The World's Gaze and Desire on the Opium War

'아편전쟁'을 바라보는 세계의 시선과 욕망

It is well-known that Chinese saw themselves as the centre of the world until the early 20th century. Since the Opium War 1840, however, belong to the 'general world' the past century. The Opium War made China break away from the Sinocentric spirit. This writing(essay) examines movies from China and the World concern the historical event 'the Opium War.' It also discusses desires that are inherent in narration of each movie and how accord with the real world. The movie The Opium War(1997) directed by XieJin is a work that intended: to wash off the memory of history of disgrace and; to successfully put a disparate piece, Hong Kong, of a puzzle named China together. The Japanese movie Wànshìliúfāng(1943)and The Opium War(1943) were also made for the victory of the Pacific War. They were part of project for uniting the domestic Japan and the colonial outlands - Manchuria and Joseon - that reenacted humiliating history of China, which had been the suzerain of the East Asia The Korean movie The Opium War(1964) was not recalled due to the demand for a lesson from China's painful history, but was recreated by imitating Hong Kong, into where capitalism was transplanted through the Opium War before Korea. History is eventually recalled to the present and the histories, that each different present invokes, are recreated in respective fashion. From their plan to wash off the history of disgrace and successfully return Hong Kong to its native country, China, Japan, and Korea portrayed China, once their cultural suzerain, as impotent East Asia. From their proposition that they should resist the present enemy, the West, together, they imitated the west of the East, which lead the way to achieve modernity. Finally, from their ambition to deviate from their status as developing country, they recalled and reorganized the history, the Opium War.