Visioni dell'Oriente del confucianesimo televisivo

The concepts of Orient and Occident are characterised by a history and a tradition of thought. Like images in the mirrors, these ideas are meaningful only when compared with each other. This paper draws the ‘portrait of Orient’ by examining two types of Chinese drama series: series about transnational families, featuring interactions between Chinese and non-Chinese cultures; and series which captured the imagination of audiences in China. The television’s fictional products depict the Chinese perception of the Orient as a contemporary revival of traditional values and practices. The core value of this Orient is the supremacy of collective interest, a concept inherently in contrast with a West that worships the individual above all. The part of humanity capable of appreciating the nobility of these values can slip down easily into this cultural “East”, understood as Tianxia, the ancient Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of noble men.