How come in Chinese culture, viziers were regarded as wise and honorable, whereas in European culture they were stereotyped as sneaky lehappymerchant.pngs? I mean, look at the how advisers are portrayed in Western works:
>Wormtongue
>Jafar
>that old lady in the Emperor's new Groove
Was this caused by Western advisers being less qualified or is it propaganda?
What source are you basing that off of, to say that Chinese advisers were revered? And during what specific time in history? Plenty of Chinese emperors have been very distrustful of their advisers, most of all the eunuchs.
>>945188
didn't Confucianism codify the respect to all public servants, as long as they fulfill their roles? almost every wuxia movie is about trying to bring down an officer without looking like they're rebelling against the Emperor
>>945188
I just got that impression from how Chinese people take test-taking very seriously, as a holdover from Imperial days when the bureaucrat exam was basically a way for non-nobles or non-powerful nobles to rise in social status. They thought being a bureaucrat was the most bitchin' thing you could be if you weren't born into power, whereas in the West people wanted to be priests/bishops to get power. I don't know that much about China but that's the impression I got from reading Fukuyama's book 'The origins of political power.'
>>945172
>stereotyped as sneaky lehappymerchant
Gee I wonder why the chinese loved the those thieving fucks, it couldn't be because they like people who are just like them
It's probably leftover from the time the 1001 Nights were really popular in Western society.
>>945208
Oh sorry, I think I kind of misread what you wrote. I was thinking you meant like personal advisors to the Emperor and shit, do you jut mean high ranking government officials in general?
>>945172
China didn't have Viziers. They had 3 Head Departments with the highest cunt being the Central/Gran Secretary.
Viziers come from Ottoman Politics, from the Arabic title: "Wazir" meaning "Assistant (to the King/Caliph/Whatnot)." And those did scheme a lot in popular Turkish imagery either for the Sultan or Against him.
>>945215
>that pic
>>945172
It comes from Medieval, and thus later Romantic, ideals about the king being just and benevolent who is misled by his vassals who are the true villains in the lives of the average peasant and townsfolk.
>>945172
Chinese ministers in popular Chinese culture are split into two groups
>Learned sage who doesn't miss a thing.
And
>Evil Eunuch.
The dichotomy is largely because Ministers bust their asses working through the ranks of the various Chinese ministry while Eunuchs just get their balls cut off and suck up to one of the concubines/princes for influence.
Eunuchs are viewed rather negatively to the point that "Listening to Eunuchs" is a meme in Chinese history for "listening to bad advice." When most of the time they're really just male house servants of the Imperial Court.
