The so-called "ethics" is defined as "ethics is one of the social ideologies, which is the sum of the norms of behavior that a certain society adjusts the relationship between people and between individuals and society" by the Chinese Word Dictionary, known as the "State of Etiquette and Righteousness", has always attached great importance to ethics, and some scholars have pointed out that Chinese philosophy "does not insist on exploring the origin of everything in the world in the first place, not seek too much for one's own pleasure, while with its unique spirit, to explore the meaning and value of life, to explore the important role of morality in the development of human society" (Guojie 2010), showing an ethical-based orientation. In quite a long historical period, although intertwined with philosophy, religion, literature and other ideas, ethical concepts have not formed an independent system, and the profound and rich classical ethical theories left by the ancient sages have become inexhaustible valuable cultural resources for future generations.

Chinese films have emphasized "Carrying the Tao with literature", highlighting ethical consciousness and strengthening the function of indoctrination, and some scholars have pointed out: "Compared with the ontological form of film, the social function of film is much accounted of" (Keyang 2004), and "The fullness of moral consciousness or spirit in Chinese films can be said to be the most prominent feature" (Keyang 2018). However, as an emerging genre film, fantasy film is also a surreal, supernatural fictional text, and its ethical concepts and cultural values are rarely discussed. Fantasy films have their special ethical research value, mainly in the following aspects:

First of all, most fantasy films are adapted from well-known classical texts, which contain many traditional ethical concepts with national characteristics, such as benevolence, loyalty and filial piety, and humanism. From the perspective of cultural studies, tradition is continuous and coherent, and plays an important role in constructing current culture. As Mr. Li Zehou pointed out, "Since tradition exists in living reality, rather than some superficial ideological clothing, it is not something outside the body that you can throw away and preserve as you like" (Zehou 1987). Fantasy films provide us with samples to preserve traditional values. By analyzing the film's text, it is possible to explore the presentation of ethical traditions in films and how these traditions have been modernized. Secondly, the box office success of many fantasy films means that their ethical concepts have been recognized by the current audience, which is in line with a certain psychological structure of modern society—the reason why the film leads the audience into the theater proves that the film has a cultural psychological and emotional appeal. Therefore, the study of the ethical concept of fantasy films has important value for examining the moral value orientation in today's society.

One: human relations

In traditional Chinese ethics, the most central feature is the emphasis on human relations. To a certain extent, traditional Chinese ethics is the study of the theory of "human ethics", that is, the exploration of human relations, human order and human ethics on the basis of the ethics of groupist. For Chinese films, human relations is an important internal structural law, which is also an important means of constituting dramatic conflicts and shaping the image of characters, as some scholars have indicated, "abiding by the common feelings of human ethics to construct the emotional world and using human emotions to praise and depreciate judgments has become a common emotional support point in Chinese films" (Xing 2004). In the fantasy films of the new century, human relations is one of the most common themes, and has become the starting point and foothold of many film narratives, such as the father-son relation in "Monster Hunt" and "Monster Hunt 2", the conjugal relations in "Painted Skin" and "It’s Love", the friendships in "Mojin-The Lost Legend" and "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings", and the master-apprentice relations in "The Monkey King 2" and "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons". In terms of specific expression methods and value orientation, the following characteristics are mainly presented:

(One) The "Nonhuman" Human Relations

In the view of the ancient sages, whether knowing the concept of human relations is one of the important criteria that distinguish between human beings and animals, as well as plants. According to "Mencius·T’eng Wen Kung (part one)": "Men living idly without being taught become almost like the beasts. This was a subject of anxious solicitude to the sage Shun, and he appointed Xie to be the Minister of Instruction, to teach the relations of humanity"; According to the "Guanzi·Baguan", "A king turning his back on his humanity and acting in a beastly manner, the country will demise in ten years." In many fantasy films, the main body of the narrative is precisely the non-human alien such as gods and demons, and the category of humanity has been expanded. There has also been an ethical relationship between man and demon, man and god, which give rise to various special plot interests.

