Text/Meng Zehui On the fourth day of the ninth lunar month of the Xin Ugly Year
Zheng Zhengqiu (1989-1935)
One of the pioneers of China's film industry. Formerly known as Bo Chang, a native of Chaoyang, Guangdong. In 1913, he entered the film industry, with the purpose of reforming society and educating the masses, he cooperated with Zhang Ishikawa to edit and direct the film "Difficult Husbands and Difficult Wives" invested by the American Asia Film and Drama Company, creating a precedent for shooting feature films in China. It premiered at the end of September 1913. Since then, China's films have had screenwriters and directors. Later, he once left film creation and actively participated in the activities of new dramas (that is, civilized dramas). In 1922, he participated in the establishment of the Star Film Company, and wrote, directed and acted in more than 20 films before and after. Among them, films such as "Bitter Children and Weak Daughters", "The Last Conscience", "Good Brother", "Blind Orphan Girl", and "Sister Flower" all attacked the evils of the feudal system to varying degrees, placed great sympathy on the humiliated lower-class people, and showed an old democrat and an upright artist who pinpointed the shortcomings of the times and demanded a sense of responsibility and justice for reforming society. His work has a national, plain and popular style.
Shen Xiling (1904-1940)
Early Chinese director, screenwriter and actor. His original name was Shen Xuejie, and his pen name was Ye Shen, a native of Deqing County, Zhejiang. In his early years, after graduating from Zhejiang Industrial School, he studied art and drama in Japan. After returning to Japan in 1927, he joined the Creation Society. In the winter of the same year, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, he organized the Shanghai Art Drama Society with Feng Naichao and others to engage in the left-wing theater movement and progressive art activities. In March 1930, he joined the Chinese Left-Wing Writers' Union. In 1931, he served as a set designer for Jin Tianyi Film Company. In 1933, he entered the Star Film Company and successively directed such excellent films as "Women's Scream" (1933), "Shanghai Twenty-Four Hours" (1934), "Boat Girl", "Nostalgia" (1935), "Cross Street" (1937) and so on. In the spring of 1937, he cooperated with Cai Chusheng to shoot "Children of China". His works are based on real life and have distinct anti-imperialist and anti-feudal ideas.
Hong Shen (1894-1955)
China's older generation of famous film dramatists, pioneers in the construction of Chinese sound films, brave entrepreneurs in the history of Chinese film development. The words are shallow. After graduating from Tsinghua University in 1916, he went to the United States to study, first studying magnetic chemical engineering, and then entering Harvard University, studying literature and drama. After returning to China in the spring of 1920, he engaged in drama and choreography. He was the first to implement a co-actor system. In 1925, he became a choreographer for the Star Film Company. He was the first to write a film literary script and a split-shot script, making a significant contribution to Chinese film literature and the art of directing. In 1930, he joined the left-wing literary movement led by the party. During this period, he composed a rural trilogy: "Wukui Bridge", "Fragrant Rice", "Qinglongtan"; choreographed and directed the films "Song Girl Red Peony", "Oppression", "Peach Blossom after the Disaster", "Iron Plate Red Tears", of which "Song Girl Red Peony" is the earliest wax disc pronunciation sound film in China, co-produced by star companies and French and commercial Baidai Records. In 1931, it premiered at the Sunbeam Theater in Shanghai. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he led the rescue drama team to carry out propaganda to resist the enemy and save the country. After liberation, he continued to fight in cultural jobs until his death in Beijing in 1955.
StoneHill (1902–1955)
Early Chinese director and screenwriter. Formerly known as Kuang Shao, a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang. In his early years, he loved painting and music, and participated in the Shanghai Morning Light Art Association. He began his career in film in 1921 and has worked as an artist, actor, screenwriter and director. After 1925, he wrote and directed many films, such as "Love of Cohabitation", "Children and Grandchildren", "Hengniang" and so on. In 1932, he transferred to the Yihua Company and accepted the influence of the left-wing film movement, shooting films such as "Woman" and "The Beginning of Man". In 1936, he entered the Xinhua Company and filmed "Long Hate Song", "Carnival Night", "Youth March" and so on. After the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, his film "Defending Our Land" was China's first story film with the theme of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which did not take the form of hints and innuendos as in the past, but described the War of Resistance Against Japan in a positive way. During the Liberation War, he directed Eight Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons (1947), which exposed the dark rule of the Kuomintang. After liberation, he directed the film "The Legend of the New Children's Heroes", which won the Excellent Director Award at the 6th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Ying Yunwei (1904-1967)
Famous early film directors and theater activists in China. Originally from Cixi, Zhejiang. In his early years, he engaged in theatrical activities. In 1921, he participated in the organization of the Shanghai Theater Association, as one of the leaders, and participated in performance activities, famous for playing "Danjiao". In the early 1930s, he joined the left-wing "Drama Association" and in 1933 directed the play "Roar! China". After that, in Shanghai, dentsu, Yihua and "Star" successively directed progressive films such as "Tao Li Robbery" (1934) and "Life and Death Together" (1936). After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he participated in the propaganda work of the anti-Japanese rescue drama. In 1940, he directed the film "Plugged in the Storm" and so on. He also organized the China Drama Art Society, and directed progressive dramas such as "Qu Yuan", "The Flower of Tang Di", and "Fascist Bacteria". After the war, he joined the Shanghai Cathay Film Company, where he directed the progressive film Anonymous (1947), which exposed the dark rule of the Kuomintang government. After liberation, he continued to work as a film director.
Cai Chusheng (1906-1968)
Early director, screenwriter and producer of Chinese cinema. A native of Chaoyang, Guangdong, he was born as a clerk. In 1927, he worked as a miscellaneous servant in several film companies in Shanghai, and taught himself to master various basic knowledge of film. In 1929, he entered the Shanghai Star Company as an assistant director of Zheng Zhengqiu. In 1931, he joined the Lianhua Film Company and officially served as a choreographer. In 192, he filmed "Spring in the Southern Kingdom" and "Pink Dream", which were the initial explorations of Cai Chusheng's creation. Since then, he has directed a number of films, including "Morning of the Metropolis" (1933), "Fisherman's Song" (1934), "New Woman" (1935) and other progressive films. In 1947, he cooperated with Zheng Junli and directed the sensational film "A River of Spring Water Flows Eastward", exposing the passive resistance and dark rule of the Kuomintang government. After the founding of New China, Cai Chusheng successively served as the deputy director of the Cultural Film Bureau, the vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the chairman of the China Film Workers Association. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1956. He has made important contributions to the creation of film in China and the cultivation of film teams.
Zheng Junli (1911-1969)
Early Chinese actors, directors, screenwriters, and outstanding artists on the film front have made outstanding contributions to the Chinese film industry. A native of Zhongshan, Guangdong, he is a member of the Communist Party of China. In 1931, he participated in left-wing theater and film activities. In the 1930s he was a leading actor in the films New Woman, The Great Road (1935) and The Lost Lamb (1936). During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he participated in the propaganda activities of the Anti-Japanese Salvation Drama. In 1947, he cooperated with Cai Chusheng in Shanghai to direct the film "A River of Spring Water Flows East". In 1949, he directed the film The Crow and the Sparrow. After liberation, he directed excellent films such as "Lin Zexu", "Nie Er" (1959), "Dead Wood Fengchun" (1961) and so on. In addition, he has written treatises on the performing arts, "The Birth of a Character".