Abstract
ABSTRACT The Little Nyonya is a Singapore produced Chinese-language historical television drama centring on the struggles of its heroine Yueniang in negotiating turbulent relationships among three Chinese Peranakan merchant families in Singapore and Melaka. Her life choices are made within the framework of Confucian moral binaries of filial piety and a traditional paternalism that distinguishes righteous protagonists from villainous antagonists. By focusing on Yueniang’s breaking of gender barriers through her inclusion of matrilineal ancestors and descendants as well as non-Chinese spouses in the Confucian family, her assumption of ritual family leadership, and her adoption of the roles of the Confucian merchant and cultural connoisseur, this article seeks to highlight screen portrayals of reformative notions of Confucianism in Asian television. The Little Nyonya’s dynamic reconfiguration of Confucianism mirrors the contemporary Singapore state’s ideological constructions on modernized ‘Asian values’ rather than a simple return to ancient Chinese discourses.
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