An interstellar exploration anchored in the yellow earth: viewing The Wandering Earth film series from a confucian perspective

With the revival of traditional values characteristic of Confucianism in contemporary China, this paper proposes that the land attachment trope, heavy-industry style, and human-oriented theme manifested in The Wandering Earth film series implicate Confucianism as the fountainhead of its adaptation from Liu Cixin’s novella The Wandering Earth. The film series’ title, plot, and even the protagonist’s name demonstrate the Chinese people’s strong sense of belonging to the Earth, known as land attachment, which has long been embedded in Chinese farming civilisation. Such land attachment connects peoples’ ultimate hope with their homes. When family bonds and national borders diminish, homes are extended to the cosmopolitan concern of the whole human world according to Confucian morality. Meanwhile, humans have been reiterated as a top priority in making difficult decisions in film plots, as humanity takes the first place among the five constant virtues of Confucianism. Regarding science and technology, Confucianism always remains controversial. However, its undeniable emphasis on things in the world justifies the adoption of the heavy-industry style in the film’s worldbuilding and the distrust of artificial intelligence in the film plot. Overall, this film adaptation is a Confucianist version of an interstellar exploration and a Confucianist interpretation of Liu’s macroscopic sci-fi narrative.