Welcome!

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Hello, Haitaoyu, and welcome to Wikipedia! My name is Ian and I work with the Wiki Education Foundation; I help support students who are editing as part of a class assignment.

I hope you enjoy editing here. If you haven't already done so, please check out the student training library, which introduces you to editing and Wikipedia's core principles. You may also want to check out the Teahouse, a community of Wikipedia editors dedicated to helping new users. Below are some resources to help you get started editing.

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  • You can find answers to many student questions on our Q&A site, ask.wikiedu.org

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me on my talk page. Ian (Wiki Ed) (talk) 01:38, 25 January 2016 (UTC)Reply

I will for sure use you as my best resources:)Haitaoyu (talk) 01:28, 26 January 2016 (UTC)Reply

Hello!

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Hi, Haitaoyu -- welcome to Wikipedia! As Ian mentioned, the Teahouse is a great resource for new editors. But did you know that Wikipedia also has an extensive help library for common questions? Of course, if you run into a question or problem, you're always welcome to get in touch with me either by email or on my talk page. Happy editing! Fraudoktorkatie (talk) 14:37, 27 January 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fraudoktorkatie (talkcontribs) Fraudoktorkatie (talk) 14:55, 27 January 2016 (UTC)Reply

Peer Review

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Hi Haitao!

First of all I want to say I am very impressed by your article. It's great that you found room in the article to add lots of new information. You did a good job keeping a neutral viewpoint and moving the article along in a chronological structure. I think you balanced the coverage well and distributed your sources well (ex. you didn't use too much from one source), however I noticed some sections were missing references. You did a good job using references in your lead section but then are missing in the sections in the body of the article (Japanese Invasion through New Models and New Chinese Cinema).

Just some other things I noticed:

  • When I started reading the lead section I noticed you used past tense in the beginning of the sentence ("Cinema was brought to Shanghai by the European merchants in 1896, during the time which the majority of the people in China are experiencing a revolution.") and then switched to present tense later in the same sentence. I would say since we're talking about historical events that you make it all past tense.
  • The part that says "Thanks to the advent..." in the first section may imply as a non-neutral phrase. I think I know what you mean, that you're crediting the Leftist cinematic movement for the first golden period but just in case Wikipedia frowns upon that you could just word it like "The Leftist Cinematic Movement introduced the cinema of China to enter it's first golden period (Sorry, I'm not sure what exactly should be capitalized!)." or something to that effect.
  • In the second section within the lead section that starts out with "Along with the end of the war...", the sentence after that is not a complete sentence- "After the communist revolution officially succeeded in 1949." I wasn't sure if that was supposed to mean that the golden age dawned after the communist revolution succeeded or if it was supposed to be the lead for the next sentence meaning that after the communist revolution succeeded that then the cinema attendance increased.
  • Though the lead section is very efficient, it's almost too much information for just introducing the article! For someone who doesn't know much about Chinese cinema and the historical events that go along with it, it seemed a little abrupt. Maybe re-evaluate how to make it more of a summary. It may not be necessary to list all the movie titles that will be mentioned later on in the body of the article. Taking out some of those would probably help shorten the lead section. Maybe for the lead, just give an overview of what the cinema was like through each of the main sections you will be discussing in detail later.
  • I read your Journal Entry #8 and see what you mean about linking the cinema to historical events. I think it's okay to do that if it was important in affecting how the cinema developed and changed over time. To add more "ingredients" like you said, you could incorporate how the cinema was unique compared to cinema of other countries or about the genres. I know you did do this a little bit which is great but if anything I think you'd be fine with adding more unique information!

Overall, great job!

Maymers7 (talk) 03:08, 3 April 2016 (UTC)Reply


Hi Haitao,

To be honest I knew nothing about your topic so I was very eager to read along and learn about the many interesting facts that you brought to the table! Overall I want to say that you have a phenomenal start to your article. You content is divided up well, includes a decent amount of information per topic mentioned alone with the appropriateness of citing your research. I believe the idea of the timeline that you used in order to breakdown the unfolding of cinema was very beneficial and easy-to-follow for your audience.

