Available Films:
Laborer’s Love 勞工之愛情 (1922)
Laborer’s Love (Laogong zhi aiqing, 1922) is the earliest known extant complete film made by Chinese filmmakers.
The Pearl Necklace 一串珍珠 (1926)
What’s truly precious? This silent film features a conservative morality tale about women’s vanity, with two outstanding scenes of animation.
An Untold Tale of the Borderlands 殖邊外史 (1926)
Li Minghui stars as a peasant woman who escapes an arranged marriage to join her true love on the borderlands
Cave of the Silken Web 盤絲洞 (1927)
The Journey to the West is imperiled when the monk Tripitaka is held captive by a cave of spider women and forced to marry their queen.
The Mighty Hero Gan Fengchi 大俠甘鳳池 (1928)
Warriors wielding “light sabers” and vanishing magic right wrongs and settle scores in this partially-extant silent wuxia film.
Don’t Change Your Husband 情海重吻 (1929)
A married woman falls for a playboy college student. Will she live happily ever after? And what about her husband? Who will set things right?
Red Heroine 紅俠 (1929)
A poor young woman trains in magic martial arts and revenges her father and her village in this silent wuxia film.
Poor Daddy 怕老婆 (1929)
Poor Daddy (1929) is a slapstick silent comedy starring Liu Jiqun
Woman Warrior White Rose 女俠白玫瑰 (1929)
In this partially-extant silent action film, a female athlete becomes a swashbuckling hero and saves the family herding ground from a gang who plans to sell it to foreigners
Woman Warrior of the Wild River 6 荒江女俠 第六集 (1930)
A woman warrior saves a child carried away by a bird and battles bandits in this wuxia adventure film
Love and Duty 戀愛與義務 (1931)
A romantic melodrama with paternalistic overtones, Love and Duty was the first Lianhua film to showcase the chemistry between Ruan Lingyu and Jin Yan.
An Amorous History of the Silver Screen 影幕艷史 (1931)
A former film star returns to her old studio to discover how much has changed, in this highly self-referential film about love and/of cinema.
Yihjanmae 一剪梅 (1931) (A Spray of Plum Blossoms)
Shakespeare’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona” transplanted to Canton, home of the mysterious Plum Blossom Bandit. Lianhua star power shines!
The Peach Girl 桃花泣血記 (1931)
The Peach Girl co-stars Ruan Lingyu and Jin Yan as lovers in rural China tragically separated by social class.
Wild Rose 野玫瑰 (1932)
A vivacious country lass and a rich Shanghai boy fall in love. What will happen to young love when an uninhibited girl meets urban high society?
Volcanic Passions 火山情血 (1932)
Zheng Junli and Li Lili star in this silent film, featuring a pulpy story of revenge and romance, with hula dancing an erupting volcano.
A Dream in Pink 粉紅色的夢 (1932)
A young couple in Shanghai divorce, to be reunited by the abandoned wife’s devotion and literary talent.
Daybreak 天明 (1933)
A young woman from the countryside, forced into prostitution, does espionage to aid the Northern Expedition.
Spring Silkworms 春蠶 (1933)
Silkworm farmers in southern China find themselves in desperate economic straits, despite a bumper harvest.
Playthings 小玩意 (1933)
Artisan toymakers struggling to survive amidst war and competition from big business.
Sports Queen 體育皇后 (1934)
A country girl joins a women’s sports academy in Shanghai and becomes a national track star. Will she learn the true athletic spirit?
Song of the Fishermen 漁光曲 (1934)
Sister and brother struggle to survive as fishermen in northern China, in this musical melodrama. A box office smash.
Goddess 神女 (1934)
Ruan Lingyu stars as a single mother in Shanghai struggling to give her young son an education, in the face of exploitation and social prejudice.
The Great Road 大路 (1934)
In this genre-bending romp, a band of road workers, aided by two women, build a great road to help China fight off invaders.
City Scenes 都市風光 (1935)
Yuan Muzhi’s experimental directorial debut shows a country family’s farcical attempts to make it big in Shanghai.
New Women 新女性 (1935)
A contemporary social drama about “the woman question.” What are women’s lives like in China today? And what should they be?
Song of China 天倫 (1935)
Fei Mu’s traditionalist parable dramatizes the triumph of filial piety. Set to a lavish orchestral score and produced for a bilingual market.
The Little Angel 小天使 (1935)
Director Wu Yonggang’s encore to “Goddess” (1934) focuses on the trials of a poor but loving family and their angelic boy.
Song at Midnight 夜半歌聲 (1937)
Phantom of the Opera and Nosferatu meet underground revolutionary history in China’s first horror-musical.
