''Dingjun Mountain'' was a 1905 Chinese

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

directed by Ren Qingtai (任慶泰) a.k.a. Ren Jingfeng (任景豐), who was assisted by his cinematographer Liu Zhonglun (劉仲伦). This film, made by

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

's Fengtai Photography (豐泰照相館),Hu, Jubin (2003). ''Projecting a nation: Chinese national cinema before 1949'', Hong Kong University Press, p 39. constitutes the first Chinese film ever made.Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei (1998). "The Fifth Generation" i
''Encyclopedia of Chinese Film''
Taylor & Francis, p. 128. . The film consisted of a recording of

Peking opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...

superstar

Tan Xinpei Tan Xinpei (23 April 1847 – 10 May 1917) was a Chinese Peking opera artist who specialized in ''sheng'' roles. A disciple of Cheng Changgeng, Tan Xinpei was undoubtedly the most important Peking opera performer of his generation. Some of his a ...

dressed in the character

Huang Zhong Huang Zhong (, ) (died 220), courtesy name Hansheng, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Mount Dingjun in 219, in which ...

and singing some arie from the Peking opera of the same name. The play is a dramatised account of

Battle of Mount Dingjun The Battle of Mount Dingjun was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms stretch of Chinese history. Liu Bei's victory in the battle marked a major milestone in his Hanzhong Campaign and ...

(219 AD) and based on an episode in the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

''. The only print was destroyed in a fire in the late 1940s.

In popular culture

Two films tell the (fictitious) events leading up to this film. ''

Shadow Magic ''Shadow Magic'' () is a 2000 historical fiction film about the introduction of motion pictures to China during the early 20th century. The film was directed and co-written by Ann Hu. It was a US- China co-production starring Xia Yu, Jared Harr ...

'', a 2000 US-China co-production directed by Ann Hu, stars

Xia Yu Xia Yu may refer to: *Yu the Great, also known as Xia Yu, legendary founder of the Xia dynasty * Xia Yu (actor) (born 1978), Chinese actor *Ha Yu (actor) Wong Sing (born 14 June 1943), better known by his stage name Ha Yu, is a Hong Kong actor ...

as Liu Jinglun (based on Liu Zhonglun),

Liu Peiqi Liu Peiqi (; born 30 November 1957) is a Chinese actor. He started his training in 1979 when he joined Military Art School. He joined Military Drama Group in Xinjiang Province in 1983. In 1985 he starred in his first movie, ''Father and Son'', di ...

as Master Ren (based on Ren Qingtai), Li Yusheng as Tan Linmei (based on Tan Xinpei),

Lü Liping Lǚ Lìpíng (; born 3 April 1960) is a Chinese actress. Her career accolades include one Golden Rooster Award, Flying Apsaras Award, Golden Horse Award and Golden Phoenix Award, two Hundred Flowers Awards, Golden Eagle Awards and Chinese Film ...

as Ren's wife, and Li Bin as

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...

. It also stars

Jared Harris Jared Francis Harris (born 24 August 1961) is a British actor. His roles include Lane Pryce in the AMC television drama series ''Mad Men'', for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Seri ...

and Xing Yufei. The 2005 Chinese film ''Dingjun Mountain'' (定軍山) was made to celebrate 100 years of Chinese cinema. Directed by An Zhanjun, it stars Yang Lixin as Ren Jingtai (based on Ren Qingtai), Tan Yuanshou as his great-grandfather Tan Xinpei, Hao Rongguang as Liu Zhonglun,

Lü Zhong Lü Zhong (born 17 December 1940) is a Chinese actress. Selected filmography Film Television series Theatre References External links * 1940 births Living people Chinese film actresses Chinese television actresses 20th-c ...

as Empress Dowager Cixi, and Qu Ning as Ren's wife. It also stars Liang Jingke.

References

Lost Chinese films 1905 films Peking opera films Films based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms Films set in 3rd-century Han dynasty Chinese silent short films 1900s war films 1900s historical films Chinese war films Chinese black-and-white films 1900s lost films Lost war films {{China-film-stub

In popular culture

See also

References