It is very hard for me to find something that needs to be changed or improved. I feel as though you have the majority of your article complete so I would advise you to go through again making sure you are only including points that will strongly benefit and highlight on the importance of the cinema of china. You do mention a lot of historical events which is a great way to introduce this topic to a reader who may not know anything about the topics, like myself. But it might be helpful and interesting to include so more modern research on the topic as well!

Again, I think you are doing a wonderful job as of right now and therefore I look forward to the final product. I hope to replicate the organization, layout, and detail of your article in order to improve my own and hope that I can grasp the readers with my topic as much as your topic had my attention. Good luck with finishing your article. Can’t wait to see it! Ashley oconnell (talk) 03:39, 5 April 2016 (UTC)Reply

Currently Working ---- [Cinema of China]

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The Cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the Cinema of Hong Kong and the Cinema of Taiwan. Cinema was brought to Shanghai by the European merchants in 1896, during the time which the majority of the people in China were experiencing a revolution. As people were suffering from war, hunger and fear; cinema started bringing a new method of entertainment to the public. Soon after the initial expansion, films became a popular target of political campaign as the dispute between Nationalists and Communists was reflected in film making. As a result of the advent of the Leftist cinematic movement, the Cinema of China entered the first “golden period”. However, after the Japanese invasion of China War suddenly began across the nation in 1937, the film industry was forced to shut down in metropolitan areas as Japanese invaders implemented strict censors. Soon the filmmakers started to move inland to Chongqing and British-governed Hong Kong. [4] Along with the end of the war, the second “golden age” dawned. After the communist revolution officially succeeded in 1949. The cinemas attendance across the nation increased exponentially. Record of sales had been broken in Beijing and Shanghai. Over 600 films were shot and produced in China in less than a decade as a comparison to less than 60 films made between the first Chinese film, The Battle of Dingjunshan (1905) and 1949. Nonetheless, as the communist strictly banned foreign movies in this era, the options of the public were largely limited and controlled. [1][4] From 1962 to 1972, during the Cultural Revolution, the film industry was forced to a standstill as the restriction severely enforced. Soon after the Cultural Revolution ended, in 1978, the Chinese government started to reform and open to the outside world. Despite of certain regulations still existed, Western films were introduced back to mainland China. And more importantly, Chinese films were first brought the other side of the planet. With films such as One and Eight (1983) and Yellow Earth (1984) brought Chinese cinema abroad; with films like Red Sorghum (1987), The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) and Farewell My Concubine (1993) winning major international awards, a more formal, structured film industry formed in China. Through the emerging impact of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan in Hollywood and the biggest success of films, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) was accepted by Western audience, the best era in Chinese Cinema history began in 21st century. The record of gross revenue of Chinese film had been broken every year from 2008 to 2016. Lost in Thailand (2012), Monster Hunt (2015) and The Mermaid (2016) have lead the industry to billion figures (RMB) in gross revenue. [3][5][6] The filmmaker learnt from the established market and were constantly improving the film making process. Hengdian World Studios opened in 1990s is the largest film studio in the World. China is the today’s second largest market in the World and is predicted to take the first place in 2017. [14] The First Golden Age The first recorded screening of a motion picture occurred in Shanghai on August 11, 1896. It marked as the beginning of the history of Chinese motion pictures. Two decades later, The Battle of Dingjunshan, was made in November 1905 in Beijing. [7] The majority of Chinese film industry heavily relied on imported films. Therefore, Shanghai, a thriving entre port and the largest city in the Far