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National feelings in The Wandering Earth

The Wandering Earth(Chinese:流浪地球) is a 2019 Chinese 3D science fiction film directed by Frant Gwo, loosely based on Liu Cixin's 2000 novel The Wandering Earth. The film was released in Chinese theaters on February 5, 2019. It is a post-apocalyptic disaster film that follows the story of humanity as it searches for a new home, from the perspective of the hero's family.

In the movie, the protagonist Liu Qi and his sister Han Duoduo stole his grandfather's cargo truck to go out to hangout on the eve of Chinese New Year. After being stopped and checked on the way, Liu Qi and Han Duoduo were imprisoned in the police station, and they met Tim in the next cell. However, not long after grandpa came after hearing the news, an emergency occurred. Due to Jupiter's gravitational spike effect, the Earth Engines suffered a global failure. Humans need to restart all faulty generators within 36 hours to avoid the collision with Jupiter. This is a great rescue for the survival of all human beings on earth. All the moving vehicles have a common purpose at this moment, transporting Lighter Core to restart the engine. After being forcibly recruited to join the transport team, Liu Qi went through all kinds of life and death. From the initial refusal to the final active participation, his growth experience shows a traditional Chinese concept: home and country feelings(Chinese:家国情怀). A kind of national identity which combines the love for one's family and for the people who share the same culture.

The film raises public debate on the definition and understanding of Chinese nationalism. It is hard to define Nationalism. According to Liu, nationalism may include a sense of belonging, a sense of collective identity, and a sense of loyalty to the nation (Liu, 2019). Therefore, to understand Chinese nationalism, one must first understand how Chinese people construct and identify themselves through these three concepts.

In modern China, "minzu came to denote a genealogical group with a racial connotation (Bulag, 2019)." This is clearly distinct from the original meaning of nation, i.e., the commoner class as opposed to the aristocracy(Bulag, 2019). In addition, China introduced a brand new concept of "minority" as opposed to the Han Chinese, who made up the majority of the population of China. Through the nationality identification project, the 56 ethnic groups that make up China were identified, and the different administrative levels and territorial autonomy of the ethnic groups were recognized based on four criteria: common territory, common economy, common language, and common culture, and as a nation, China defined itself as a unified multi-ethnic state, thus greatly enhancing the sense of belonging and collective sense of identity (Bulag, 2019). Thus, the essence of Chinese nationalism is an ideology that emphasizes multi-ethnic or group identification with the same culture and traditions, downplaying the notions of characteristic nations and races.

Base on the context of this sci-fi movie, the country or national is ambiguous concept, "home"refers to the individuals, and the "country" here refers to the Earth. Wang Yichuan, Dean of the School of Art, Peking University stated, "The film got rid of the paradigm of escaping from the earth dominated by American sci-fi films, and created a new paradigm of wandering the earth, reflecting the deep feelings for the earth home. This paradigm can be said to be rooted in the deep cultural tradition of the Chinese nation, inheriting the tradition of defending one's own homeland represented by the myths of Yugong moving mountains and Jingwei reclaiming the sea, and embodies a unique imagination of Chinese cultural traditions for the future world of science fiction propositions and solutions"(Guancha Syndicate, 2019). The Chinese cultural atmosphere rendered in the film is very strong, including the lion dance on the New Year's Eve, the couplet of the Spring Festival, and the mahjong played by the surrounding residents. These are both familiar and unfamiliar to us today's settings, and put the story's narrative background of the story placed in the context of a post-apocalyptic China that has experienced wind and frost. Although it is an apocalyptic world full of science fiction, the Chinese have not changed nor forgotten their traditions.

Liu Qi and his party participated in the process of being a common destiny for mankind. He can choose to leave or give up, but for the future of the earth and the future of mankind, he and his companions still choose to hold on to hope, even if the AI diagnosis results that proposal is an invalid plan, they also decide to do the last fight. Not all the people who worked for the rescue in this film returned safely. Some died while escorting Lighter Core, some died in the old database, and some died on the space station. They plan, mobilize, and actually operate. No one cares about personal gains and losses, and they show up their home and country feelings as Chinese people.

The Wandering Earth as a science fiction film set in the genre of doomsday disaster, people need to find a way to live, the spirit of the Chinese nation, from the protagonist's family as a starting point, the story and spirit of the protagonist's family is the attitude and spirit of the entire country in the face of the doomsday crisis, there are sacrifices, there are risks, Liu Peiqiang abandoned his children righteously to work on the space station for the future of all mankind and his own family, the elderly grandfather on Earth with the young man also grows up with the development of the story, showing the responsibility and commitment that a Chinese person should have. The sacrifice and dedication of various rescue workers throughout the story, never give up, never give up, in the face of the threat of death, the righteousness of the Chinese nation's responsibility and commitment. Thus, The Wandering Earth begins with a family's wandering story, and slowly connects the characters in the film with the country and the fate of all mankind. China, the fate of all mankind is just like everything this family has endured. A small family is everyone, is a nation, is the country, is all mankind, the family and the country are isomorphic, and they share life and death.