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Daoism in Kung Fu Panda

The document discusses how the film Kung Fu Panda portrays aspects of Taoism and contrasts it with Confucianism. It notes how Po neglects his father's wishes in order to follow his dream of kung fu, exemplifying the Taoist value of following one's own path. It also describes how the character Oogway embodies Taoist ideals through his gentle, go-with-the-flow nature. Finally, it discusses how the yin and yang dynamic of light and dark is represented through Po and the antagonist Tai Lung.

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Rene Mercado
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248 views1 page

Daoism in Kung Fu Panda

The document discusses how the film Kung Fu Panda portrays aspects of Taoism and contrasts it with Confucianism. It notes how Po neglects his father's wishes in order to follow his dream of kung fu, exemplifying the Taoist value of following one's own path. It also describes how the character Oogway embodies Taoist ideals through his gentle, go-with-the-flow nature. Finally, it discusses how the yin and yang dynamic of light and dark is represented through Po and the antagonist Tai Lung.

Uploaded by

Rene Mercado
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MERCADO, Rene Ricardo A.

Ethics
2M4 Reflection Paper: Daoism
The film primarily is based on Asian culture specifically from China where
the three leading practices are Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. These three
are also called religions since it is primarily based on a specific belief of everyone.
The movie Kung Fu Panda tackles all the aforementioned religions but it the
contradiction of Taoism and Confucianism is highly present. The said contradiction
of principles can already be seen in the early part of the film where Po shared to his
dad that he had a vision where Mr. Ping assumed that it was his “noodle dream”
where in he believed it is the sign for Po to continue the family legacy of managing
their noodle shop. This specific scenario shows the presence of Confucianism to the
film where it is taught that we must follow our parents and do everything to make
them happy however Po contradicts to follow his dreams hence the start of the battle
between Confucianism and Taoism. Throughout the entire film many characters
showed the values of Taoism such as Po, Oogway, and Tai Lung.

As stated above, Po neglects his fathers’ path for him and follows his Dai
which is Kung Fu despite being locked out of the castle due to his tardiness he still
managed to find a way to be chosen as the dragon warrior which is considered his
destiny. Since he was “accidentally” chosen the furious five and Master Shifu
despised him however he didn’t give up despite how he was treated by his peers
since he believed that this is his destiny, the path he chose to create. Regular means
of training wasn’t effective on him but rather the help of his love for food and
dedication he proved that the impossible can be made possible if you are properly
guided.

The next character that exemplified Daoist concept is Oogway, basically on


how his character was portrayed. When he has first introduced, we the viewers
already knew that Oogway is a kind and gentle person, the one that goes with the
flow he even said that there are no accidents, but it is destiny. His go with the flow
attitude shows Daoist concept of being one with nature which he fully achieved when
he dissolved with the peach leaves after hearing the news about Tai Lung and
entrusted the faith of the Village to Po with the guidance of Master Shifu.

Lastly is the concept of yin and yang where there is always a perfect balance
of light and dark, good and evil since one cannot exist without the other. This is
perfectly represented by Tai Lung where his chosen path is darkness and power
complementing Po which we can consider the light and values love. Tai lung being
the antagonist was enraged with the news that a dragon warrior was chosen which
he believed should be him resulting to the attack of the village.

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