Abstract:

This article takes Ang Lee's Father Trilogy as a case study to examine the root causes of conflict and the mechanisms of reconfiguration in contemporary Chinese father-son relations. It argues that the tensions between fathers and sons depicted in the films do not stem solely from the clash between traditional and modern values, but are rooted in the structural repression of qing (affection) by the normative force of li (ritual/propriety) in Confucian ethics. When fathers, in the name of "it's for your own good", stubbornly uphold ritual demands such as patrilineal continuity and stern paternal authority, sons are caught in a constant tug-of-war between fulfilling filial obligations and pursuing self-realization. Building on the Confucian dialectic of qing and li, the article introduces the phenomenological notion of the halo of time, and shows that the repair of father-son relations is not a zero-sum game of unilateral concession. Rather, reconciliation emerges through shared memories and overlapping temporal experiences, in which the intertwining of retention, primal impression, and protention reactivates an original sense of kinship (qinqin zhi qing), thereby driving context-specific adjustments in ritual practice. However, even when fathers temporarily suspend their fixation on li and sons, through affective recognition, reconstruct their practice of filial piety, the deeper structural tension does not disappear. This is because male offspring are more tightly embedded in the pressure chain of family responsibility and thus confronted with a structural double bind in which paternal love always entails expectation, while the pursuit of freedom almost inevitably implies betraying that love. In sum, the article constructs an integrated analytical framework of qing-li-time, arguing that under conditions of loosening authority and family transformation, an affect-centered ethical logic still plays a crucial stabilizing and mediating role amid conflict. This study not only clarifies the dynamics of change in Chinese father-son relations but also provides a broadly applicable framework for understanding the emotional dynamics of kinship in cross-cultural contexts.

Key words: Ang Lee, father-son relationship, li and qing, intergenerational interaction, Father Trilogy