Abstract
Chinese cinema made remarkable achievements in the early twentieth century from which the basic esthetic characteristics of Chinese film were as formed. It is impossible to accurately cover the artistic practice of Chinese film, because Chinese filmmaking is based on “meaning” (yiyi), that is, the ideological content to be expressed in the film. In the first half of the twentieth century, Chinese film esthetics engaged a complex array of ideas: the traditional Chinese pragmatic view of art; the continuity of American narrative cinema; the Soviet principle of opposition and conflict; as well as the poetics of classical Chinese esthetics. Among these orientations, the pragmatic view of art emerged as the core of Chinese film esthetics, determining not only film content but film form.
Funding source: Theoretical Model Construction of Neurocinematics and Empirical Study of Brain Imaging of Film Cognition
Award Identifier / Grant number: 16YTA002
Funding source: Research on the Combination Effect of Audiovisual Elements of Film under the Background of Cognitive Neuroscience Theory
Award Identifier / Grant number: 19BC041
About the author
Yiwen Wang is a professor at the School of Arts and Communication, Beijing Normal University. His research interests include film and television history, image cognition and comparison of Chinese and foreign films, and has published books such as Comparative Research on Chinese and Foreign Films in the First Half of the 20th Century. He was the first in China to adopt the method of cognitive neuroscience to study the effect of film acceptance, and presided over the research projects “Research on the Characteristics of Image Thinking and Cognition” and “Research on the Combined Effect of Audiovisual Elements of Film in the Context of Cognitive Neuroscience”, which were supported by National Social Science Foundation and Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of the Ministry of Education.
TranslatorXiaoyan JuCommunication University of China, Beijing, China
18813181500@163.com
Xiaoyan Ju is a master’s student majoring in English translation at the Communication University of China. Her research interest is audiovisual translation. She is a member of the research team of the China National Social Science Major Research Project “General History of Film Translation in China” (Grant number: 20&ZD313), which has supported her translation of this article.
Acknowledgements
Yiwen Wang is supported by National Social Science Foundation of Arts and Beijing Social Science Foundation to preside over the project “Research on the Combination Effect of Audiovisual Elements of Film under the Background of Cognitive Neuroscience Theory” (Grant number: 19BC041) and the key project “Theoretical Model Construction of Neurocinematics and Empirical Study of Brain Imaging of Film Cognition” (Grant number: 16YTA002).
References
Armes, R. 1997. Films of the Third World and the West. Taiwan: National Film Archive.Search in Google Scholar
Chen, L. 1984. The Specifications of Film. Beijing: China Film Press.Search in Google Scholar
Cheng, B., X. Shen, Y. Xia, H. Yang, L. Ye, M. Ying Zhao, and B. Zheng. 1933. “Summary of Symposium of Spring Silkworms.” In Morning Paper, October 8, 1933. Shanghai: China.Search in Google Scholar
Hong, S. 1922. “China Film Manufacturing Corporation Offers Money to Solicit Scripts for Films.” In Shen Bao. July 9, 1922. Shanghai: China.Search in Google Scholar
Hou, Y. 1926. “What Is a Film with Artistic Value.” Transparent Shanghai 1: 420.Search in Google Scholar
Jiao, X. 1990. The Preface: Road Angel. Taiwan: Vientiane Books Co., Ltd.Search in Google Scholar
Lin, N. 1991. Esthetics of Chinese Film. Taibei: Yunchen Culture Industry Co., Ltd.Search in Google Scholar
Liu, C. 1992. The Collection of Film’s Fu Bi Xing, Vol. 1. Hongkong: Yuanliu Publishing Co., Ltd.Search in Google Scholar
Liu, N. 1996. “The Art of Film.” In Chinese Silent Films. Beijing: China Film Press.Search in Google Scholar
Luo, X. 1980. The Evolving Language of Film. Taiwan: Art Publishing House.Search in Google Scholar
Shao, M. 1984. “Film Esthetics Notes VI.” Film Art 11: 30.Search in Google Scholar
Shen, F. 1948. “The Camera is a Pen.” Film Series 2: 17–21.Search in Google Scholar
Tian, H. 1930. “Wake up from a Silver Dream.” Film 1.Search in Google Scholar
Tian, H. 1987. The Anthology of Tian Han, Vol. 14. Beijing: China Drama Publishing House.Search in Google Scholar
Wang, C. 1932. “Film Speech (1).” In Shi Bao. June 7, 1932. Shanghai: China.Search in Google Scholar
Wang, C. 1933. “The Road to Chinese Cinema (Part 1).” Star Monthly 1 (1): 1–6.Search in Google Scholar
Xia, Y. “About Chinese Films: Xia Yan Answers Questions from Chinese Film Society of Hong Kong.” Literature & Art Studies 1: 14–8.Search in Google Scholar
Xiaoluo 1932. “What is a Movie?” In Shi Bao. August 2, 1932. Shanghai: China.Search in Google Scholar
Zhang, C. 1987. “Art, Legend and Medium Shot: on the Esthetic Characteristics and Cultural Background of Early Chinese Films.” Journal of Shanghai University (Social Sciences Edition) 4: 24–9.Search in Google Scholar
Zheng, J. 1935. “On Acting (Continuation Five).” Lianhua Illustrated 6 (4): 20–3.Search in Google Scholar
Zheng, J. 1935. “On Acting (Continuation Four).” Lianhua Illustrated 6 (2): 13.Search in Google Scholar
Zheng, J. 1935. “On Acting (Continuation Three).” Lianhua Illustrated 5 (12): 19–20.Search in Google Scholar
Zheng, J. 1935. “On Acting (Continued).” Lianhua Illustrated 5 (10): 13.Search in Google Scholar
Zheng, Z. 1933. “How to Get on the Path Forward.” Star Monthly 5: 1–3.Search in Google Scholar
Zheng, Z. 1935. “Since I Became a Director.” Star Semi-monthly 1: 12–7.Search in Google Scholar
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston