Spring Silkworms (film)
Encyclopedia
Spring Silkworms is a 1933
silent film
from China. It was directed by Cheng Bugao
and was adapted by Cai Chusheng
and Xia Yan
from the novella of the same name
by Chinese author Mao Dun
.
The film stars Xiao Ying, Yan Yuexian, Gong Jianong, Gao Qianping and Ai Xia and was produced by the Mingxing Film Company
.
Today the film is considered one of the earliest films of the leftist movement in 1930s Shanghai
.
in Zhejiang
province, who suffer hardship and deprivation when their crop of silkworm cocoons die off. The film criticizes not only the harsh market conditions that have forced the family into poverty, but the family's own superstition
s and selfishness.
Old Tong Bao is the patriarch of a silkworm-rearing family in Zhejiang. He refuses to buy foreign breeds of silkworms for his coming crop. The market conditions are harsh and despite the efforts his family put in rearing the silkworms, the ensuing cocoons are unable to fetch a price in the market. The film also features a subplot
where a married woman, Lotus, is ostracized by Tong Bao's family for being a supposed jinx
.
1933 in film
-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
from China. It was directed by Cheng Bugao
Cheng Bugao
Cheng Bugao was a prominent Chinese film director during the 1930s. Employed by the Mingxing Film Company, Cheng was responsible for several important "leftist" films in the period, including the Wild Torrents and Spring Silkworms...
and was adapted by Cai Chusheng
Cai Chusheng
Resting Place= Babaoshan Revoluntionary CemeteryCai Chusheng was a Chinese film director of the pre-Communist era. Known best for his progressive output in the 1930s, Cai Chusheng later became a victim to the persecutions of the Cultural Revolution.- Early career :Born in Shanghai to Cantonese...
and Xia Yan
Xia Yan
Xia Yan was a Chinese playwright and screenwriter.Xia entered Zhejiang Industrial School in 1915 ....
from the novella of the same name
Spring Silkworms
Spring Silkworms is a novella by the Chinese author Mao Dun about the experience of Chinese villagers engaging in sericulture.-History:Mao Dun dates the story November 1, 1932...
by Chinese author Mao Dun
Mao Dun
Mao Dun was the pen name of Shen Dehong , a 20th century Chinese novelist, cultural critic, and journalist. He was also the Minister of Culture of China from 1949 to 1965. He is currently renowned as one of the best realist novelists in the history of modern China...
.
The film stars Xiao Ying, Yan Yuexian, Gong Jianong, Gao Qianping and Ai Xia and was produced by the Mingxing Film Company
Mingxing Film Company
Mingxing Film Company was one of the largest Chinese production companies during the 1920s, and 1930s in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company lasted from 1922 until 1937 when it was closed permanently by the Second Sino-Japanese War.-History:...
.
Today the film is considered one of the earliest films of the leftist movement in 1930s Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
.
Plot
The film tells the story of a family of poor silk farmersSericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...
in Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
province, who suffer hardship and deprivation when their crop of silkworm cocoons die off. The film criticizes not only the harsh market conditions that have forced the family into poverty, but the family's own superstition
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
s and selfishness.
Old Tong Bao is the patriarch of a silkworm-rearing family in Zhejiang. He refuses to buy foreign breeds of silkworms for his coming crop. The market conditions are harsh and despite the efforts his family put in rearing the silkworms, the ensuing cocoons are unable to fetch a price in the market. The film also features a subplot
Subplot
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance...
where a married woman, Lotus, is ostracized by Tong Bao's family for being a supposed jinx
Jinx
A jinx, in popular superstition and folklore, is:* A type of curse placed on a person that makes them prey to many minor misfortunes and other forms of bad luck;...
.
External links
- Spring Silkworms at the Chinese Movie Database
- Spring Silkworms at the UCSDUniversity of California, San DiegoThe University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
Chinese Cinema Web-based Learning Center