Action in tranquillity: Sketching martial ideation in The Grandmaster

Abstract

This article argues that the concept of wuyi 武意 (‘martial ideation’) forms the aesthetic core of kung fu cinema. Rather than focusing on the expressive amplification of emotion, martial ideation negotiates action and stasis through stabilization and eventually reaches a state of tranquillity. In The Grandmaster (Wong, 2013), such an ideational experience is sketched through the Buddhist notion of guan 觀 (‘perspicaciousness’). Perspicaciousness is embodied by three ways of ‘seeing’ in the mise-en-scène, including ‘listening bridge’ in martial arts performance, ‘looking back’ in narrative structure and ‘visioning’ in theme. In this light, Wong’s kung fu debut treats the southern hand-to-hand combat tradition not as a spectacle, but as an embodied knowledge that links kung fu practice with Chinese aesthetics and philosophy.

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“…Ideation ( yi ) has been a foundational concept in Chinese literary-aesthetic criticism since its original theorization in the pre-Qin (ca. 2100-221 BCE) period (Wong, 2018, pp. 202-207).…”

“… 3. On the Buddhist configuration of martial ideation in Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster (2013) via the concept of guan (觀), or perspicacity, see Wong (2018). …”

“…In this article, I consider them as equivalent terms to facilitate the discussion that follows. For the translation of Wang’s passage on his theorization of ideation, see Wong (2018, pp. 203-207).…”