Wu xia pian and the Asian woman warrior

This paper challenges the assertion of Western film criticism that the Asian woman warrior is a new phenomenon. Rather, I suggest that because of its exposure to early Hollywood interpretations of the Asian woman, Western film criticism has a conventional view of Asian women, and hence this is a possible reason why the Asian woman warrior garnered interest amongst film critics. What I have done here is to provide a flashback to the presentation and treatment of women in Chinese wu xia pian or martial arts films. The purpose of this paper is to show that while Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon/Wo Hu Cang Long (2000) may have captured the imagination of Western audiences because of its strong and powerful fighting Asian women, the figure of the woman warrior in wu xia pian is not unusual or unique. Rather, she is a quintessential character in wu xia pian and Chinese psyche.