Thread by @XiranJayZhao

all right LET'S DO IT - THE CHINESE CULTURAL REFERENCES IN SHANG CHI - A THREAD

Disclaimer: I know this movie is supposed to be fantasy so I'm not checking for authenticity, I'm just picking stuff out for fun and educational purposes 1/?

the characters on the flag of the Ten Rings, read from top middle and clockwise, are 權力壮偉傑勢宏雄强威. Power, Strength, Strong, Great, Outstanding, Influence, Grand, Might, Strong, Authority. A little excessive tbh. WE GET IT, YOU'RE POWERFUL. 2/?

The characters are written in Seal Script, iconic to the Qin dynasty (China's first imperial one). Qin's defining color was also black, which means Wenwu established the Ten Rings about 2k years ago? But the helmets and armor in this battle remind me more of the Tang dynasty 3/?

but they seem to be fighting against the Persians? So is Wenwu supposed to be Genghis Khan? (and possibly also the First Emperor of China?) 4/?

HONESTLY HIS BACKSTORY CONFUSES TF OUT OF ME LOOOL like does imperial China in the MCU just have an alternate history then? Does everyone else know China was ruled by an immortal emperor?

also the actual line in the narration is "He wanted only to conquer." subtle difference 5/?

Ooh in this scene he's wearing a banbi 半臂, a short sleeved overcoat or vest worn over other clothing. That + the relatively narrow sleeves gives me Tang dynasty vibes. If only he also had the black putou 襆頭 head wrap, then it'd be Tang era for sure 6/?

The existence of chairs make this Tang dynasty or later for sure though, since chairs only got imported into China around then and took another few hundred years to become popular

The Ten Rings' signature weapons are hook swords, also used by Jet in ATLA! 7/?

I REMAIN CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT WENWU DID THO, like did he actually rule or was he just running Assassin's Creed in the background

actual line in pic 2 is "with the power of the Ten Rings, he has long reigned over the world" but it seems he liked being a secret shitstirrer more 8/?

books Wenwu reads have legit Chinese in them, talking about how according to legend, qilin will appear in their true form during the arrival and passing of sages and wise rulers as a sign of the beginning or end of prosperous times - 9/?

"The ancients say the sky is held up by four pillars that separate the heavenly realms from the earth."

"The qilin has a horse's head, deer's horns, and dragon whiskers. People lucky to catch sight of it will be bestowed fortune and infinite honor-" 10/?

"- But if it meets someone with evil in their heart, it will become extremely angry."

The drawings are of real Chinese myth creatures that I'll talk about later 👀 11/?

Ta Lo's not a real thing in Chinese myth tho, that's a Marvel original

Actual lines: "It's a hidden village where a mysterious martial art has been passed down through generations. Legendary creatures and ancient magic still exist."
Nothing abt the magic coming from the gods

Nitpick on the English subs but he actually says he's sending a scouting team instead of a singular scout, lol

Btw it's cool that they have so much Mandarin dialogue but honestly the lines sound super stiff 😣 I'd rather Tony Leung have spoken Cantonese instead 13/?

COMPLETE BS THAT TONY LEUNG MANAGES TO AVOID THE CLIFF DROP INSTEAD OF FALLING OVER AND THEN MIRACULOUSLY WAKING UP EPISODES LATER LIKE IN A PROPER C DRAMA

this implies he rules the world at this point?? IDK his hair and clothing suggest this is after colonization and I CAN'T BUY THAT TONY LEUNG WOULD'VE JUST STOOD BY AND LET WHITE PEOPLE COLONIZE THE WORLD

OR...OMG...WAS HE ON THE SIDE OF THE COLONIZERS??

Damn I like that hat. Idk if it's inspired by an actual cultural thing tho. Anyone else know?

Actual line: "Go. Don't make trouble for youself." (more subtle threat)

They're doing wire fu here, a common thing in Wuxia media where actors are pulled with wires so their moves seem to defy gravity. Tony Leung uses Hung Gar (the basis of earthbending in ATLA) while Fala Chen uses Tai Chi + Baguazhang (basis of waterbending and airbending)

DAMN, LADY...SHOULD'VE NEVER GIVEN HIM THE RINGS BACK

btw the Ten Rings were adapted as Hung Gar training rings. They're form fitting in this movie but they're loose in real life because they're supposed to bang against your wrists during training to condition them

YEAH I MEAN,, NOT QUITE DOWN WITH THIS STORY OF NICE LADY FROM MYSTICAL REALM REFORMING ANCIENT WAR CRIMINAL AND POSSIBLE COLONIZER TBH

i only ship villain dudes with villain ladies so I wish she were also evil tbh 😔 he still could've been devastated about her death!!

