Published since May 20, 2021

Journal of Chinese Film Studies

ISSN: 2702-2285

Editors-in-chief: Haizhou Wang, Haina Jin

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About this journal

Objectives

Journal of Chinese Film Studies (JCFS) is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal which focuses on the history, theory, criticism, practice and industries of Chinese film and provides a platform for cutting-edge academic research and debate. It is committed to advancing interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis of Chinese films and cinematic practices across multiple genres and platforms.

The journal is open to all areas of scholarship in Chinese film studies. We welcome academic work from multiple critical, cultural, and theoretical perspectives.

The journal seeks original research articles that pursue innovative research directions and methodologies or engage with significant historiographical or interpretive issues of films from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora. The journal also welcomes reviews of books and films of significance to the focus of the journal, as well as interviews with filmmakers and film scholars. It will showcase research both from established scholars and emerging new voices of Chinese film studies. Authors who have had their articles accepted are encouraged to submit video abstracts.

Our journal offers:

Cutting edge research results in Chinese film studies
Interdisciplinary approach and emphasis
Comprehensive outlook on Chinese films and cinematic practices
Latest developments of Chinese film industries
Direct and close contact with Chinese filmmakers and researchers
English translations of high-impact research in non-English languages
Inclusive and positive scholarly environment
Conversations and collaborations between researchers and professionals inside and outside of China

JCFS publishes articles in the following categories:

• articles of original research
• editorial
• book review
• film review
• interview

Submission can include, but are not limited to the following fields:

Chinese film history
Chinese film industries
Auteurs in Chinese cinemas
Stardom in Chinese cinemas
Film genres of Chinese cinemas
Chinese cinematic practices
Chinese cinemas, culture, and society
Reception of Chinese cinemas
Multilingualism in Chinese cinemas
Gender/class/sexuality in Chinese cinemas
Chinese films on ethnic minorities
Transnational Chinese cinemas

Themed issues and sections

Chinese Science Fiction Cinema (coming in 2024)
Women, City and Early Chinese Cinema (2023)
Film Accessibility for Blind and Low Vision Viewers in China (2023)
The Centenary of Labourer’s Love (2022)

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Supplementary Materials

Topics

External Links

Online Submission of Manuscripts

Volume 3 Issue 3

December 2023

Publicly Available December 1, 2023

Frontmatter

Page range: i-v

Download PDF

Special Section: Women, City and Early Chinese Cinema; guest edited by Chen Jin

November 20, 2023

Introduction to the Special Section: Women, City and Early Chinese Cinema

Chen Jin

Page range: 407-410

November 24, 2023

Staging Shanghai in Love and Duty 戀愛與義務 (1923, 1931)

Kristine Harris

Page range: 411-447

Abstract

This study explores the significance of the various urban locations for representations of gender in Love and Duty —the 1931 silent film from Lianhua Studios, as well as the 1923 illustrated serialized novel by “Luo Chen” (a.k.a. Madame S. Rosen Hoa/Horose). I show that both the novel and the film foregrounded the built environment to express the aspirations and frustrations of the female protagonist, played by Ruan Lingyu; and that the novel effectively served as a previsualization for the film as produced by Luo Mingyou and directed by Bu Wancang with cinematography by Huang Shaofen. Further, drawing on sources relating to the publication and film production, Shanghai and Beijing cultural history, and China’s changing geopolitical circumstances, I suggest that Lianhua strategically “staged,” even allegorized, Shanghai to signal its cosmopolitan ambitions while simultaneously alluding to Chinese filmmakers’ quest for a kind of “cinematic sovereignty” during the early Nanjing decade.

November 24, 2023

Revisiting the Stardom of Yang Naimei: The Typecast, the Modern Girl, and the Femme Fatale

April Wei

Page range: 449-465

Abstract

This paper aims to revisit Yang Naimei’s stardom by discussing her as China’s most famous femme fatale of the 1920s. She was the first Chinese film actress to be typecast according to her public persona, and the first to be cast in a series of anti-heroes. In my discussion, I treated her as an extreme case of the 1920s film actresses through which we could see more clearly their ambitions, their talents, their situations, and their struggles. I would like to argue that she is an extreme locus of modern femininity in 1920s China, where being a modern girl, a film star, or a femme fatale is one and the same thing. As a modern girl in search of her subjectivity, she exerted a vibrant energy in the search for visibility through performing stardom. This paper also examined the bense discourse that has been popular in China for almost a century, and in particular discussed why the film actress is always closely tied between her on-screen image and her off-screen image, as a response to an essentialist idea, attitude, and assumption that surrounds Yang Naimei, that she can effortlessly play a femme fatale on screen simply because she is a femme fatale herself.

October 26, 2023

Practicing Runaway: What Happened to Pu Shunqing in the Early Chinese Film Industry?