On the one hand, in the fantasy context of "gods and demons are humane, and the demons and monsters are also sophisticated", these non-human characters possess some qualities of human, are involved in various emotional and ethical entanglements, and in some situations, they are even more affectionate and amorous than humans; In contrast, human beings as one part of human relations do not regard them as aliens, and treat each other as equals and return them with warm and sincere emotions. For example, in the film "Monster Hunt", the little demon king Wuba is cute outside and pure inside, forming a strange and warm family of three with the monster hunter Song Tianyin and Huo Xiaolan. Since demons are born with the instinct of cannibalism, Wuba feeds on the blood of his "father" Tianyin, who willingly makes sacrifices. The seemingly extreme plot setting is not obtrusive because of the high hypothetical and surreal nature of the fantasy film, instead, shows the intimate feelings between the humans and demons that transcend races. Afterwards, under the guidance of the two humans, Wuba gradually realized the evil of "cannibalism", and tried to suppress its nature, like a well-behaved young child who obeyed his parents' teachings and corrected his mistakes, reflecting a kind of fatherly and child-filial piety, harmonious and warm human relations. In the film "It’s Love", the white snake Susu married Xu Xian and ran the affairs of the medical center, and when the local people were poisoned, she injected her century-old Taoist deeds into the medicinal soup to help Xu Xian save people. The two embody a like-minded partnership. As the plot progresses, the white snake accidentally reveals its original form, instead of showing fear or disgust, Xu Xian is deeply worried about its safety, risking his life to steal the immortal grass to save her life. The combination between the humans and demons in the film shows a sincere emotion that does not abandon and is not shaken by danger. In the film "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back", even the demons and ghosts attach importance to their role in human relations, and regard it as a necessary condition for becoming human beings. For example, when Xiaoshann, the White Bone Demon, is suspected of being a demon, she refuted that she has a harmonious big family the so-called family members are all illusions of magically transformation, both to deceive others and to comfort herself and make her forget the sad identity of the lone ghost. When Sun Wukong beats her "families" to death, Xiao Shan shows strong pain for she has injected real emotions into these false human relations.

On the other hand, due to the special identity, non-human characters are mostly relatively natural and uneducated, and their attitude towards human relations often has an adaptation process from non-acceptance to acceptance, and shows resistance to unequal relations in traditional ethics. On account of the emphasis on the moral norms of "filial piety" and "loyalty", the traditional Chinese human relations embodies the feature of the hierarchy of rank and inferiority, except for friend relations, all other human relations polarize to two ends, of which one controls power and makes rules, the other remains obedient and conscientious, and its personality and freedom are suppressed. Take “Journey to the West” as an example. In the original novel, the master-apprentice relations is of a strict and hierarchical nature. When Monk Tang gets spells and gold hoses from Avalokitesvara, it is equivalent to getting tools to tame the lower class from the higher class, and Sun Wukong also treats Monk Tang with respect and obedience to a large extent. However, in the adaptation of “Journey to the West” in the new century, the relationship between the four masters and apprentices has become more equalised, and Sun Wukong's revolt against the master-apprentice relationship and the meaning of obedience symbolized by the "golden hoop" was also intensified. For example, in the film “Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back”, Sun Wukong is not convinced by Xuanzang's teachings, and even works with Zhu Bajie and others to try to bring down him. Xuanzang also has a hatred for Sun Wukong, often beating or abusing him, and willfully driving him to hurt the dignity of his disciples. After several intense conflicts, both of them finally opened their hearts, did their introspection, and decided to get along in a more honest and equal way. The relationship between the two men is more like friends than mentors. In the film "The Monkey King 2", Monk Tang is very gentle and never applies his identity as a master or his magic power to restrain others. He gradually moves the unruly Sun Wukong with his sincerity, making him change his attitude from contempt to respect, and finally becomes his real apprentice. In a word, the Monkey King in the fantasy film is no longer automatically brought into the human relations between the master and the apprentice because he wears the gold hoop as in the original work. Instead, he follows his judgment and gradually accepts a new mission and identity, reflecting a more modern and independent concept of human relations.

(Two) Human Relations against the Will of Heaven

Chinese literary and artistic creation has always upheld the aesthetic tradition of "main feeling", whether it is family affection, friendship or love, human emotions are always the most common themes in Chinese fantasy films, which is significantly different from the personal adventure and justice versus evil often expressed in Western fantasy films. However, in Chinese fantasy films, emotions contained in human relations often face the oppression and impact of a powerful force, which is "providence".

