Ip Man: The Confucian chivalry of a master and the benevolent world of Chinese civilization.

With the release of "Ip Man 4: The Conclusion" and "Ip Man", a series of movies promoting the nobility of Chinese martial artists and the spiritual core of traditional culture have finally come to an end after 12 years of accompanying audiences.

Reviewing the whole series of Ip Man movies, the first "Ip Man" released in 2008 was the most impressive, which was not only a big success, but also made the audience y infected by the tough personal character and united national spirit embodied by Donnie Yen's portrayal of Grandmaster Ip Man.

After its release, the film won the Best Picture Award and the Best Action Design Award at the 28th Hong Kong Academy Awards, and has been the subject of numerous academic reviews. Many scholars are exploring the martial arts spirit and cultural values embedded in the movie.

Characters in movies are no longer a simple matter of artistic image, but a diversified issue related to movie genres, character types and the context of the movie era.

Combination of Appreciation and Culture

Chinese New Year culture is a characteristic product of Chinese New Year culture.

Chinese New Year movies are released on New Year's Day and during the Spring Festival. Comedies and action movies are the main forms, which are highly ornamental and entertaining. This movie genre is characterized by the New Year's category in its cultural form.

This means that movies need to take into account the characteristics of folklore, ethnicity and local culture when playing the "New Year's Eve" logo in order to echo traditional Chinese culture.

The movie "Ip Man" tells the story of Ip Man, a Wing Chun master who devoted himself to martial arts in a specific historical environment in the 1930s.

There are four exciting match scenes in the movie:

One is a match with Grandmaster Liao of Tarzan Kung Fu at Grandmaster Ip Man's home;

The second is the subjugation of Jin Shan, who comes to kick the North Pavilion;

The third is the challenge of ten Japanese fighters in the Japanese camp;

The fourth is the fight with the Japanese General Miura.

From the external level, the movements in the four fight scenes are sharp and natural, showing the power of hitting springs and dazzling kung fu, realizing the audience's sensory needs for martial arts appreciation;

From the internal level, through the external movements of martial arts, especially the scene where Donnie Yen as Grandmaster Ip Man, disregarding the safety of his own personal life, defeats the ten samurai in the Japanese camp alone, swinging his fist The shot of slamming Miura is precisely a different way to see that the core spirit of Chinese martial arts is not only the spirit of martial arts, but also to inspire the audience's national feelings and satisfy their spiritual needs.

From the point of view of the external form and internal significance of the movie, Ip Man's combination of the ornamental and entertaining nature of the action film with the national significance of the work, highlighting the genre characteristics of the New Year's Eve film and realizing the different needs of the audience are the important factors for the success of the movie.

Fusion of martial arts image and martial arts spirit

Ip Man has multiple identities as a fighter.

He has the status of a husband in his family and the role of a martial artist and friend in his social relationships.

The audience has different role expectations for the same character in different circumstances, and the ability and the way to deal with the role relationships always inspire different feelings in the audience.

In the movie, Donnie Yen plays the role of Master Ip Man, which is successful and has a positive meaning.

(I) The role of martial arts

For an action movie, the main character is a fighter's social identity. In this movie, the image of the martial artist Master Ip Man has a multi-dimensional character.

(1) The Role of Humble and Concessionary Fighter

The movie presents the typical Confucian character of Master Ip Man as a martial artist from the very beginning.

Master Liao of the Foshan martial arts school discusses with Master Ip Man behind closed doors.

Master Ip Man did not expect this uninvited guest to "force" his way into his home during his meal time, but greeted him with a smile;

Master Liao said that he had just opened a martial arts school in Foshan, and politely returned congratulations;

Master Liao said that he would like to learn kung fu, and in a negotiating tone, he chose "Kung Fu" as the name of the school he wanted to learn.

Master Liao said he wanted to learn kung fu, but he politely declined by asking a question about whether it was good or not;

Master Liao insisted on the match, saying that no one knew whether he would win or lose. Instead of responding directly to the possible outcome of the match, Ip Man patiently said that he was eating;

When he learned that Master Liao had not eaten, he invited him to eat at the same table.

In this match, Ip Man subdued his opponent with moderate force, adopting the principle of not hurting his opponent and focusing on the match.

After the match, Ip Man personally dropped Master Liao off at the door, politely responding to Master Liao's "great favor" and promising not to tell him the outcome of the match.

