“Clean Officials,” Emotional Moral Community, and Anti-corruption Television Dramas

This chapter examines anti-corruption dramas. It focuses on Pure as Snow (Daxue wuhen, 2001) and demonstrates how a traditional Chinese cultural icon, Judge Bao (a fearless judge who pits himself against politically powerful criminals), is reinvigorated in contemporary dramatization of corruption scandals to create an emotional moral community. The emotion of anger is the hallmark of this fictional community. By appropriating the ownership of this community, the Party, represented by “clean officials” in the drama, attempts to reconstitute its moral leadership.

This chapter examines anti-corruption dramas. It focuses on Pure as Snow (Daxue wuhen, 2001) and demonstrates how a traditional Chinese cultural icon, Judge Bao (a fearless judge who pits himself against politically powerful criminals), is reinvigorated in contemporary dramatization of corruption scandals to create an emotional moral community. The emotion of anger is the hallmark of this fictional community. By appropriating the ownership of this community, the Party, represented by “clean officials” in the drama, attempts to reconstitute its moral leadership.