The concept of "providence" has a long cultural tradition. As early as ancient times, "heaven" was regarded as the absolute power that dominates everything, and the idea of induction between heaven and man has been passed down for a long time. The philosopher Dong Zhongshu of the Western Han Dynasty especially preached the concepts of "providence", "heavenly principles", "heaven-human induction", "heaven-human harmony", believing that all power in the human world comes from the will of heaven, and establishing a mystical religious ethics of "innate moral theory". Of course, this concept is not the mainstream of traditional Chinese thought, and many ancient philosophers did not equate heaven with the anthropomorphic God, on the contrary, they believed that "the order between heaven and human and the order between human beings work in concert with each other, and there is no arbitrary judgment of divine will" (Hsu 2016), but the discourse of "providence" still has a broad and far-reaching impact, and when encountering unsolvable disasters or difficulties, people pin their hopes on this force that transcends nature and society, or the emperor and the god, or the Buddha and Avalokiteshvara, or any other spokesman for any other kind of "providence".

In fantasy films, "providence" is often described as a negative power, such as an irreversible fate, hierarchical order, ruthless reincarnation and arbitrary gods, which are kind and authoritative forces on the surface, but play negative roles in blocking and breaking up human relations. For example, in the film "The Promise", Michèle Cournoyer is the spokesman of the impermanent world, cruelly playing the fate of Qing Cheng and Kun Lun; in the film film "A Chinese Odyssey to the West 3", the Book of Heaven written by the Jade Emperor decides all the world, while due to the error of the Book of Heaven, the Jade Emperor used conspiratorial means to revise it, resulting in a series of tragedies; in the film "Painted Skin 2", Xiao Wei saves Wang Sheng's life with a demon spirit, but was relegated to the cold hell for breaking the "rules" of the demon world. Generally speaking, this so-called divine will, the order of the world, and karma all become objects of resistance in the film because they destroy human 2 relations.

From an ethical point of view, this actually reflects the repression of human nature by a backward religious moral thought. The so-called religious moral thought, in Mr. Zhang Dainian’s opinion, is the opposite of humanistic ethical thought, "to lead morality from the will of heaven or God, or to strengthen the authority of the ruling class morality over the people by repaying the cycle of birth and death with misfortune and happiness" (Dainian 2018a), characterized by "describing morality as God's instructions, as the embodiment of God's will, with the so-called 'providence' and 'Those who is unmoved by sight will be blessed, and those who commit adultery will suffer' as the pillars of the ruling class's morality, propagating that people must obey God's will and accept God's orders to carry out the morality they propagate" (Dainian 2018b). A Preliminary Study on the Development Law of Chinese Ethical Thought. A Study of Chinese Ethical Thought[M]. Beijing: Zhonghua Bookstore.2018:30.] In the process of the development of Chinese ethics, this struggle between religious moral thought and humanistic thought has existed for a long time, and fantasy films are presented through narrative plots and themes, and the viewpoint criticizes the former's point of view, showing a modern, humanistic value concept—ethics is neither derived from the will of any god, nor is it a means of praying for the blessing of Providence, but depends on the relationship between the human world, which is completely dominated by human beings themselves.

Therefore, in the narrative of the fantasy film, although the confrontation between humanity and "providence" is huge in strength and the process is tortuous, the final winner is always the human emotion. For example, at the end of the film "The Promise", Kun Lun returned to the past at a speed that turned time back and rewrote the tragic fate; At the end of the film "Mural", everyone banded together and stood united against the tyranny of the Aunt, in exchange for a new order of equality and freedom; At the end of the film "Painted Skin 2", Xiao Wei sacrificed herself to save Princess Jing, and finally the demon spirit and the human body integrated to achieve the happy ending of "sharing one life". This kind of treatment not only satisfies the audience's psychological expectations for the reunion ending, but also reflects the surreal and hyperlogical characteristics of the fantasy film that the weak can win the strong, and "love can overcome everything", reflecting a humanistic concept that emotion exceeds reason, and humanity exceeds power.

Two: the concept of "Benevolence"

Since its inception, Chinese film has paid attention to the educational function of social improvement, continuing the creative tendency of humanism, "whether from the theme, or the judgment of intention and value, selecting ethics or morality as one of its basic choices" (Keyang 2018), with "benevolence" as the core spirit of this ethics and morality.

