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Hu Die (actress)
Hu Die (; 1907 or 1908 – April 23, 1989), also known by her English name Butterfly Wu, was a Chinese actress during the 1920s and 1930s. Like many artistes and writers, she was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. Biography Early life Hu Die was born Hu Ruihua () in Shanghai in 1907 or 1908, and moved to Guangzhou (Canton) when she was nine. Her father then became the general inspector of the Beijing–Fengtian Railway, and she spent much of her adolescence in northern cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Yingkou, and learned to speak perfect Mandarin, which later proved to be a great advantage when the Chinese cinema transitioned from silent films to talkies. In 1924, Hu Ruihua moved back to Shanghai with her family. When China (Zhonghua) Film School, the country's first film actor training school, opened, she was the first student to enroll. She adopted the professional name "Hu Die", meaning "butterfly", and Butterfly Wu in English (Wu is the Shanghainese pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hu (surname)
Hu (Wikt:胡, 胡) is a Chinese surname. In 2006, it was the 15th most common surname in China. In 2013, it was the 13th most common in China, with 13.7 million Chinese sharing this surname. In 2019, Hu was the fifteenth most common surname in Mainland China. Some other, less common surnames pronounced Hu include Wikt:瓠, 瓠, Wikt:護, 護, Wikt:戶, 戶, Wikt:扈, 扈, Wikt:虎, 虎, Wikt:呼, 呼, Wikt:忽, 忽, Wikt:斛, 斛 and Wikt:壺, 壶. In Cantonese, “胡” is also pronounced as "Wu" or "Woo" or "Ow". Meaning In Classical Chinese, ''hú'' 胡 meant: "dewlap; wattle (anatomy), wattle" and was a variant Chinese character for "how; why; what" (''he'' Wikt:何, 何), "long-lasting; far-reaching" (''xia'' Wikt:遐, 遐), "part of a dagger-axe", ''hu-'' in "butterfly" (''hudie'' Wikt:蝴蝶, 蝴蝶), or possibly "Northern Barbarians". History According to tradition, the Hu (胡) surname has several historical origins. First, Hu could derive from the family of Duke Hu of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Meng Jiang
Lady Meng Jiang or Meng Jiang Nü () is a Chinese tale with many variations. Later versions are set in the Qin dynasty, when Lady Meng Jiang's husband was pressed into service by imperial officials and sent as corvee labor to build the Great Wall of China. Lady Meng Jiang heard nothing after his departure, so she set out to bring him winter clothes. Unfortunately, by the time she reached the Great Wall, her husband had already died. Hearing the bad news, she wept so bitterly that a part of the Great Wall collapsed, revealing his bones. The story is now counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being the Legend of the White Snake (''Baishezhuan''), Butterfly Lovers, and The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid (''Niulang Zhinü''). Chinese folklorists in the early 20th century discovered that the legend existed in many forms and genres and evolved over the last 2,000 years. The section of the Great Wall that was toppled in the legend is the Great Wall of Qi in today's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twin Sisters (1934 Film)
''Twin Sisters'' () is a 1934 Chinese film directed by Zheng Zhengqiu. Cast *Hu Die, playing double roles as the twin sisters *Zheng Xiaoqiu as Tao Ge *Tan Zhiyuan as Father *Xuan Jinglin as Mother *Gu Meijun as Miss Qian *Xu Shenyuan Xu or XU may refer to: People and characters * Xu (surname), one of two Chinese surnames ( or /), transliterated as Xu in English * ǃXu, a name for the ǃKung group of Bushmen; may also refer to the ǃKung language or the ǃKung people * ǃXu ... as Governor Qian External links * * 1934 films 1930s Mandarin-language films Chinese black-and-white films Films based on Chinese novels 1934 drama films Chinese drama films Twins in fiction Films about twin sisters {{1930s-China-film-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sound-on-film
Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track, and may record the signal either optically or magnetically. Earlier technologies were sound-on-disc, meaning the film's soundtrack would be on a separate phonograph record. History Sound on film can be dated back to the early 1880s, when Charles E. Fritts filed a patent claiming the idea. In 1923 a patent was filed by E. E. Ries, for a variable density soundtrack recording, which was submitted to the SMPE (now SMPTE), which used the mercury vapor lamp as a modulating device to create a variable-density soundtrack. Later, Case Laboratories and Lee De Forest attempted to commercialize this process, when they developed an Aeolite glow lamp, which was deployed at Movietone Newsreel at the Roxy Theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sound-on-disc
Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent systems use timecode. Examples of sound-on-disc processes France * The Chronophone (Léon Gaumont) "Filmparlants" and phonoscènes 1902–1910 (experimental), 1910–1917 (industrial)Thomas Louis Jacques Schmitt, « The genealogy of clip culture » in Henry Keazor, Thorsten Wübbena (dir.) ''Rewind, Play, Fast Forward'', transcript, United States * Vitaphone introduced by Warner Bros. in 1926 * Phono-Kinema, short-lived system, invented by Orlando Kellum in 1921 (used by D. W. Griffith for ''Dream Street'') * Digital Theater Systems United Kingdom * British Phototone, short-lived UK system using 12-inch discs, introduced in 1928-29 ('' Clue of the New Pin'') Other * Systems with the film projector linked to a phonograph or cylinder phono ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sound Film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before sound motion pictures became commercially practical. Reliable synchronization was difficult to achieve with the early sound-on-disc systems, and amplification and recording quality were also inadequate. Innovations in sound-on-film led to the first commercial screening of short motion pictures using the technology, which took place in 1923. The primary steps in the commercialization of sound cinema were taken in the mid-to-late 1920s. At first, the sound films which included synchronized dialogue, known as "talking pictures", or "talkies", were exclusively shorts. The earliest feature-length movies with recorded sound included only music and effects. The first feature film originally presented as a talkie (although it had only limited so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martial Arts Films
Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently featured in training scenes and other sequences in addition to fights. Martial arts films commonly include hand-to-hand combat along with other types of action, such as stuntwork, chases, and gunfights. Sub-genres of martial arts films include kung fu films, wuxia, karate films, and martial arts action comedy films, while related genres include gun fu, jidaigeki and samurai films. History Asian films are known to have a more minimalist approach to film based on their culture. Some martial arts films have only a minimal plot and amount of character development and focus almost exclusively on the action, while others have more creative and complex plots and characters along with action scenes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Burning Of The Red Lotus Temple
''The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple'' () is a lost Chinese silent film serial directed by Zhang Shichuan, widely considered to be the founding father of Chinese cinema. The film is adapted from the novel ''The Tale of the Extraordinary Swordsman''. ''The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple'', in 16 parts, is among the longest films ever produced and the longest major release, running 27 hours in total. The Mingxing Film Company production was released in 19 feature-length parts between 1928 and 1931. No copies have survived. The craze of the film series eventually led the Kuomintang to ban all wuxia films by the early 1930s because wuxia was thought to be inciting anarchy and rebellion. See also *List of lost films *List of longest films This list of longest films is composed of films with a running time of 300 minutes (5 hours) or more. Cinematic films Note: Some releases are extended cuts or director's cuts, and are ranked according to the longest verified running time. E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruan Lingyu
Ruan Lingyu (born Ruan Fenggen; April 26, 1910 – March 8, 1935), also known by her English name Lily Yuen, was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her exceptional acting ability and suicide at the age of 24 led her to become an icon of Chinese cinema. Early life Ruan was born to a working class family in Shanghai, and her ancestral home is in Xiangshan, Guangdong. Her father died when she was young, and her mother brought her up working as a housemaid. Career Early career In 1926, to help make ends meet, Ruan signed up for the prominent Mingxing Film Company. She made her first film at the age of 16. The film, ''A Married Couple in Name Only'' (掛名的夫妻/挂名的夫妻), was directed by Bu Wancang. Two years later, she was signed by Da Zhonghua Baihe Company (大中華百合公司/大中华百合公司), where she shot six films. Her first big break came in ''Spring Dream of an Old Capital'' ( or ''Reminiscenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zheng Zhengqiu
Zheng Zhengqiu (; January 25, 1889 – July 16, 1935) was a Chinese filmmaker often considered a "founding father" of Chinese cinema.Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei (1998). "Zheng Zhengqiu" in ''Encyclopedia of Chinese Film''. Taylor & Francis, pp. 393-94. . Biography Born in Shanghai in 1889, Zheng Zhengqiu was a young intellectual involved in China's theater scene when he and his friend and colleague, Zhang Shichuan, made the first Chinese feature film, a short film titled, ''The Difficult Couple'' in 1913. The two men would come together again in 1922 with the founding of the seminal Mingxing Film Company and the oldest surviving classic Laborer's Love, which would dominate Shanghai's film industry for the next fifteen years. While with Mingxing, Zheng served not only as screenwriter and director, but as a studio manager and producer, personally writing and directing 53 films before his early death in 1935. Like many of his colleagues during the period, Zheng was devoted to lef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Shichuan
Zhang Shichuan (; 1889–1953 or 1890–1954), also credited as S. C. Chang, was a Chinese entrepreneur, film director, and film producer, who is considered a founding father of Chinese cinema. He and Zheng Zhengqiu made the first Chinese feature film, ''The Difficult Couple'', in 1913, and cofounded the Mingxing (Star) Film Company in 1922, which became the largest film production company in China under Zhang's leadership. Zhang directed about 150 films in his career, including ''Laborer's Love'' (1922), the earliest complete Chinese film that has survived; ''Orphan Rescues Grandfather'' (1923), one of the first Chinese box-office hits; ''The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple'' (1928), the first martial arts film; and ''Sing-Song Girl Red Peony'' (1931), China's first sound film. After the destruction of Mingxing's studio by Japanese bombing during the 1937 Battle of Shanghai, Zhang Shichuan made films for the China United Film Production Company (Zhonglian) in Japanese-occupied ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mingxing Film Company
Mingxing Film Company (), also known as the Star Motion Picture Company, was one of the largest production companies during the 1920s, and 1930s in the Republican era. Founded in Shanghai, the company lasted from 1922 until 1937 when it was closed permanently by the Second Sino-Japanese War. History Founded in 1922 by Zhang Shichuan, Zheng Zhengqiu, and Zhou Jianyun, Mingxing emerged along with Dazhonghua Baihe Film Company, and Tianyi Film Company as one of the three dominant film studios of the 1920s. During this period, all three studios were known for producing "light" entertainment though even at this early time there was a sign of social criticism, inherited from the May 4th Movement. The film company struggled in its first few years with comic shorts like 1922's ''Laborer's Love''. In 1923, the company produced '' Orphan Rescues Grandfather'' which became a commercial success and with it Mingxing's fortunes were assured. By the early 1930s, Mingxing had become the leading ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