East, became the center of Chinese film industry. In 1913, the first independent Chinese screenplay, The Difficult Couple, was filmed in Shanghai by Zheng Zhenqiu and Zhang Shichuan. [8] The film also marked the Chinese film industry entering its first Golden Age. Japanese Invasion – World War II The aggressive growth of Chinese film industry in early 1900s was accompanied by class struggles and external enemies threat. The Japanese invasion of China in 1937 ended the first Golden Age in Chinese cinema. Most of film production companies closed and after the Japanese captured Shanghai, the center of Chinese film industry was forced to relocate to thenBritish-owned Hong Kong and the wartime Nationalist capital, Chongqing. Most of the movie heavily focused on patriotic themes. Despite of the war pressures, artists and directors made several well-spread movies to motivate people to fight against invasions. Mulan Joins the Army (1939) told the story of a young Chinese peasants fighting against foreign invasions was a typical film made in the midst of war. However, as the Japanese was seeking more cultural control of occupied territories, films like the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere – promoting Eternity (1932) were also produced. Japanese government also expanded its efforts on bringing Japaneseauthorized company into Chinese cinema. From 1937 to 1945, the movie was a major luxurious entertainment since the majority of the population struggled for living. [2] The Second Golden Age Following the official surrender of the Japanese in 1945, the film industry remained its focus to be used as a major political tool. But the themes were mostly reflecting domestic conflicts. With many film studios moved back to Shanghai, the industry entered its Second Golden Age. Kunlun Studios, one of the most important studios of the era, produced The Spring River Flows East (1947), Myriad of Lights (1948) and San Mao, The Little Vagabond (1949). [17] Many of these films showed the disillusionment with the oppressive rule of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist party. The films struck a significant chord with the public audiences who were hardly recovering from the World War II and domestic postwar political conflicts. In the second half of the Golden Age, companies like the Wenhua Film Company (“Culture Films”) started to explore the evolution and development of other dramatic genres while treating domestic class struggles in universalistic and humanistic ways. It produced films like Unending Emotions (1947) and Fake Bride, Phony Bridegroom (1947), which were excellent examples of Wenhua’s fare. Wenhua’s romantic drama Spring in a Small Town (1948) directed by Fei Mu is often regarded by Chinese film critics as one of the most important films in the history of Chinese cinema. Communist Revolution After the communist party took the control of the majority of the territories and officially founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the government saw motion pictures as an important mass production art form and tool for propaganda. Starting in late 40s, pre-1949 Chinese films, along with Hong Kong productions and all the western films were strictly banned as the government tighten control over mass media. During the period, films could only be focusing on peasants, soldiers and workers, such as Bridge (1949) and The White Haired Girl (1950). [5][7][19] The government built mobile projection units due to the lack of film theaters which expanded its national coverage by touring the remote regions of China, ensuring that even the poorest class could have access to films. By 1965, there were over 20 thousand of such units. The number of movie viewers grew exponentially, with admissions rising from 47 million in 1949 to 4.15 billion in 1959. [8][10] As a direct result of the Hundred Flowers Campaign, the thawing of censorship in late 50s and early 60s led to more indigenous Chinese films being made. Movies such as Before the New Director Arrives exposed the hierarchical relationships occurring between the cadres. Other noteworthy films produced during this period are adaptations of literary classics, such as Sang Hu’s The New Year’s Sacrifice (1956; adapted from a Lu Xun Story) and Shui Hua’s The Lin Family Shop (1959; adapted from a Mao Dun story). The Cultural Revolution and the Third Golden Age The Chinese Cultural Revolution ended the Second Golden Age of Chinese’s cinema. Critics even considered the periods as a major fall back in the history of the industry development. Not only the film