Yao: Chinese Folktales《中国奇谭》- The Myth of Meritocracy

What happens when we analyze Nobody, the opening episode of Yao: Chinese Folktales, not simply as a fable about hierarchy and ambition — but as a critique of the myth of meritocracy and the naturalization of social stratification?

In this video, I examine how this contemporary Chinese animation constructs a philosophical allegory of alienation, developmental foreclosure, and the impossibility of ascent — showing how hierarchical systems reproduce themselves not just through coercion, but by making contingency appear as necessity.

Drawing on Adorno’s critique of identity thinking, Marxist theories of alienation, and the aesthetic politics of Chinese revolutionary animation, I explore how Nobody exposes the ideological function of mobility myths — and invites us to imagine solidarity beyond the hierarchy.

Chapters:
00:00 — Response to Copyright Strike
03:07 — Intro
07:45 — The Afterlife of Revolutionary Animation
10:44 — Nature’s Hierarchical Organization
16:16 — The Visual Aesthetics
18:05 — Alienation & the Denial of Recognition
20:26 — Preventing Alternative Developmental Paths
23:16 — The Myth of Meritocracy
26:48 — Consciousness Transformation
31:51 — Contingency & Transformative Possibility

#yaochinesefolktales #criticaltheory #meritocracy #adorno #marxism #中国奇谭

📚 Recommended Reading:
Theodor W. Adorno — Negative Dialectics (1966)
Theodor W. Adorno — The Jargon of Authenticity (1964)
William Hinton — Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village (1966)
Pat Sloan — Soviet Democracy (1937)
Karl Marx — Capital: Critique of Political Economy (1867)

Film Scenes:

The Society of the Spectacle (1973) — dir. Guy Debord
À propos de Nice (1930) — dir. Jean Vigo
Regen (1929) — dir. Joris Ivens
The Goddess (1934) — dir. Wu Yonggang
Chung Kuo, Cina (1972) — dir. Michelangelo Antonioni
Havoc in Heaven (1961) — dir. Wan Laiming
Nezha Conquers the Dragon King (1979) — dir. Wang Shuchen, Yan Dingxian, Zhang Chaohong

💭 Discussion Prompt:
How do you see the myth of meritocracy operating in contemporary contexts?
Can solidarity emerge within rigid hierarchies?
Share your thoughts in the comments!