang.
Struggle for Power
In other words, the plot of this movie looks like it is talking about a love story, but it is actually talking about the struggle for power, legitimacy, the existential values of oneself, and the ultimate significance of life between people which can be found anytime, anyplace. Some people prefer to follow the dominant traditional authority or popular trends. Others take a different view. To director Zhang Yimou, politics is very similar to the love between lovers. It's a general phenomenon in all societies and all eras for rebelling forces to fight against the traditional ruling forces.
In this movie, when love happens between the young people, their decisions become more sophisticated when they rely on their instincts to guide them in their actions and don't follow the rigid rule of the party, organization or society. In the movie, Captain Leo obviously represents the traditional side for most of the movie. Although he loves Mei (played by Zhang Yize), she does not make any commitment to him, so they have only a good relationship and not a wonderful (or real love) relationship. Nevertheless, Captain Leo keeps trying to do something to make Mei commit to a deeper relationship with him. His plotting and scheming is similar to the actions taken by most traditionally minded people looking for love. We can also see this in the maneuvering by ruling political parties who promise many things to potential supporters, but usually fail to deliver all the things they promise. In other words, the type of love relationship that Captain Leo is looking for and the political approach which ruling parties use are temporary relationships based on an external guarantee or condition. This relationship is not definite but it is definitely empty.
Love Requires Power
Teenage love is very similar: when teenage girls are looking for boyfriends or future spouses, they use external criteria such as physical appearance and the future earning potential to support a better lifestyle. This is exactly what (unenlightened) governments do: guarantee a wonderful life for their citizens by undertaking a lot of economic construction and financial improvements and, in return, the citizens pledge their continuing support for 'their' government. In like manner, young women choose a husband not out of love, but based on his external appearance, wealth and ability to provide a stable lifestyle for them. These are part of love, but not the major or real things about true love. True love does not have any conditions. A true government should do things for its people without attaching any conditions like asking the citizens to vote for them in the next election. A good government does what is best for the people and the country, regardless of the consequences of their actions.
Captain Leo looks like he is the traditional good guy who is doing his all in order to marry the girl he likes. All traditional men act this way and while they are not wrong, what they end up with is not real love. Real love is something which happens from within both sides in the relationship or between the government and its citizens. Once a government is set up, it should do anything to help its citizens be happy, and not just to appease them. If you just let them feel happy, you are doing something superficial. What really needs to be done is to go deep inside like when the philosopher Mencius told those kings to introduce benevolent rule instead of establishing a military government or a monarchy government.
Don’t Carry Rocks
Captain Leo set a wonderful example for most men in traditional society who want a wife to help them to make a family. In this way, the men can fully concentrate on their work. If the wife finds that in this way her husband earn lots of money, she probably will forget what love is and look at their relationship from another angle, the family relationship. So they have more of a materialistic relationship rather than a mental relationship. According to Zen Buddhism, in a marital relationship, the two spouses should communicate fully (including spiritually), and apply their mind as real love, dedication and tolerance to their lives. They don't talk so much, but do the things which their spouse really needs without asking about it.
Captain Leo acts like Jesus Christ or the Buddha by taking up the burden for all men. Wind is considered by some critics as Captain Leo’s opponent or enemy, but actually, to my understanding, Wind is an example to tell people that love matters and that human life matters. In other words, love is not just a piece of chocolate. It contains commitment, responsibility, real care, thoughtful consideration, understanding and full respect. We need to try all our efforts to promote our life not just materialistically but also mentally and spiritually, too. So, the movie is talking about the real mind and the true heart. Wind’s not plotting and scheming to possess Mei, so he doesn’t pursue her as an ordinary or traditional man would: Wind doesn’t compete with Andy. In his relationship with Mei, he demonstrates the Buddhist concept of predestinated relationships and how such relationships happen.
Instinct Plays a Role
These relationships happen when you haven’t used your own mind – that is, they happen when your real mind happens and the frequency emitted by your real mind goes to work. When a person stops his mind, he has within him all sorts of inner potential (power and forces). When Wind starts his job, he doesn’t have any chances or intention to “capture” Mei as his lover or wife: He is only doing his job as an undercover detective. But, since his personality is different from that of Captain Leo, he is similar to those followers of Teng Hsiao-ping in the June 4th Tienanmen Square incident who followed the leader in many things yet still silently disagreed with him on some things. (We can also see this even in the George W. Bush administration in the US.) Wind is a dissenting voice. In this situation, when he is doing his job, he is not intentionally looking to Mei for sex or love, so we can say his real heart and true mind is coming up. At that moment, he is working by himself, so if Mei’s frequencies and forces were close to Wind’s and if she had the same attitude that he had (i.e., not looking at Wind to be her husband), then the forces would come up. When the forces of two people act together, they will automatically be united but not by intention or consciousness. Such a circumstance we can call real love. When real love happens, it is evidence of the existence of the tao: Only when you refrain from making an all-out effort for something to happen, will you find that you rather suddenly slide into the tao and stick onto it even though you have to sacrifice your life to sustain it. This is what director Zhang Yimou is talking about in the movie.