industry was severely restricted, almost all previous films were banned. Movie production revived after 1972 under the strict jurisdiction of the Gang of Four until 1976, when they were overthrown. The few films that were produced during this period, such as 1975’s Breaking with Old Ideas, were highly regulated in terms of plot and characterizations. Almost immediately following the Cultural Revolution, the film industry again flourished as a medium of popular entertainment. Production rose steadily, from 19 features in 1977 to 125 in 1986. Domestically produced films played to revive crowds by making more innovative and “exploratory” films like their counterparts in the West. However, the Third Golden Age has been cut shortly in 1980s when the film industry faced the problems of competition and concern on the part of the authorities that many of the popular thriller and martial arts films were socially unacceptable. In January 1986 the film industry was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the newly formed Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television to bring it under “stricter control and management” and to “strengthen supervision over production.” [4][9] New models and the new Chinese cinema With China’s liberalization in the late 1970s, foreign films started to enter the Chinese market. Filmmaking entered the era under commercial considerations. Traditional Chinese movies screened seldom make enough to breakeven despite of receiving well-known reputation and awards global wide. Feng Xiaogang’s The Dream Factory (1997) was heralded as a true turning point in Chinese movie industry. 贺岁片 (Chinese New Year – screened film) set an example of the viability of a successful commercial model in the industry. Feng soon became the most successful commercial movie director in late 1990s. Many movie stars also arise as a direct impact of Feng’s movies. [12] [15] In 2010s, Chinese film was facing a more severe competition against Hollywoods and other Western films. In January 2010, James Camerons’ Avatar became the then-top selling movie in China, while no domestic film was nearly successful. But this gave many investors a signal of the high business potential of the Chinese movie industry. With increasing capitals invested in the industry, Lost in Thailand (2012) set a milestone for Chinese domestic film – the first Chinese film to reach 1 billion CNY at the Chinese box office. Monster Hunt (2015) later became the first to reach CN 2 billion. As of November 2015, half of the top 10 highest-grossing films in China are domestic produced. On February 8, 2016, the Chinese box office set a new single-day gross record, with CN¥660 million, beating the previous record of CN¥425 million on July 18, 2015. Also on February 2016, The Mermaid, directed by Stephen Chow, became the highest-grossing film in China, overtaking Monster Hunt. It is also the first film to reach CN¥3 billion. [6][7] Year Gross (in billions of yuans) Domestic share Tickets sold (in millions) Number of screens 2003 less than 1 2004 1.5 2005 2 60% 157.2 4,425 2006 2.67 176.2 3,034 or 4,753 2007 3.33 55% 195.8 3,527 or 5,630 2008 4.34 61% 209.8 4,097 or 5,722 2009 6.21 56% 263.8 4,723 or 6,323 2010 10.17 56% 290 6,256 or 7,831 2011 13.12 54% 370 9,286 2012 17.07 48.5% 462 2013 21.77 59% 612 18,195 2014 29.6 55% 830 23,600 2015 44 61.6% 1,260 31,627 Film Companies and Distributors The film making industry are led by the BIG 4 companies:  Alibaba Pictures  Huayi Brothers Media  Enlight Media  Bona Film Group As a result of the strong boost of the domestic movie industry, Chinese film makers started to expand business globally. [9] Wanda Cinema is the largest cinema chains in Asia and one of the giants in the global market after acquiring AMC and the second largest cinema chain in Australia, Hoysts. Forbes said Wanda Cinema is one of the fastest growing cinema chain in the history of World cinema. It not only owns the most IMAX screens and has a strong customer bases. Wangda Cinema is also the first public traded cinema chain in China.