The fact that Master Liao went to the restaurant to confront him after Shadan Yuan publicized the result of the match between Master Liao and Ip Man also shows that Master Liao is very facetious and refuses to admit defeat, and it also proves that the original match was meant to build up his own reputation as a signboard for soliciting business.

Correspondingly, Master Ip Man treats the loser with respect, which is an attitude towards martial arts:

The tournament is not about competition, not about fame.

Master Ip Man's virtue of humility radiates the light of simple humanity.

The two clips show Ip Man's noble martial arts spirit, fully embodying the master's kind temperament and gentle and generous character, implying the connotation of a Chinese martial artist, well illustrating his generous and humble spirit, and fully presenting the image of Confucian chivalry.

(2) Calm and open-minded warrior character

The fundamental purpose of martial arts is not to bully or conquer people by force, but to prove the path by force.

Lee Chiu, the policeman in the movie, wants to use the noisy restaurant to build up his authority as a police officer, to taunt these "reckless" people who only practice martial arts, and then to scare them away.

Ip Man snatched the pistol with one hand and not only ejected the magazine, but also shocked Li Zhao with his superior martial arts skills, but did not beat him up and humiliate him, which to a large extent maintained Li Zhao's face.

To win by virtue, not by force, is also a direct reflection of the Confucian spirit of self-restraint to help people.

Jinshan, a northern kung fu practitioner, was looking for a martial arts school in Foshan. He brutally kicks in the door of Grandmaster Ip Man's house, wanting to compete. The method of introduction highlights his brave and aggressive image as a martial artist.

But Ip Man uses the word "play" to save face for Jin Shan, while politely "asking" him to leave. The master, who has a specialty, had no intention of making an unnecessary meeting about it, and the meaning of "softness" was revealed.

In the course of this so-called contest, Ye Wen at first just keep attacking, smiling all the time, but Jinshan open eyes looking for, step by step;

Later with a small chicken feather duster Jinshan found a steel blade into a soft finger.

Jinshan lost, but thought it was the result of a contest between northern and southern boxing, that is, northern boxing lost to southern boxing.

Ye Man said, "You're wrong, it's not about North-South Fist, it's about you."

It shows that the human factor beyond the level of martial arts is more important. Only by combining human subjectivity and the uniqueness of boxing can we maximize the limits of martial arts, which is a realistic attitude towards martial arts.

It is evident that martial arts are geographically independent and that the level of boxing is related to the person himself.

Ip Man's words contain respect for the martial arts on the one hand, and on the other hand are a reflection of his own calm and open-minded spirit.

Chinese martial arts emphasize the modesty and prudence of a benevolent person in interpersonal interactions, and require martial artists to be orally ethical in their martial arts education and not to say hurtful things.

Kingshan's recklessness contrasts with Ip Man's modesty and caution, without any fanfare or flaunting.

Expansiveness is a kind of respect and understanding of life, a reflection of great wisdom. Tolerance towards provocateurs is a reflection of the enlightened spirit of Donnie Yen as Master Ip Man.

(3) The brave role of the martial artist

In the case of martial arts, its life is martial arts.

If the cultivation of martial arts is not emphasized, martial arts will neglect the value of human life and directly bring violence, ruthlessness, cold-bloodedness and massacre;

When martial arts are combined with martial arts and when martial arts are infiltrated by virtue, martial arts will bring about the power of justice, realize the harmony and unity between human beings and the society, and highlight the high degree of human beings as life, which is the spiritual core of Chinese martial arts culture.

Ip Man's uncontrollable anger rises instantly when he sees Master Liao die tragically under Japanese gunfire, donating blood to soak the white rice he earned. Strong national emotions inspired him to defy the enemy, not afraid of sacrifice, and the courage to undertake to face the spirit of national justice. Under the sadness and anger, swinging his fist violently, move deadly martial arts, hit ten Japanese samurai.

So he resigned from the reward of Miura, brought a bag of blood rice to return to Liao father.

It embodies the national spirit that people admire and respect, and shows the deep hatred of the Confucian heroes in the next generation of the national oppression situation.

Before competing with Miura, the Japanese tried to buy Ip Man, whose heart was indestructible under the strong national hatred. It is a fusion of Chinese martial arts culture and national spirit, as well as a manifestation of national justice and national dignity.