Chase and Confusion
In the movie there is a staged scene where some of Wind’s colleagues appear to be pursuing Wind and Mei. Wind appears to use his skill at archery to kill six of them. His bravery and skill causes Mei to feel wonderful. Wind, however, knows that it was a staged event (a game), so his mind intervenes and his forces and frequencies do not match Mei’s. A little later in the movie Wind and Mei are attacked for real by other detectives. Since Wind had no inkling of this, his reaction to the event is pure and unclouded: his love emerges from behind his own mind. This is much like Shakespeare’s idea of to be or not to be in Hamlet: should you protect yourself and tell the detectives who you are and in the process assist the killing of Mei OR should you kill the detectives and rescue Mei? This is like the choices facing a young person today who needs to choose between pursuing a graduate degree in China, the United States, Germany or wherever: there should be one place suitable for you to go to. However, the one you choose may not be the best one, so you usually resign yourself to accepting the one you have chosen (just as traditionally husbands and wives have had to do when they realize the external criteria which they used to select their spouses was not the best way to find real love). For instance, in making their decision on where to study abroad, most students need to take into consideration their family’s financial situation: how much can they afford to spend on their study abroad? In the end, the student may choose the program which he can afford not necessarily the one suited to his interests or needs. He just accepts it. That’s all.
Impulses Are Not Love
This also happens in marriages: the first love which happens between a couple usually is not real love, but rather psychological desire and social expectation. Once they go through this, they consider whether or not he/she could be their partner for life. Is he or she really good enough? In this situation, you need to have wisdom to choose properly, so you may end up choosing whatever other people tell you to do. This is not real love.
When we talk about love, you have your own deep power, ability and potential. Love is abstract and metaphysical. Most people looking for love are like blind people riding on a blind horse walking at midnight along a river. We’ll see that problems and dangers most likely will occur. Real love does not happen as easily as most people think. Unfortunately, many innocent young people think their first boyfriend or girlfriend should be the real love of their life, but this usually is a misperception. They don’t have the real quality to integrate life and love or the power to turn commitments and their own level to a real situation. They don’t have the necessary forces to apply philosophy and real love to life. Most people don’t have the chances to have real love or to see what the tao is.
Love is Tao
This is like Bruce Lee’s limitation: the tao of kung fu is very difficult to understand. When you have a chance to enter the tao (to go in), then what you do becomes an examination to see whether you could understand the tao and get the tao. This is real love. First you need to be free of having any intentions. This is like when we want to enter the way of chikung and taichi, the best attitude to have is not ask much about how to strengthen your understanding or physical strength or chi sensation or spiritual understanding about the state of taichi so as to make it better. In doing so, we may possibly ruin the whole show! This is like talking about love: “I love you, so you should love me.” That’s bullshit. Love is not like that. Even though you love him or her, you should say nothing and the predestinated relationship should happen automatically. When that happens, we find a wonderful way just like Wind and Mei experienced the second time he killed all the detectives: then Mei felt totally different, much more delicate and sophisticated than the first time. That’s love undisguised!
Force Dominates
So when things happen in this way, step by step, we get deeper and deeper. Something is testing Wind’s mind because he then does the opposite of what his job is. He should follow Mei and get her to tell him about the organization of the House of Flying Daggers, but he doesn’t. He gradually falls into Mei’s forces and his mind totally opens and his own love comes up. Of course, at first he doesn’t realize that this is what is happening to him, and that's a problem because he has never thought of love before. When that feeling is coming up, he feels so weird even though he tries to deny it. But the fact is from time to time, his hidden forces also come up and he also feels the forces moving up from Mei. When both forces automatically come up and go through the obstacles, blockages and dangers (both internal and external), they find that something real has happened between them. For ordinary people, most love relationships appear in a conditional way: first I find you to be handsome, rich or cute. This has nothing to do with real love. Real love has to do with people’s quality. It is not so simple; it is related to a high level of metaphysical wisdom and the ability to live in a high level or condition of love.
