Confucius & Crouching Tiger

Synopsis: Students develop an understanding of Confucius' 5 basic relationships by analyzing how characters in the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" break or fulfill the roles established by Confucius in The Analects. This lesson plan has basic information about the 5 basic relationships.

Time Allotment: We used about 130 minutes of class time to view the film with breaks for discussion, plus 1 lesson to write questions and 1 lesson for a final wrap-up discussion.

Teacher notes: Although the film is rated PG-13, the one sexual scene seemed a bit racy for that rating. Consider fast forwarding. The plot of this film is complex, so it's important to break in between chapters to review the action and discuss how the Confucian relationships are playing out. Without these breaks, I found that students got lost and then tuned out.

Procedures:

1. Show film with breaks for discussion as described above. Highlight areas where Confucian relationships come into conflict with one another or when characters break their Confucian obligations.
2. After the film is over, tell students they will have a student-led discussion for which they will write the questions. Divide students into groups of 3-4 and instruct each group to write 3 questions: one about the Confucian relationships in the film, one about the themes of the film and one free choice. Remind them that good discussion questions often start with "how" or "why."
3. Divide the board into 3 columns, one for each category listed above. Ask each group to write their questions on the board under the appropriate category. Add 3 of your own if you'd like.
4. Give groups time to read the questions. Tell each group to place a star by the 3 questions they would most like to discuss. The questions with the most stars will be used in your final discussion tomorrow.
5. Rank the questions in order of difficulty and put them on a powerpoint to keep students on track.
6. On the day of discussion, give each student 2 pennies. Each time they speak, they must surrender 1 penny. When all their pennies are gone, they may not speak again until each person has used up all their pennies. This ensures that everyone participates and no one dominates the discussion.

Extension Option: Director Ang Lee said "Crouching Tiger" is based on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Have students compare the two.

Discussion questions:

These are the questions my students generated. Although I was skeptical of a few of them, we had a fabulous discussion. I think students appreciated writing and selecting their own questions.

• How does Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien’s friend-friend relationship change throughout the movie?
• Given that it was normal to marry your brother’s fiance if he died, why didn’t Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien immediately marry?
• How does Shu Lien escape from Confucius’ expectations for women? What are the consequences?
• Would Confucius approve of any of the characters’ relationships?
• Was it okay for Jin to go against her parents’ wishes by running away? How would her decision affect her parents?
• Why didn’t Shu Lien kill Jin when she had the chance? How could Confucian responsibilities to students and younger siblings shape her decision?
• Was Jin true to any of those superior to her?
• Which characters best fit the theme?
• How would the film have differed if these rigid social molds didn’t exist?
• Do you think the ending was happy or sad? Why? Did it provide enough closure?
• What did the Green Destiny symbolize to each of the characters? How did it bring them together?
• Is it better to have too many rules or none at all?

Lesson Plan: Understanding Confucian Relationships

Synopsis: Students learn about Confucius' 5 Basic Relationships and compare them to relationshiops in American society. I use this as the beginning of a unit on Chinese literature, but this lesson plan could also be used in a history or social studies class. This lesson plan is adapted from Kirsten Larson's first lesson plan at http://www.globaled.org/chinaproject/confucian.html. Background information about Confucius and his 5 relationships are available by following the link.

Time Allotment: a 45-50 minute class period

Supplies: none

Procedures:

• Briefly explain who Confucius was. Write his 5 relationships on the board in this order: ruler-subject, father-son, elder brother-younger brother, husband-wife, friend-friend.
• Point out that the only available role for women was wife.
• Explain that the relationships are listed in order of their importance. Ruler-Subject and Father-Son are nearly equal and modeled after each other. If two relationships came into conflict, the first relationship on the list is most important. (For example, if your older brother asked you to do something your father disapproved of, your father's opinion would be most important.)
• Ask the students to rank the relationships in order of importance to them. In small groups or a class, students discuss the reasons for their responses. (This made a fabulous class discussion which provoked an interesting argument about whether spouses or parents should be the most important relationship in our society.)
• Next, read students some excerpts from Confucius' writings about each relationship (You can find this by clicking on Lesson 1 at the link above.) Students discuss what the quote reveals about each relationship during Confucius' time.
• Finally, divide the class into groups of 3-4. Each group should be assigned 1 relationship. They must write their own version of The Analects, writing 5 "commandments" for how modern-day American people should behave in their assigned relationship. (Sample response: Husbands must respect that their wives are their emotional and intellectual equals and should ask their advice in making decisions.) Students share and discuss their commandments.