During the match with Miura, he insisted on the principle of subduing instead of dying and fought karate with Wing Chun. At a crucial moment, he suddenly stops a ruse that could kill Miura.

Ip Man believes Chinese martial arts culture is unique. As a form of armed force, the Chinese martial art of "Ren" is the highest state.

This character proves once again that martial virtues are the soul of martial arts, and that those who have only martial virtues but no character will eventually be eliminated, and that only martial arts practitioners with high martial virtues are famous journalists in history.

(II) The role of an honest friend

As a good friend of Chow Ching-yuen, Ip Man can help out for free.

And Wu Qilin, who loved martial arts, was also a teacher and a friend. In dealing with Sha Dan Yuan, due to Wu Qilin's commission to "find the iron box", Ip Man took the initiative to take on the obligation to educate Sha Dan Yuan, who had become a thief.

The education method used by Shadan Yuan is subtle, gentle, and mild, and does not completely negate Shadan Yuan's existence as an individual. This is an unconventional Confucian method of education. In the end, Sha Dan Yuan wept bitterly, remembering his valiant brother and heading in the right direction.

These actions of Ip Man exemplify the noble character of a martial artist who treats people with sincerity and kindness.

At the same time, through the handling of these relationships, the movie shows the character of Grandmaster Ip Man as someone who can be trusted and honest as a friend.

(3) The role of the loving husband

There are some non-verbal scenes in the movie, such as the way Ip Man looks at his wife at the dinner table before he plays with Master Liao, the way he smiles when he invites Wu Chi-lin into the house, and the way he looks at his wife's command to "don't break anything in the house" when he is confronted with the heinous Jinshan.

Formally, it's a sign of a man's obedience to his wife, but in terms of internal symbolism, it's a reflection of the patriarch's deep love for his wife.

Jinshan used aggressive words: "I heard that Wing Chun is a fist built by a woman and it suits you well. Yip Man, are you really afraid of your wife?" It was rude to go and mess with the IP man.

However, Yip Man was not angry at his provocative and rude words, nor did he add any evil words. Instead, he responded with words full of love:

"There are no men in this world who are afraid of their wives, only men who respect their wives."

On the one hand, it reflects his extraordinary tolerance for treating others kindly, and on the other hand, it also reflects Ip Man's respectful attitude towards his wife, which is the deeper meaning of those non-verbal scenes.

Ip Man's different personality types always serve the spirit of martial virtues and benevolence embodied in him, which gives the action movie character a vivid and lasting vitality.

Audience expectations of the movie's era

For commercial movies, box office is an important goal.

Therefore, the movie should not only fulfill the audience's expectations of the movie, but also give the audience the possible meaning of the movie.

The specific setting of the movie is the 1930s, which gives Ye Wen a sense of justice and heroic discourse in this particular era.

In conveying Grandmaster Yip Man's humble and open-minded role as a martial artist, friend and husband, the movie is largely free of close-ups, mostly close-ups or panoramas.

And when the role of the martial arts master is in the presence of state justice, such as at the scene of a one-to-ten tournament, the same role is presented as an internal conflict. The movie uses medium shots, placing Master Ip Man's background in a wide expanse of darkness, highlighted by lighting, thus conveying a discursive sense of justice.

There is a close-up shot in the fight with Miura, where the firm expression is a clear form of inner resistance.

The language of the shots conveys a meaning that is consistent with the context of the particular era. And, of course, it is the words of the era that determine the character's temperament and place in the movie.

The fact that the film's somber style and positive inspirational meaning can move the audience, earn good box office receipts and gain audience recognition is also closely related to the era in which the film was released.

In peacetime, we should not only inherit the spirit of benevolence, but also the spirit of tenacious individualism and national unity.

Through this path, the audience's memory is stretched and strengthened into an inner spirit, which brings about the possible meaning of the movie.

Through different discourses and genres, the movie series "Ip Man" constructs an image of a martial arts master who is modest and retiring, calm and open-minded, caring for others, courageous, broad-minded and magnanimous, and shows a Confucian style.

Such a master demonstrates a fighter's noble martial spirit, humility to fellow countrymen, generosity to the misguided, and kindness to the misguided. This is the soul of martial arts, that is, the presentation of the martial spirit, precisely the spirit of the Chinese people who carry virtue and self-improvement.

Through this matriarchal theme, the movie realizes the fusion of multiple roles and meets the audience's character expectations.