Confucian heroes in popular Asian dramasEmerging from this tried-and-true narrative scheme is the shows’ willingness to allow urban
protagonists to uphold a moral compass that gives “righteous” leaders a surveillance privilege,
monitoring others from above with hidden cameras, cell phones, telescopes, and other stealth
devices. We may characterize this unfettered privilege, to quote from Tu Wei-ming, “the dark
side” of Confucianism, which raises questions about social and political oppression ( Dirlik 1995).
In a televised fantasy world, however, the act of spying creates a voyeuristic pleasure for the
viewers, who take on the dual roles of being spectators and protagonists, overseers and the over-
seen, often substituting one role for the other. As Mamoru Ito characterizes it, “television drama
was the most powerful medium to propose a framework for representing the world as a world
with meaning and order ...” (Ito 2004). This screen sphere hence makes explicit a symbolic
connection between the moral high ground and a lofty vantage point to celebrate the achieve-
ments of a few good men.
Gendered filiality
In his teaching Confucius treats filiality as the basis of all codified civil behaviors because it is the
building block of one’s character, family, nation, and the world (xiushen, qijia, zhiguo, pingtianxia).
While Confucian doctrines mention no sexual distinction in performing filial duties, we are to
assume that only men have the privilege to harbor political ambitions. In her study of filiality,
nature, and nurture, Lisa Raphals argues that men’s filiality, as construed in Chinese thought, is
biological, “‘genetically’ defined by lineage throughout life,” but “women’s filiality is expected
to shift to the new environment of her husband’s ancestral lineage at marriage” and there-
fore is a performance of a cultural act (Raphals 2004). Raphals examines such famous “text-
books” for women’s proper behaviors as Lienü Zhuan (“Biographies of Exemplary Women”) and
Nü Xiaojing (“Book of Female Filiality”) and finds more explicit examples for womanly virtues
than for female filiality (Raphals 2004). Her historical survey confirms that only male prota-
gonists are able to showcase their filial piety in ways that give them authority to address other
worldly matters. Study of their filiality therefore offers viewers a window into the narrative logic
of how Min-joon and Naoki become the ultimate Confucian heroes.
Their Confucianization is affirmed by gendered filial love. Fathers are better represented
than mothers, and being a pious son trumps being a loving parent. Embedded in the narratives
is unreflective dogmatism that promotes an elitist world order, one that contests Michel de
Certeau’s idea of empowering democratic everyone-ness.^20 Standing above others in the shows
are therefore inspirational heroes whose filial love is more symbolic than practical, because their
parents of significance are either dead or fake.
In Hanzawa Naoki, the tragic death of Naoki’s father changes the course of his life. Flashbacks
show Naoki as a young witness to the humiliation and suicide of his father, a formative expe-
rience that shapes his life philosophy and reinforces his determination to uncover the corrupt
banking culture. However, the series ignores his other familial duties: being a son to his widowed
mother and being a father to his invisible son. Both exist in name only. What narrative complica-
tions would there be if his widowed mother and school-aged son were to demand his attention?
Would Naoki incidentally expose his weakness as a flawed family man? Is there a special bond
between a dead father and an adult son that marginalizes other parental relations?
All of these questions have to be resolved symbolically in the plot. To justify Naoki’s obses-
sion with the past is to remind the viewer of how his father’s legacy is larger than life. The show
introduces a key symbol, a handcrafted, high-quality screw produced in the father’s failed fac-
tory that once represented the collaborative glory of Japanese industry (Figure 7b.3). Repeated
close-ups of the heirloom at moments of crisis highlight the grit and wisdom the father has