The Filial Piety Complex

The Oedipus complex is central to Western tradition, but not to Chinese culture. Occurrence of oedipal themes in Chinese literature is almost negligible. This phenomenon seems to support a contra-Freud claim: that a theory of European origin, the Oedipus complex, is not universal to human experience in non-Western cultures. However, this article suggests that powerful moral repression may cause the Oedipus complex to undergo structural transformations in some cultures. Through studying a sample of Chinese literary and film representations, the author argues that the Oedipus complex in Chinese culture has been transformed into a filial piety complex. Some conceptual issues are considered from a cross-cultural perspective

Art · China · Chinese culture · Epistemology · Filial piety · Oedipus complex · Perspective (graphical) · Phenomenon · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Sociology · Theme (computing) · Gender Studies · History · Japanese History and Culture · Literary Theory and Cultural Hermeneutics · Philosophy · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Psychology

• Ufanano wa Mtoto wa Laana Kumuua Babaye katika Nyakiiru Kibi na Mfalme Edipode

  Angelus Mnenuka•Utafiti•2023

  Incluir item

• Oedipal Complexes, Oedipal Schemas

  Warren S Poland•American imago•2007

  Incluir item

• Deleuze and Guattari's Despotic and Capitalist Social Machines in Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern

  Open Access•Richard Letteri•Modern Chinese Literature and…•2026

  Incluir item

• Tales of the triangle. Thoughts on essentials of psychoanalysis across cultures

  Tomas Plaenkers•The International Journal of…•2025

  Incluir item

• Obstacles to Oedipal Passion

  Open Access•Nancy Kulish•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•2011

  Incluir item

• Psychoanalysis in China

  Open Access•David E Scharff•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•2016

  Incluir item

• Racial Identities, Racial Enactments, and Normative Unconscious Processes

  Open Access•Lynne Layton•The Psychoanalytic Quarterly•2006

  Incluir item

• Oedipality and oedipal complexes reconsidered

  Barnaby B Barratt•The International Journal of…•2019

  Incluir item

• Splits in the fabric

  Francisco J González, Lee Slome•The International Journal of…•2024

  Incluir item

• The interpretation of dreams.

  Sigmund Freud, Joyce Crick et al.•The interpretation of dreams•1913

  Incluir item

• The Reproduction of Mothering

  Nancy J Chodorow, Nancy Chodorow et al.•Reproduction of Mothering•1978

  Incluir item

• Primitive passions

  Rey Chow•Primitive passions•1995

  Incluir item

• The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature

  Richard B Mather, Victor H Mair•Chinese Literature Essays…•1997

  Incluir item

• Third-World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism

  Fredric Jameson•Social Text•1986

  Incluir item

• Third-World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism

  Fredric Jameson•Postcolonial Studies Dictionary•2016

  Incluir item

• Americans and Chinese

  Francis L K Hsu, Henry Steele Commager et al.•Americans and Chinese•1981

  Incluir item

• Lhstas Efaske

  Sandor Goodhart•diacritics•1978

  Incluir item

• Oedipus Ubiquitous

  Douglas Cairns, Allen W Johnson et al.•Classics Ireland•1999

  Incluir item

• Anti-Oedipus

  Hernan Vera, Gilles Deleuze et al.•Contemporary Sociology A Journal…•1978

  Incluir item

• Sunflower Splendor

  Burton Raffel, Liu Wu-Chi et al.•Books Abroad•1976

  Incluir item

• Anti-Oedipus

  Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze•Anti-Oedipus•1983

  Incluir item

• The Reception of Freudianism in Modern Chinese Literature

  Open Access•Wang Ning, Wang Ning Wang Ning•China Information•1991

  Incluir item

• A History of Modern Chinese Fiction

  Chauncey S Goodrich, C T Hsia•Journal of the American Oriental…•1972

  Incluir item

• The Reception of Freudianism in Modern Chinese Literature

  Open Access•Wang Ning•China Information•1991

  Incluir item

• Sunflower Splendor. Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry

  Wayne Schlepp, Wu-Chi Liu et al.•Pacific Affairs•1976

  Incluir item