Actual line: "Mom's homeland Da Lo has a divine dragon. It's our guardian god."

who's this guy and how do i get his number

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

that's not what you said in Kim's Convenience. so what is the truth??

o right this is part of the MCU continuity...y'all just ASSUMED people would've watched the other movies, huh. just ASSUMED.

also her logic makes no sense. if life is so fragile wouldn't you party harder instead of settling down in boringness??

OF COURSE EVEN THE LOSER ASIANS ARE SUPER ACADEMICALLY ACCOMPLISHED LOOOOOOOL

i appreciate the deliberate shot of Shang Chi taking off his shoes before entering Katy's family's apartment but the placement of the shoe rack outside the door implies way too much trust in the neighbours

this sounds fake, an asian mother would never let her son go to work without letting him eat

why did the subs translate 清明节 as Day of the Dead...just call it the Tomb-Sweeping Festival...that still gets the gist across

damn Shang Chi, you should see some of the stuff people in modern China burn for their ancestors

and why did they translate Baijiu as "whiskey"

Baijiu is CLEAR

so is the conflict here about Katy not being ABLE to get a better job because of the economy or her not being WILLING to? because she does have an honor's degree from Berkeley so...is this a critique of capitalism or not!!!!

I don't get why Katy feels inferior because of this? She DID do well in school?

it would've made way more sense for her to be a dropout, why give her the honor's degree in the first place a;slfdj

this has to be a jackie chan reference of some sort

Shang Chi fights using a mix of wing chun and tai chi. Everyone's been on wing chun's ass since the Ip Man movies, smh

wait....

who the hell is using PWNED IN THE 2020s????

SADDEST DEATH IN THE WHOLE MOVIE

(did he even offer to pay her back????)

damn,, shang chi nearly lost his shang ji

this mask dude's mask is based on Peking Opera face paintings, where a white base for the face symbolizes villainy (in male characters, at least)

young Shang Chi was put through some intense conditioning and training typical of depictions of Shaolin kung fu

...still not enough to impress an asian dad tho

there's a diagram of qi meridians in the background!!

i know Katy is making fun of Shang Chi's terrible alias choosing when he's supposed to be hiding in secrecy, but it's actually super common for Chinese people to just go with the typical English name closest to their Chinese one. Or at least one that starts with the same letter

ALL THE LISBON REFERENCES CONFIRM THAT MACAU WAS COLONIZED BY PORTUGAL IN THIS CONTINUITY

TONY LEUNG DID YOU REALLY LET THIS HAPPEN?? HOW DARE YOU

nice depiction of community square dancing though, I like that they included modern Chinese cultural references instead of immediately going to the ancient fantasy realm

buildings in construction like this are a super common sight in modern China. when I hear construction noises I get nostalgic

if you read the contract Shang Chi signed it's very clear that they're about to go into a fight ring, lol. it even says the company takes no responsibility for any physical damage by superpowers or aliens. Shang Chi left home at 15, so he should've been able to read this?

the Chinese translation is "Bus Male God," very different vibe than Bus Boy

ALSO 2 MILLION IN 3 DAYS IS NOTHING BY CHINESE SOCIAL MEDIA STANDARDS LOL

HATE THAT THIS MOVIE JUST ASSSSUUUMES YOU'VE SEEN OTHER MARVEL MOVIES LIKE DOCTOR STRANGE

WHAT IF I HADN'T, HUH??? I'D BE LIKE WHO THE HELL IS THIS

again,, if Shang Chi took even one proper glance at the contract then he should've known

the most authentic shot in the movie

- Tony Leung's uncle sandals
- Concrete floor
- The random short stool
- Katy's ugly pants
- People with tactical gear on
- Suffering Chinese son

the compound has to be inspired by mountain temples

Katy seems to be a big fan of grunge bands with names like "Lobotomy" and "Bicycle Chains"?

(IDK if they're real, does it look like I listen to grunge?)

