From Patriot to Paramour: Shifting Ideals of Womanhood in Chinese Cinema

This paper examines the pliable notion of womanhood in modern China, arguing that the female image in cinema serves as a key index of the nation's shifting political landscape. Through a comparative analysis of two pivotal Chinese-language films, Song of Youth (1959) and Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, 2007), this paper explores how gender relations have been reconfigured to suit different national imaginaries. Guided by feminist scholar Tani Barlow's (2004) conceptual distinction between nüxing and funü, this paper unravels two competing threads that have undergirded modern China's feminist project. Whereas nüxing refers to a sexual, erotic, and carnal subjectivity, funü pertains to an ethical, political, and humanist stance compliant with the nationalist revolution. By juxtaposing these two films, this paper demonstrates how the portrayal of women responds to China's political climate. The ideological shift from the embedded, political subject (funü) in Song of Youth to the individuated, sexual subject (nüxing) in Lust, Caution reflects a significant oscillation in the construction of femininity, highlighting how womanhood is continuously redefined in service of the nation-state.