"Benevolence" is one of the most important concepts in traditional Chinese ethical thought, the criterion for dealing with the relationship between self and other, and has become the core of moral values since Confucius and Mencius. Confucius believed that the central idea of benevolence was "loving others", emphasizing a selfless spirit of sacrificing oneself and loving others, that is, "the benevolent man will accomplish others before accomplishing himself, and will manifest others before manifesting himself", to treat others as yourself, and to put yourself in the shoes of others to understand the desires of others. After that, Mencius put forward the view that "Benevolence is the principle of being a man", believing that benevolence is the inner essence of man, and a natural compassion. In addition, another extended meaning of benevolence is kindness and forgiveness, which is inseparable from the religious ethics of Buddha, Tao, etc. Religion originally pursued enlightenment and retreat, but with the development of the times, it gradually showed a trend of secularization, as Mr. Xu Qiuyun pointed out, "from the exposition of theory to piety and practice, from the search for being above worldly considerations to the rescue and support of the world" (Qiuyun 2018).

(One) The Benevolent Loves Others: arrangement of benevolence in films.

Throughout Chinese fantasy films, benevolence is often the core value and the basic behavior principle of the characters. In a sense, the heroes in films may be incapable, may be coward, and may don’t possess various advantages, but they can never lack one thing, that is the quality of benevolence.

Due to the narrative requirement of "fall-rise pattern", the protagonist is usually in a weak or difficult situation when he appears on the scene, with the only thing he has: a benevolent heart. As the story unfolds, when the protagonist is faced with one difficult choice after another, the philosophy of benevolence often supports his choice, and drives the plot development and the escalation of the relationship between the characters like a catalyst. For example, in the film "The Promise", Kun Lun was originally a low-status slave, who witnessed the king's atrocities against Qing Cheng when he was ordered to serve the king, out of compassion, he killed the king to save Qing Cheng, and later jumped off the cliff to protect Qing Cheng after being pursued by soldiers… In the illusory and indifferent world of infinity, Kun Lun's benevolence made him nobler than those high-ranking kings, generals, and dukes. With moral deeds again and again, he finally changed the rules of this cold world of "the universe is unconscious; it regards everyone as insignificant", saving the tragic fate of Qing Cheng.

Benevolence is not only a necessary quality for the film's protagonist, but also a basic fulcrum of the structural narrative. "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is one of the more in-depth discussions of benevolence in Chinese fantasy films. The protagonist Chen Xuanzang is feeble but concerned about people in the whole world. Although he is in love with Miss Duan, he has decided to suppress the feelings in his heart because of his pursuit of the realm of "great love", and was in pain until Miss Duan died for saving him, and then enlightened and said: "The love of men and women is also contained in the so-called great love, and the love of all beings is love, there is no distinction between big and small." Only when there has been suffering can we know the true suffering of sentient beings, and only when we have persistence can we let go of persistence, and only when we have had attachments can we let go of attachments, and then have no worries." In essence, behind Chen Xuanzang's original entangled psychology was the contradiction between religious ethics and secular ethics, the contradiction between detachment and sentient beings, and the contradiction between loving the world and loving one person, but from the Confucian point of view, this contradiction actually does not exist, because "the cultivation of benevolence should start from filial piety to parents", benevolence should start from oneself to others, from the near to the distant, and small love is the only way to great love, which is also the central idea of Xuanzang's final understanding.

In fantasy films, benevolence is given not only to the weak and commoners, but also to the prejudiced aliens, which provides the ethics of films with modern ethical values such as equality and fraternity along with traditional idea of benevolence. For example, in the film "Monster Hunt", Song Tianyin found that his childhood playmate Xiao Wu was actually a demon in human skin, and he still came to his aid after a fierce ideological struggle; In the film "A Chinese Fairy Tale", Ning Caichen knows that Xiao Qian is a demon, but didn’t change his love for her, etc. In these films, benevolence is not only a salvation, but also an acceptance and understanding.

It is worth mentioning that the concept of benevolence in fantasy films is often conveyed by private narration from a folk standpoint rather than a grand narrative. It is the righteous act of ordinary people, rather than the charity from above. Those authoritative orders, hierarchical barriers, etc., on the contrary, stand on the opposite side of benevolence. The protagonists of fantasy films often do not regard themselves as saviors, and their benevolence is embodied by the kindness and compassion of human nature. With limited power, they are still committed to the act of benevolence, because benevolence needs neither the premise nor the reason. In the process, their benevolence touched more people and finally won the victory.

(Two) The Benevolent is Invincible: the Bridge of Dualistic Narrative.