TONY leung trying to make all the diaspora feel bad for adopting an English name for convenience

(lmao imagine if Wenwu called himself William)

i mean honestly tho. no lies here.

btw Wenwu means "Scholarly & Martial," the two branches of officials in historical Chinese courts

The text on the bamboo slips in this shot are the same as the text on the book earlier in the movie. This explains the book contains Wenwu's own notes, copied from earlier sources? Bamboo slips would've been about 2k years old

These lions are unfortunately... a het couple. one has a cub under her paw the other has a ball of yarn.

honestly can't get with Shang Chi's whole characterization in this section of the movie. How is he so sure that his mom's village isn't holding her hostage? if his and his sister's pendants can show the way to the village then how is he sure his mom doesn't want them there?

Morris is a Hundun (AKA a Dijiang), a Chinese myth creature of chaos that has no discernible features except 6 legs and 4 wings. It's said to be drawn toward evil people.

(They're also the villains of my book world 👀)

Bamboo forest that shifts randomly and eats people isn't a thing in Chinese myth AFAIK, but do I sense a Journey to the West reference in the hidden world behind a waterfall?

This is clearly a Fenghuang (TECHNICALLY it shouldn't be on fire bc that's a conflation with western phoenixes but everyone conflates them nowadays so)

also the holes in the mountains are a possible reference to Tianmenshan (Heaven's Gate Mountain) in Zhangjiajie?

Ta Lo has a bunch of nine-tailed foxes! They originated in Chinese myth but also spread to Japan and Korea. They're said to reside in a place called Qingqiu, make a cry like a baby's, and eat human flesh

This is a qilin, a chimeric sagely creature described pretty well by the books earlier

Fun fact: when a giraffe was first brought to China, it was determined that THOSE were the qilin of legend, finally found. Korea and Japan still call giraffes "qilin"

I think this is supposed to be either a highly stylized Chinese lion or a pixiu without wings

THIS DUDE YUEN WAH IS THE LANDLORD FROM KUNG FU HUSTLE AND HAS BY FAR THE MOST NATURAL MANDARIN PERFORMANCE IN THIS MOVIE LOOOOL

The Chinese term specifies that Ying Nan is Shang Chi & Xialing's mom's youngest sister!

aa;sdfj;sdf so approximately as long as confirmed Chinese history

way more accurate ancestral shrine than Mulan the cartoon!! look at those ancestral tablets!!! and the fruit offerings!

Ceiling supports in Ta Lo vs Ceiling supports at the Forbidden City

Actual Chinese line: "Your husband wanted to kill my whole family."

also no actual mention of their gang name lol

she lookin good for someone who got beat to death

actual line Tony Leung says to landlord: "I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice." Common phrase that elders use to dismiss the youth 😂

WELL SHE MARRIED HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE DESPITE KNOWING ABOUT HOW PAST??? communication issues very accurate to Chinese family tho

"My dear" and "My love" are both English subs only. Pet names too cringe for Chinese parents.

I LOVE YUEH WAH'S PERFORMANCE SO MUCH HIS LINES ARE SO GOOD AND POETIC

everyone else sounds so stiff in Mandarin compared to him, FOR REAL

Hmm not the biggest fan of how the dragon looked. I was more hyped by the dragon in LAY's music video for Lit

(If you have not seen it.. you should )

ARE THEY GONNA EXPLAIN HOW THE RINGS CHOOSE THEIR HOST OR NO...

(also canon confirmed Kamekameha reference)

THIS IS SUCH A LAZY WAY TO GET A CHARACTER LIKE TONY LEUNG OUT OF THE WAY I'M SO MAD A;SLDFKJADSLF

also not the biggest fan of how dark this final battle is 🤔

NOOOOO NOT LANDLORD

NOW THERE'S NO ONE LEFT TO DELIVER GOOD LINES IN MANDARIN

u know, I wish Shang Chi would've shared the rings with Xialing or something, it'd be more poetic for both their characters

Water lanterns (and sky lanterns too) are sent off in a variety of festivals, but in the context of mourning, they're believed to act as a guide for spirits

PLS NO STOP BAITING ME INTO WATCHING ANOTHER MARVEL MOVIE

THIS IS THE MOVIE WHERE THE ORIGIN OF THE TEN RINGS SHOULD'VE BEEN EXPLORED, NOT THE NEXT TEAM UP

I'M SO DONE WITH THE MCU A;SLDKJFSDFKL

all right that was a movie...i guess. it was fine. it didn't do anything offensive but i'm not blown out of the water. there are better movies to watch if you liked the things in this, like Kung Fu Hustle 😂

If you want more break downs like this I've got a whole YouTube channel full of them!! youtube.com/channel/UCqSz_…

Video version of this one will be up some time this week with more opinions I couldn't fit in a Twitter thread ✌