Chen Jin

Page range: 467-488

Abstract

The paper takes the question “what happened” to investigate women film pioneer Pu Shunqing’s experience and practice in the Chinese film industry of the 1920s. It not only looks at reasons for her successful participation to the field of screenwriting where no women had before, but also examines the process of how she intervened in the filmmaking, and how she was suppressed by a series of industrial norms and changes. Through a detailed archival survey on Pu’s personal experience and her performance in the cultural and industrial transformation. The study not only reveals several specific details regarding this women film pioneer and her practice, but also reflects on the process of her departure and thus sheds light on the situation of women who tried to take on creative roles behind the camera in the early film industry.

November 9, 2023

To Marry or To Write?—Sheng Qinxian and Her (Screen) Writing in 1940s Shanghai

S. Louisa Wei

Page range: 489-507

Abstract

During the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, writer-translator Sheng Qinxian (1921–2017) joined the script division of the Incorporated Film Studio of China and wrote the screenplays of three successful films: The Honourable Beggar (义丐 1944), Reunion of a Troubled Couple (冤家喜相逢 1945), and Modern Women (摩登女性 1945). Despite this success, she did not receive a writing credit for the third film, which might be one of the reasons that caused her to quit shortly after its theatrical release. It was never easy to be the only woman in any trade during this time, but Sheng’s story allows us to see an era from a unique perspective. What were her working conditions? Where is her position in Chinese film history? Did she make a unique contribution? This article aims to find answers to these questions in view of 1940s’ Shanghai cinema and via the context of Chinese culture and society before 1949.

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the industrialization of film and its discursive space have presented an open trend. Chinese film industry studies encompass multidimensional connotations involving economics, culture, and ideology. National will and policy-driven initiatives form the underlying logic of “industry studies,” while market-oriented approaches connect attention with the commodification of films, becoming the domain for the industry’s transformation. In the past twenty years, the industrial reform process of the Chinese film industry, along with innovations in film policies and institutions and their implementation, has reflected and outlined this multifaceted context. The film industry possesses the attributes of economy, culture, and ideology and, as a public good, includes issues related to attention orientation and correction. The construction of Chinese film industry studies, and the in-depth examination of the results and issues related to market discourse, is significant for further promoting the sustainable development of the film industry and fostering the prosperity of Chinese cinema.

March 30, 2023

The Role of Association: New Thinking on “Exposition, Comparison, Association” in Films

Haizhou Wang, Jian Yu

Page range: 527-542

Abstract

Crucial to the exploration of the nationalization of Chinese films, the concept of exposition (赋 fu), comparison (比 bi), and association (兴 xing) in films has gained much significance. While these concepts still need refining, an in-depth exploration of the terms is still necessary. This article reviews the theoretical term exposition, comparison, association, and argues that it should not be treated simply as pure rhetorical discourse. In particular, any interpretation of association should address the historical and cultural context of early Chinese society, and the early analogical thinking implied in association should be taken as an entry point for exploring the ambiguous ideographic role revealed by this aesthetic concept and extend it to film studies, so as to capture the unique image thinking in Chinese films and other Eastern cinema, which differs from the aesthetic logic of Western films.

November 24, 2023

The Occurrence of Cross-Media and Cross-Cultural Anxiety: Two Stars in the Milky Way from the Perspective of Meta Film

Bo Cheng

Page range: 543-562

Abstract

The 1920s was a period of exploration for the development and innovation of Chinese films, providing a direction for the localization of Chinese film creation and the reflexive thinking of film culture. Additionally, it paved the way for films that were created with a spontaneous “meta film” consciousness, such as Two Stars in the Milky Way (Yinhan shuangxing, 1932) and The Romance on the Screen (Yinmu yanshi, 1931), which appeared in the early 1930s. Released in 1931, The Romance on the Screen has been endowed with important historical value. Notably, Two Stars in the Milky Way was created earlier than The Romance on the Screen ; understood as a “meta film,” the exploration of its media characteristics, narrative structure, audio-visual language, and national consciousness deserves further attention, in relation to the process of film’s change from silence to sound. From the perspective of the social perspective of the time, the context of the early film industry, and the meta film consciousness of the film workers, it is possible that Two Stars in the Milky Way may be the first “meta film” in the history of Chinese film. Moreover, it is also an expression of the value of observing cross-media and the cross-cultural anxiety of the early Chinese film.

