This thesis attempts to analyze grandpa and grandson’s behaviors to show the cultural conflicts reflected in the film. Besides, the two generations relieve and even clear the conflicts to achieve mutual understanding under the promotion of familial affection and shadow puppetry. This film displays the modern idea that cultural conflicts will hopefully result in cultural integration so that people can better understand these differences and promote the cross-cultural communication. This thesis is pided into five parts. The first part is about introduction and mainly describes the universality of cultural communication and introduces the plot of the film. The second part is to summarize previous researches on cultural integration and intercultural communication. The third part is the detailed description of cultural conflicts from dietary habits, language styles and personal values. The fourth part is about cultural integration from the perspective of familial affection and shadow puppetry. Shadow puppetry is not only a symbol of Chinese intangible cultural heritage but a carrier to promote cultural integration. The conclusion part shows that cultural integration is the product of era development.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Researches on Intercultural Communication

As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, we have to face the fact that either all of us are going to die together or we are going to live together, if we are to live together we have to talk. “With or without your desire or consent, you are now thrust into contact with countless people who often appear alien, exotic, and perhaps even wondrous”(Dai Weidong, 2013: 4). “Communication involves the creation, adaptation, and transmission of messages that can facilitate mutual understanding or other possible results. Culture is another process that overlaps, and often coincides, with communication”(Jia Yuxin, 2009: 85). “The base of intercultural communication is to understand the differences of cultures. Its aim is to learn from each other rather than comparing which one is better than another”(Wang Pin, 2011: 23).源:自*吹冰~·论,文'网·www.chuibin.com/

According to recorded history, Intercultural Communication has been a sub-area of communication studies since 1970s. In response to this growing interest and to further develop intercultural communication, “cross-disciplinary ideas should be applied to cultural perception, attributions in stereotypes, culture shock analysis, new culture acquisition, cross-cultural adjustment or adaption. Thus understanding cultural values, identities, expectations, and other aspects of a group’s or people’s psychology are important for useful comparisons and adjustments to differences”(Jia Yuxin, 2009: 48).Chinese former foreign minister Li Zhaoxing once referred the teaching of Confucius which was engraved on the walls of the UN Headquarters in New York and acted as the Golden Rule guiding state-to-state relations. This means there is a consensus on cross-cultural communication around the world. 

2.2 Researches on Cultural Integration

Scholars have ever studied cultural integration and there are some books and papers on this topic. All these achievements enrich the research of cultural integration. Samuel P. Huntington, one of America’s greatest political scientists, expresses his core idea in his book that culture is the main cause of conflict, and the piding line of different cultures will become the future front( Samuel P. Huntington, 2010). UNESCO also passed the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression in 2005, which is an important symbol of the national awareness of the cultural rights. This convention reasserts the belief that the conversation between cultures is the best guarantee of peace. Most of these papers just make a deep research on the historical development, core ideas, and causes of Chinese and Western cultures in general. Therefore, it is hard to find lots of materials based on film and television work.