Dr WU Ka-chun Gary, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies

Inheritance and Subversion of Chinese Chivalrous Spirit: From Tang Dynasty Stories "Nie Yinniang" to the Modern Chinese Movie "The Assassin". The 22th Conference of the Tang Literature Association of China and International Symposium on Tang Literature. School of Literature and Cultural Communication, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui, China, 16-19 August 2024.

Abstract
Chinese Chivalrous Spirit (Wuxia) has always been a special culture in China. Since it was recorded by Sima Qian in official history, the stories about wuxia and the chivalrous spirit have been circulated in Chinese literature. There are similarities and differences in the chivalrous spirit and chivalry in different literature. Nowadays, regardless of literature or movies, there are certain routines and procedures for the creation of martial arts stories. Tang Dynasty Stories (Chuanqiu) is a leader in interpreting the spirit of chivalry, and "Nie Yinniang" is one of the best masterpieces. However, "The Assassin" by Hou Hsiao-Hsien is very different from traditional martial arts works in terms of content and style. After sorting out the similarities and differences between the two texts, this article finds that the film actually inherits a part of the traditional chivalrous spirit, but it is more of a subversion of this traditional culture.