[8][9] Key Historical Milestones – List of Firsts The first motion picture was played in Shanghai in 1896. The first movie shot and produced domestically was The Battle of Dingjunshan in 1905. The first movie cinema was built by Spanish commuter in 1908. The first film production company, Asiatic concept, was founded in 1909 by American businessman. The first domestic director was Zhengqiu Zheng. The first introduced American movie was Flight General in 1929. The first Oscar winner was Zongzhan Huang in 1950. The first domestic movie award was named in 1962 – Baihua. The first international-standard movie festival was Shanghai International Movie Festival held in 1993. The first privately owned, public traded movie production company was Yongle Movie Company. [21] A List of Award Winning Chinese Movies (Excluding Commercial Films)  Romance of A Fruit Peddler – Zhang Shichuan 1922  Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood – Bu Wancang 1931  Wild Rose – Sun Yu 1932  Blood On Wolf Mountain – Mu Fei 1936  Spring in A Small Town – Mu Fei 1948  Lin Zexu – Zheng Junli 1959  Hibiscus Town – Xie Jin 1986  Shanghai Dreams – Wang Xiaoshuai 2005  The Sun Also Rises – Jiang Wen 2007  A Touch of Sin – Jia Zhangke 2013  Venice 70 – Future Reloaded: Jia Zhangke – Jia Zhangke 2013 [21] References 1. Du, Daisy Yan (May 2012). "A Wartime Romance: Princess Iron Fan and the Chinese Connection in Early Japanese Animation," in On the Move: The Trans/national Animated Film in 1940s-1970s China. University of Wisconsin-Madison. pp. 15–60. 2. Patrick Brzeski, Clifford Coonan (April 3, 2014). "Inside Johnny Depp's 'Transcendence' Trip to China". The Hollywood Reporter. As China's box office continues to boom – it expanded 30 percent in the first quarter of 2014 and is expected to reach $4.64 billion by year's end – Beijing is replacing London and Tokyo as the most important promotional destination for Hollywood talent. 3. Jump up ^ FlorCruz, Michelle (April 2, 2014). "Beijing Becomes A Top Spot On International Hollywood Promotional Tours". International Business Times. The booming mainland Chinese movie market has focused Hollywood's attention on the Chinese audience and now makes Beijing more important on promo tours than Tokyo and Hong Kong 4. Rui Zhang, The Cinema of Feng Xiaogang: Commercialization and Censorship in Chinese Cinema after 1989. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008, p. 38–39. 5. ”Is It a Golden Age for Chinese Cinema? - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. 6. Brzeski, Patrick (December 31, 2015). "China Box Office Grows Astonishing 48.7 Percent in 2015, Hits $6.78 Billion". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 1, 2016. 7. Patrick Brzeski (December 31, 2015). "China Box Office Grows Astonishing 49 Percent in 2015, Hits $6.78 Billion". The Hollywood Reporter. RetrievedDecember 31, 2015 8. Patrick Frater (April 9, 2015). "Chinese Media Stocks Stage Major Rally in U.S. and Asian Markets". variety.com. Retrieved April 14, 2015 9. Rose, S. "The great fall of China", The Guardian, 2002-08-01. Retrieved on 2007-04-28 10. Rui Zhang, The Cinema of Feng Xiaogang: Commercialization and Censorship in Chinese Cinema after 1989. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008, p. 35. 11. Julie Makinen (December 29, 2015). "Movie ticket sales jump 48% in China, but Hollywood has reason to worry". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 29,201 12. Bordwell and Thompson (2010). Film History: An Introduction (Third Edition). New York: McGrawHill Companies, Inc. pp. 372–373. ISBN 978-0-07-338613-3. 13. "Domestic films’ share of box office in Australia and selected other countries, 2000– 2009". screenaustralia.gov.au. Screen Australia. Retrieved 14 February2014 14. "Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 14 February 2014 15. Ward, Julian. "The Remodelling of a National Cinema: Chinese Films of the Seventeen Years (1949– 66)", in The Chinese Cinema Book, edited by Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward (2011). BFI: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 92–93. 16. Xu Fan (China Daily) (June 18, 2015). "Internet Giants Move From Behind the Camera to Front". english.entgroup.cn. EntGroup Inc. Retrieved June 19, 2015. 17. Stephen Cremin and Patrick Frater (January 3, 2013). "Xu joins one billion club".Film Business Asia. Retrieved January 6, 2014. 18. Braester, Yomi. "Contemporary Mainstream PRC Cinema" in The Chinese Cinema Book (2011), edited by Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward, BFI: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 181–182. 19. 《让子弹飞》票房7.3亿 姜文成国内第一导演_娱乐_腾讯网 20. Yau, Esther. "China After the Revolution", in The Oxford History of World Cinema, edited by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (1997). Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 695. 21. Braester, Yomi. "Contemporary Mainstream PRC Cinema" in The Chinese Cinema Book (2011), edited by Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward, BFI: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 181.