The identity of genre films determines that fantasy films must have a concise and clear narrative mode, and cannot carry too much complex and ambiguous information to hinder the audience's recognition of the content of the film. As mentioned earlier, one of the most common plot patterns in fantasy films is the battle between right and evil for a certain force/goal, completing the narrative in a simple and effective dualism structure. In Western fantasy films, there is often a clear demarcation between the two sides, of which justice is pure justice and evil is the ultimate evil, and the ending points to the destruction of evil by justice. In contrast, the binary opposition in Chinese fantasy films is not so complete, as if yin and yang are born of tai chi diagrams, although the two are separated, there is a trend of mutual integration and transformation. As some scholars have pointed out: "a basic principle of Chinese narrative: opposites can be co-constructed, and dissenters can be the same… This is the aesthetic pursuit and philosophical realm of China's so-called 'neutralization'. Neutralizing inside and polarizing outside is the unspoken rule of the depths of many Chinese narrative principles." (Yi 1998) From an ethical point of view, the key factor in bridging binary opposition is "benevolence."

First of all, benevolence increases the sense of depth of the characters and the complexity of human nature, so that the audience is aware of the idea of benevolence and compassion that naturally exists in everyone. Taking the film "The Legend of the Demon Cat" as an example: the young Bailong turned into evil, which was originally a complete negative image, still has a tragic side described in the film- he still maintained infinite and unswerving affection for his lover until his death. In the shaping of the character, the most subtle part is that Bailong witnessed the poison produced by venomous insects on the senior concubine's body and realized that he needed to use a piece of raw meat to lure out the poisonous insects, while the only living creatures in the cave are him and the cat. Bailong looked at the cat and seemed ready to attack the cat—after all, the death of an animal is nothing compared to the life of his lover—but surprisingly, he hesitated for a moment and finally gave up the idea and chose to sacrifice his own body. This tense detail put the audience in Bailong’s position to feel his pain, struggle and compassion, breaking through the simple opposition between good and evil, more profoundly showing the complex connotation of human nature, and also reflecting the valuable meaning of "benevolence".

Secondly, benevolence bridges the difference between the opposing sides, so that the evil side is forgiven and influenced by the good side. Different from the clear-cut concept of good and evil in Western culture, evil in Chinese culture is relatively ambiguous. Some scholars have pointed out, "In Chinese religious culture, evil incarnations similar to Satan in Christianity do not exist. Good forces and evil forces are not quite distinct from each other in the imaginary God world of Chinese people (Zhiying and Dao 2018)." Therefore, in Chinese fantasy films, Gods can do evil, demons can turn to good, and the plot of converting evil to righteousness and abandoning the dark and turning to the light also occurs from time to time. To be specific, while describing the evil deeds of demons, many films also reveal the secret behind their evil deeds, reducing them from the "demonized" abnormity to the congener, and finally eliminating them on the psychological level, rather than on the physical level. For example, in the film "The Monkey King 2", when the White Bone Demon is about to be destroyed, Monk Tang decided to convert it at the cost of his life because that "I originally thought that the purpose of converting living beings is to educate them, but now I know that if I don't go to hell, even if I go to the Great Leyin Temple, I can't get the true sutra", showing that Monk Tang didn’t regard the demons as evil forces to be eliminated, but as a member of the suffering beings in the world. This exactly reflects the true meaning of "benevolence" in Mahayana Buddhism, which Monk Tang wanted to take as the true sutra: "If there is no liberation of the majority of living beings, there is no real liberation of individuals. Only by achieving liberation for all living beings can we achieve complete liberation for ourselves (Dongming 2006)."

However, it is worth noting that the excessive emphasis on "benevolence" can sometimes lead to the film falling into a trap and nothingness. On the one hand, when "the benevolent is invincible" becomes a default law, and "benevolent love" becomes the panacea that solves all problems, the suspense and tension of the narrative will be inevitably reduced, and the complexity and openness of the characters and the story will also be dissolved. On the other hand, many films, in order to avoid creating a facial, homogenized villain, show too much of the sympathetic side of the villain, resulting in a new homogenization. The weakening of evil makes its conflict with good empty and superficial, weakening the strength of criticism.

Conclusion

From the traditional society to modern society, ethics and value benchmarks have changed greatly, but still deeply and widely exist in people's daily life. In Chinese fantasy films, traditional ethical concepts such as benevolence, loyalty and filial piety, humanism, etc. are presented in a comprehensive way and have also been interpreted in a modern way, making them more conform to the psychological structure of modern audiences. The distinct ethical concept and profound cultural connection undoubtedly constitute one of the unique charms of Chinese fantasy films. How to explore local resources and combine ethical concepts with film narrative more deeply and vividly should become the focus of fantasy film creation in the future.