film, how it was born, when it was born, and when and how the film was introduced to China. Of course, there are also some "recognized" sayings. For example, on December 28, 1895, the Lumière brothers of France made the first commercial screening of a film in a cafe in Paris, which was regarded as the first film in the world. Recorded birthday. As another example, according to Shanghai's "Report" on August 12, 1896, the day before yesterday, a French tourist showed a short film in another village in Xuyuan, Shanghai. It was interspersed with amusement shows such as tricks and fireworks. I was stunned for a while to see Western scenery, people's sentiments, and activists on a piece of white cloth. This "Western movie" was truly amazing! So this day became the day when "recognized" movies were introduced to China.
found the "earliest" record, so it's much easier to handle next. In 1897, American businessman Yong Song came to Shanghai and rented places to show "Western Movies" in Tianhua Tea Garden, Qi Garden, Tongqing Tea Garden and other places. The programs include "Russian Emperor's Tour in Paris", "Madrid Street Market", "Spanish "Dancing", "Riding Avenue", "Tuli Ruby Local People Sleep", "Gamble Win or Lose with Swordsmanship", "Western Wild Punisher", etc. It can be said to be unsurprising, to be honest, it should be nothing unsurprising—because it is a "live shadow show"!
An article titled "Watching American Movies" in Shanghai Game News No. 74, September 5, 1897 The record: "There are American electro-optical and shadow dramas that have made the same shadow lamps and magically transformed them into unexpected ones...like the shadow actors, tens of thousands of miles away, there is no need to seek a way to shrink the place, thousands of shapes and colorful, how special The statue of the tripod, the illusion of life is concealed at first glance, and everyone can see it like this." This may not be the first movie review in China, but it is certainly one of the earliest movie impressions.
The Chinese began to engage in film screenings. It was in 1903 that businessman Lin Zhusan brought back the film and screening equipment from abroad, and used Tianle tea garden for commercial screening in Beijing's Polishing Factory. Films previously shown by foreigners in Beijing were worried that many viewers were afraid to watch them more because they were afraid that it was a "sex trick" by foreigners. The movie is called "Western Movies", just like the "foreign oil", "foreign iron", "foreign nail", "foreign fire", "foreign cloth" and other things back then, they all come from the West and are the product of modern western civilization. There is no doubt about this point, but there are always some Chinese people who are unwilling to face this civilization gap, and want to balance the injustices of themselves and their compatriots with "China has it". For
, the Chinese people also want to win a "place" for the invention of movies, and even want to prove that Chinese talents are the "ancestors" of movies. The earliest and most famous article is Cheng Shuren's "History of the Chinese Film Industry". After "Small Quotes", it is the eye-opening "A Study of the Original Chinese Shadow Play", which accounts for two-thirds of the full text. Above, from the hand shadows, the revolving lanterns, and the movie show by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in 140 BC, the "verification" of Chinese invention rights began. The examination of this article is a spectacle, and it was published in the "China Film Industry Yearbook" officially published in 1927.
Since then, many film scholars, especially film historians, have paid special attention to Mr. Cheng Shuren’s articles, and carried forward this view as much as possible, not only unanimously affirming that China's lantern and shadow drama is the ancestor of modern Western movies, but also Chinese people The understanding of the relationship between light and shadow and the principle of the generation of objects is constantly being pushed forward.
