Red Cliff

The story of the Battle of Red Cliff, as it is depicted in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Red Cliff, presents some key themes in Chinese culture, including the values of Confucianism. These two representations of the Battle of Red Cliff also provide a contrasting picture of the role of women in ancient China.

The 2008 John Woo film Red Cliff accurately depicts Chinese traditions from 208 AD when the famous Battle of Red Cliff took place. Viewers get a feel for Chinese military tactics and technological advances, as well as their appreciation for art, music and living creatures. Ancient China is often compared to Rome for using its power to take over other regions. However, the Chinese were far ahead of Western Civilization when it came to technology. From the strategic tortoise formation to the use of crossbows and fire in the film, it is clear that China cleverly used their cultural and natural resources to be successful warriors. We see military leaders like Zhou Yu and Cao Cao appreciating art and music as Zhou Yu plays on his guqin and Cao Cao admires the art of serving tea. As we learned in class, the Chinese held a great respect for nature. Zhuge Liang helps deliver a foal, which Zhou yu’s wife asks never becomes a war horse. Zhuge Liang pays close attention to the weather—when a fog is coming, when the wind will change—all things that will work in their favor. All of these aspects of Chinese culture were worked into the film to portray the Chinese as a disciplined, respectful, observant civilization, and therefore offers students in both history and literature classes a depth and feeling for Chinese culture during this time.

In the film, after Liu Bei has abandoned his alliance at Red Cliff, General Zhang decides that he cannot abide by Liu Bei’s decision to back out on his word. Although he understands the Confucian idea of filial piety, he also understands that it is as important to stand up for what is right—in this case, the pledged alliance with the southerners of Wu. Confucianism says that one should do the right thing even if it means disagreeing with an elder like Liu Bei. General Zhang feels he has stayed quiet and obedient for long enough. He can no longer sit in a safe tent, away from the battlefield, while the soldiers to whom he had pledged allegiance were about to face Cao Cao’s superior forces. So General Zhang tells Liu Bei that he is going to return to Red Cliff and fight alongside the alliance, even if it costs him his life. This idea of filial piety was very important in ancient Chinese culture. Elders were greatly respected, to the point that talking back in any situation was considered disrespectful. Yet, Confucius taught that it was also very important to keep your elders accountable. This is exactly what General Zhang believes he is doing, and from my perspective his decision is the right one. In discussing Chinese philosophy, particularly Confucianism, I would show these clips for students to see what living Confucianism looks like and allow them to reflect on what they saw, share out, and then use this information in an essay we would write for a unit on Chinese civilization.

I must note, John Woo’s Red Cliff places women in very significant roles. Zhou Yu’s wife Xiao Qiao is an extremely important character. Xiao Qiao is beloved by Zhou Yu and highly valued. Of her own initiative, she goes to Cao Cao’s camp to try and dissuade him from going through with his attack. The time it takes to complete the tea ceremony and Cao Cao’s resultant sickness from the tea gives her husband’s alliance enough time to execute their plan of attack and eventually defeat Cao Cao’s superior numbers. Xiao Qiao goes to the camp despite her knowledge of Cao Cao’s attraction to her and the possible danger to herself. She is in command of her actions and acts with courage and dignity. Three Kingdoms does not even mention Zhou Yu’s wife.. Another strong woman in Red Cliff is the sister of Sun Quan, Sun Shangxiang. She defies her brother and acts as a spy in Cao Cao’s camp, providing the information that the southern alliance needs in order to make their battle plan. She also refuses to marry Liu Bei when Sun Quan tells her to do so—she even hits him. In Chinese history, this is completely unrealistic scenario. As we kinow, women did not have that much freedom or authority. In Three Kingdoms and in history, Sun Shangxiang marries Liu Bei. She is one of his three wives. Filial piety, honor, and obedience are considered admirable in Chinese women, as one of the readings form the Sourcebook, “Ban Zhao’s Admonitions for Women,” points out. Both these women are more independent and have a more vital role in the historical events than is plausible or accurate. However, John Woo’s depiction of Chinese women offers a wonderful discussion to compare and contrast women from this time to Woo’s interpretation, and to explore why Woo decided to present women this way. What was his intent? Was this a PR decision for modern day women audiences?


As a literature teacher, I would use clips of this film to give students background knowledge of this period when reading Chinese poetry and/or literature from this time period. I would stop after the tea ceremony and discuss the importance of the tea ceremony in Asian culture, and I would also contrast how women in the film are depicted as warriors with women characterized in Maxine Hong Kington’s "No Name Women."
edited by mwatt on 12/8/2012

Both gvaliulis and mwatt wrote fantastic analyses of this particular movie. I do agree with gvaliulis in that if I were a high school teacher, I wouldn't show this film in its entirety to my class due to the rated R content and the fact that it is a looooong movie. However, there are definitely clips of it I could show the kids. Red Cliff has so many "thinking points" behind it that are applicable to the classroom. It portrays Confucian and Taoist teachings and beliefs, as well as the general gist of the Chinese culture in regards to obedience, loyalty, and teamwork. Obviously, it is a mainstream movie so it can't be too accurate, but it certainly does a good job of giving the audience an idea of what ancient China was like.