Street Angels 馬路天使 (1937)
Zhou Xuan sings two hit songs in this social drama by experimental filmmaker Yuan Muzhi, costarring heartthrob Zhao Dan.
Hua Mu Lan 木蘭從軍 (1939)
A young woman takes her father’s place in the army and protects the Tang empire from invaders in this wartime adaptation of the Mulan legend.
Princess Iron Fan 鐵扇公主 (1941)
Monkey and companions try to outwit a demon’s wife in this animated feature film, which adapts an episode from Journey to the West.
Love Everlasting 不了情 (1947)
A young professional woman is hired to care of the young daughter of a married man, only to find herself in an impossible position.
Spring River Flows East 一江春水向東流 (1947)
An epic melodrama in two parts. A dutiful wife struggles to keep her family together through eight years of war, only to suffer betrayal.
Long Live the Missus! 太太萬歲 (1947)
A fibbing housewife runs into problems with her unreliable husband and his con woman mistress in this wartime screwball comedy.
Spring in a Small Town 小城之春 (1948)
Director Fei Mu’s lyrical masterpiece shows people coping with loss and longing in the aftermath of the Anti-Japanese War.
Wanderings of Three Hairs the Orphan 三毛流浪記 (1949)
Follows the misadventures of Sanmao as he tries to fill his belly on the streets of Shanghai. Adapted from the comic strip by Zhang Leping.
Crows and Sparrows 烏鴉與麻雀 (1949)
An epochal film, produced and set at the end of civil war, centering on a fight over housing. Who will stay and who will go?
The White-Haired Girl 白毛女 (1950)
A seminal film of New China cinema about a country girl who endures inhuman suffering before being liberated by the communist army.
Window to America 美國之窗 (1952)
Mao-era farce! Window washer Charlie Kent is ready to jump out the window when the capitalist Mr. Butler stops him with a proposition.
The Unfinished Comedy 沒有完成的喜劇 (1957)
When two star comedians start making films in New China, will they produce “flowers of comedy” or just “weeds”…especially when they meet the censor, Comrade Bludgeon?
Pigsy Eats a Watermelon 豬八戒吃西瓜 (1958)
Who can resist a delicious watermelon? During a break on the journey to the west, Pigsy is tempted by a happy discovery.
Welcome to Chinese Film Classics!

Chinese Film Classics is a project, a book, and a website dedicated to making early Chinese films and cinema history more accessible.
Focusing on films made between the 1890s and the 1940s, the website offers:
English-subtitled versions of over forty early Chinese films
A free, self-paced course on Chinese Film Classics, focusing on early Chinese cinematic masterworks from 1922-1949, each module featuring a subtitled film and two video lectures
Resources for learning more about Chinese cinema history, including further viewings, readings, filmographies, bibliographies, and archival materials
Information about a textbook about the artistry and history of early Chinese cinema
Links to the companion YouTube channel, Modern Chinese Cultural Studies
If you are visiting for the first time, start with this brief video introduction to Chinese Film Classics to learn more about what this project has to offer.
This website is a free resource for researchers, students, educators, and anyone interested in:
World cinema
Early silent and sound cinema
Chinese film history
Modern Chinese history and culture
Chinese contributions to the cinematic arts
Contributing to the film studies community
Modern Chinese Cultural Studies YouTube channel
Modern Chinese Cultural Studies YouTube channel
This website integrates with hundreds of films and video clips hosted on the Modern Chinese Cultural Studies YouTube channel. Browse the channel videos, announcements, and comments to discover more about Chinese cinematic and cultural history. For example, check out these playlists:
Chinese Film Classics: full black-and-white films with English subtitles
Chinese Film Classics – online course: video lectures on individual films, two lectures per film
Sounds of early Chinese cinema: Songs, music, and sound effects in Chinese films up to 1949
Best of early Chinese cinema: Classic and superlative scenes, and exemplary uses of film form
Early Chinese animation: Cartoons and animated features
How-tos from early Chinese cinema: Iconic scenarios, problems, and their resolution
Gags and special effects in early Chinese cinema: Comedy, pratfalls, stunts, and camera tricks
SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel and the CFC mailing list for updates and announcements.
Using a CFC film or other materials in a course? Let me know here!
More to come!
New films, film clips, and other material are being added to the website continually. For updates, subscribe to the Modern Chinese Cultural Studies YouTube channel, which hosts the Chinese Film Classics playlist. Please direct inquiries to the project leader, Dr. Christopher Rea, Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia.
Read more here about the people and organizations who have contributed to this project.
Learn how YOU can contribute!