Tests and Enlightenment
We can see this in the classic movie Legend of Zu Mountain: you have to go through several life times and reincarnations to prove you understand love and find you have a similar quality with the person you love. Only by undergoing this type of procedure can you find your own sword (i.e. open up and overcome yourself). Otherwise you can’t (are not qualified) to talk about the tao. When Mei is told to kill Wind after they arrive at the House of the Flying Daggers, she does the opposite: she lets him go because she loves him. When Wind goes away, he feels the same forces. As they are returning, they are getting together without realizing that Captain Leo is waiting for them. So we say you have to choose something, however unjust. Or I should say that’s the role destiny plays to examine and testify to a man’s ability and wisdom to face the most critical moments of life. That is why ‘to be or not to be’ or ‘to act or to leave’ are so importantly stressed by Shakespeare and Confucius.
Witnessed by Death
After Mei has been stabbed with the dagger, Captain Leo tells her that if she removes it, she will die. It is Wind who persuades Mei not to remove the dagger. Captain Leo finally does something – he moves his hands. There are two meanings to the throwing of his dagger – he doesn’t want to hurt her because he still loves her and he wants to give a test to see if Mei really loves Wind. If she does, she should pay the cost for it and remove the dagger and block Captain Leo’s dagger. She should use her life to protect Wind. Wind understands this and tells her not to protect him. Although the result of Captain Leo’s action here looks bad, his action is in between good and bad:
It’s about the proof of tao or the proof of love. For the love between Mei and Captain Leo: if Mei remains there and Captain Leo walks away and Mei survives, then their proof of love is not persuasive. It isn’t deep enough to talk about love; you have to reveal the ultimate curtain that might cover people’s real love. Therefore, we act according to our own instinct. Love is something similar to tao: live and die, don’t use your mind to think or analyze and in this way you can go through the tao. When we use analysis, comparison and our distinguishing mind, we won’t be able to further on or enter much closer to the tao or the chi. So, when people see this movie and say it doesn’t say anything, it just means the people have seen nothing in the movie.
In this movie, the director shows that love always happens as a dagger, accidentally coming up and disappearing. Intellect is like a weak woman: no matter how clever she is, she won’t be able to fight against authority or tradition. In this movie, Zhang Ziye changed a lot.
Love: Misunderstood by Most People
Our newspapers are filled with stories about young men or women committing suicide because they don’t understand what love is or what a normal relationship between a man and a woman is. They don’t have a regular positive attitude toward such relationships or the courtesy or politeness between lovers. Instead, they think about this and that; they do something with increasing expectations for what the other side should do for them. In the process, they neglect their partner. Love is something which happens from inside. It works like this: when you have that frequency and your partner has it, too, your forces come up and you automatically think about your partner and know what he or she needs. It’s not something that needs to be expressed in language – it’s not something the other side asks for. When they ask for it, it becomes conditional, just like a contract between a government leader and the people he is helping with the expectation that they will vote for him in the next election. Real love is some sort of relationship which happens without any conditions. In real love you have real consideration and real concern deep inside you. Your real mind thinks about your partner so thoroughly (holistically) that you automatically do good things (not act as a burden) for them. You have internalized their frequency so you can do things without using your mind – you just make it the best balance. So it is neither too much nor too little.
Total Respect
In real love, when you get together, you should respect another person’s life, and time and space and not see him as your property, puppet or goal.
So when ordinary people talk about love, they mean getting power like the government officials, leaders or political party which does so conditionally through a social contract. They don’t think of it as a spiritual commitment which makes things look real. You need to live without any conditions to find real love.
To understand the tao, you should build up your own ability and when chances happen, then you have the opportunity to enter gradually into the way of the tao: then you will understand. You won’t feel it’s love, but you will realize the conversation means something. This is just like Wind and Mei at the beginning of the movie.
No Emotions, No Karma
Love is the tao. It is not a bargain or a contract or a burden. As Bodhidarma says, “The type of love seedlings which are sown determine the kind of fruit that consequently will grow. If we understand this, when we are together with others in whatever type of relationship, we would probably know how to sow in a manner of no sentiment or expectation. Then it may result in no karma, disappointment or expectation later.”
Love is much more related to predestinated relationships and the basic constituency deep inside of your own potential. Only if you have these roots inside do you have the chance to grow when the weather (forces and predestinated frequencies) changes. If it doesn’t grow, it damages human nature and distorts love!