November 24, 2023

The Application and Innovation of the Stylized Performance of Traditional Chinese Theater in the Animated Film New Sanchakou

Lijun Sun, Siqi Cao

Page range: 563-576

Abstract

In Chinese animated films, the stylized performance of traditional Chinese theater allows for greater expression and creativity, due to 3D digital technology and 8K display technology. This paper takes the animated film New Sanchakou ( The Crossroads Inn , 1951), adapted from the traditional Duanda Wusheng (短打武生: martial arts performers equipped with short clothes and short-handle weapons) drama Sanchakou in Peking opera (Jingju) as an example, to explore the application and innovation of stylized performance. In the digital era, Chinese animated films innovate based on past achievements and utilize new technologies to both construct an aesthetic system with Chinese characteristics and to further display the unique charm of traditional Chinese aesthetic thought. By exploring new forms of animation’s performance creation, New Sanchakou meets the new challenge of Chinese animated film nationalization in the new era of China.

Film Review

October 26, 2023

Never Say Never: Reproduction of Intergenerational Will and Return of Ideal—Interview with Wang Baoqiang

Wu Yao, Cheng Yirui

Page range: 577-587

Abstract

Wang Baoqiang is the director of Never Say Never (2023), as well as being a well-known actor. His acting roles include Blind Shaft (Mang jing, 2003), A World Without Thieves (Tianxia wuzei, 2004) and Detective Chinatown series (Tangrenjie tan’an). Following Buddies in India (Danao tianzhu, 2017), Never Say Never is, Wang Baoqiang’s second directorial work: taking six years to hone, the film is a realistic depiction of the story of Xiang Tenghui, a former boxing champion, who is determined to train orphans from China’s remote countryside. Through sports competitions, he aims to provide them with the chance for a better life. This interview is based on the actors’ performances, the director’s audiovisual expression and the pursuit of values; it discusses the film’s reproduction of intergenerational will and the protagonist’s ideal for returning to the middle-aged stage of life, offering an in-depth portrait of the multi-dimensional thinking and artistic insights of Wang Baoqiang, as an experienced actor exploring the path of film directing.

Ahead of Print / Just Accepted

Ahead of Print / Just Accepted

Volume 3 (2023)

Volume 2 (2022)

Volume 1 (2021)

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Editorial

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Wang Haizhou, Beijing Film Academy
Jin Haina, Communication University of China

EDITORIAL BOARD

Hsiu-chuang Deppman, Oberlin College
Vanessa Frangville, Université libre de Bruxelles
Ping Fu, Towson University
Xuelei Huang, University of Edinburgh
Sangjoon Lee, Lingnan University
Guo Li, Utah State University
Jie Li, Harvard University
Seio Nakajima, Waseda University
Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park, University of Hong Kong
Gary Rawnsley, University of Lincoln
Carlos Rojas, Duke University
Josh Stenberg, University of Sydney
Zhang Xiaochun, University College London
Sugawara Yoshino, Kansai University

ADVISORY BOARD

Chris Berry, King's College London
Gary Bettinson, Lancaster University
Paul Clark, University of Auckland
David Desser, University of Illinois
Ding Yaping, Chinese National Academy of Arts
Tom Gunning, University of Chicago
Yan Haiping, Tsinghua University
Margaret Hillenbrand, University of Oxford
Stefan Kramer, Universität zu Köln
Li Daoxin, Peking University
Paul Pickowicz, University of California
Liu Shusen, Peking University/Yunnan University
Keyan Tomaselli, University of Johannesburg
Ban Wang, Stanford University
Hu Zhifeng, Beijing Normal University

All correspondence concerning editorial matters, manuscripts, or proposals for special issues should be sent to the editorial office(jcfs@degruyter.com).

(Deutsch)

Online ISSN: 2702-2285
Print ISSN: 2702-2277
Type: Journal
Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
First published: May 20, 2021
Publication Frequency: 3 Issues per Year

Journal of Chinese Film Studies

Frontmatter

Introduction to the Special Section: Women, City and Early Chinese Cinema

Staging Shanghai in Love and Duty 戀愛與義務 (1923, 1931)

Abstract

Revisiting the Stardom of Yang Naimei: The Typecast, the Modern Girl, and the Femme Fatale

Abstract

Practicing Runaway: What Happened to Pu Shunqing in the Early Chinese Film Industry?

Abstract

To Marry or To Write?—Sheng Qinxian and Her (Screen) Writing in 1940s Shanghai

Abstract

The Establishment of Chinese Film Industry Studies and the Correction of Film Industrialization – Review and Prospect of the Twenty Years of Film Industrialization Reform

Abstract

The Role of Association: New Thinking on “Exposition, Comparison, Association” in Films

Abstract

The Occurrence of Cross-Media and Cross-Cultural Anxiety: Two Stars in the Milky Way from the Perspective of Meta Film

Abstract

The Application and Innovation of the Stylized Performance of Traditional Chinese Theater in the Animated Film New Sanchakou

Abstract

Never Say Never: Reproduction of Intergenerational Will and Return of Ideal—Interview with Wang Baoqiang

Abstract