Traditions should not be followed simply because they are traditions was the basic premise of this movie. It was not my favorite Yimou Zhang movie, but still worth watching. I found this to be an interesting contrast in theme to the thought in The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, that future generations will fail because they did not have to struggle to achieve and simply follow or fail to follow traditions because they exist, without understanding them.

I suppose the logical conclusion is to use your brain to do what is right. :)