ABSTRACT
China’s new day in the economic sun is clouded by a spiraling crime rate,
high unemployment, and awidening wealth gap perched over a disintegrating social safety net. In developing economies, social ills like these are often put
down to ‘‘growing pains,’’ but in China the prevailing wisdom is that most
of the pain is either caused or compounded by another problem – rampant
political corruption and the lack of strong leadership. Official vice is so
commonly accepted as the root of all evil in China today that the ancient
Confucian ideal of sage leadership is suddenly enjoying a new, therapeutic
vogue in both popular and intellectual discourses as well as in policy
debates orchestrated by the state. The current Chinese government led by Hu Jintao has been calling for the building of ‘‘a harmonious society’’ that
will carry forward Chinese cultural traditions rooted in Confucianism.
Chinese television has not missed the point. Television drama, particularly
the politically charged dynasty drama, has been articulating an anti-corruption
message, exploring options for political modernization, and echoing the call
for a Confucian revival.1 Playing to popular disaffection with China’s modern
leaders, and despair about the society’s perceived loss of moral grounding,
these dramas offer exemplary emperors of bygone dynasties. Yongzheng Dynasty (Yongzheng wangchao, 1999), Kangxi Dynasty (Kangxi wangchao,
2001), Qianlong Dynasty (Qianlong wangchao, 2003), Marching towards the
Republic (zouxiang gonghe, 2003), and The Great Emperor Hanwu (hanwu
dadi, 2004) among others, featured emperors and patriots struggling against
internal corruption and social injustice as well as external threats.
