Confucian Dream | Kongzi meng

Chaoyan, a young wife and mother, discovers the ancient teachings of Confucianism and hopes they will restore balance, respect and morality to her home. She becomes a zealous convert and involves her impressionable four-year-old son in her rigorous routine of chanting daily mantras. When she proposes that Chen attend a year-round Confucian school, her husband revolts.

Mijie Li captures the change in atmosphere at home that results from Chaoyan’s alternative child-rearing, giving viewers a unique opportunity to observe an individual’s struggle for his own identity, so forcefully suppressed by the social system.

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