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202 What to Fear and How to Protect Yourself Daoism and Hong Kong Horror Movies139 A Case Study of A Chinese Ghost Story 倩女幽魂—from Golden Harvest 嘉禾 Limited Production Company [Hong Kong], produced by Tsui Hark 崔和, directed by Ching Siu Tung 程小東, and starring Leslie Cheung 張國榮, Joey Wang 王祖賢, and Wu Ma 午馬 (1987) SUZANNE CAHILL In Men, Women, and Chain Saws, Carol J. Clover argues that characters and plots in American horror films embody and act out cultural anxieties in such a way that these anxieties are resolved in a manner satisfying to a broad audience (1992). The present article argues that Hong Kong horror movies, such as the popular and critically well‑received A Chinese Ghost Story, also propose and then resolve cultural fears and conflicts. Modern critics have noted that Hong Kong cinema is full of expressions of ten‑ sion, and have traced the origins of this tension to conflicts over the res‑ toration of the colony to the PRC and to negotiations between the diverse populations that make up Hong Kong (see Tao 1997, ch. 14; Lau 2001; Zou 2004). A Chinese Ghost Story also received positive reviews and sold out theaters in Taiwan, suggesting that it speaks to the concerns of Chinese audiences beyond Hong Kong. Such concerns include fears of moderni‑ zation, globalization, and changes in cultural constructions of gender 139 This article is a revised version of a presentation I gave at the Interna‑ tional Conference on Daoist Studies held at Qingcheng shan 青城山 in 2004. I am grateful to Louis Komjathy, John and Sean McNeece, Marco L. Moskowitz, and Audrey Spiro for reading the paper and making numerous useful suggestions. Cahill, “Hong Kong Horror Movies” / 203 and social class (see Moskowitz 2004). And an article by Terrence Rafferty in The New York Times of June 8, 2003, entitled “Why Asian Ghost Stories are the Best,” argues that the East Asian horror movie is becoming a significant player in global popular culture precisely because it resonates to global insecurities and anxieties.140 Taking A Chinese Ghost Story as its main example, this article investigates the expression and mediation of anxieties in Hong Kong horror movies through elements associated with Daoism, the native higher religion of China. The rich store of beliefs and practices found in Daoism provides a means for the Hong Kong filmmaker to harmonize social contradictions. Daoism tells both filmmaker and viewer what is terrifying, dangerous, and chaotic, as well as who or what can save us. While Hong Kong filmmakers may not be Daoists, Daoism provides building blocks they can use to construct character and plot. The viewer can watch and enjoy scary movies from Hong Kong without recognizing these Daoist ele‑ ments, but awareness of such elements can deepen the viewer’s response to the experience, heighten our pleasure in the resolving of tensions, and cause us to reflect on our own beliefs about relations between the living and the dead as well as mortals and immortals. As a case study, this arti‑ cle examines recognizably Daoist elements in just one recent horror movie. Several other good movies could be analyzed in a similar fashion (see Tao 1997, ch. 14). Below, I list the main roles played by the actors in A Chinese Ghost Story, summarize the plot, and finally comment on specific Daoist beliefs, practices, assumptions, and character types in the movie. Roles Two Heroes: Ning Caichen 寧采臣, played by Leslie Cheung, is an itiner‑ ant tax collector, an innocent and naive young man with the pure heart of a child. The movie opens with him on his rounds. The other hero is the old Daoist Master Yan Dajiao 燕大佼, played by Wu Ma, a wise and powerful expert in martial arts and protective magic, currently hiding 140 I define popular culture following Chandra Mukerji and Michael Schud‑ son as “the beliefs and practices and objects through which they are organized, that are widely shared in a population” (1991, 3). 204 / Journal of Daoist Studies 4 (2011) out in a haunted Buddhist temple while preparing to save the world from the forces of evil. Mixing of Buddhist and Daoist materials, beliefs, and practices is a sub‑theme of this movie and genre. One Damsel in...

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