Yan Ruisheng (traditional Chinese:閻瑞生; simplified Chinese:阎瑞生; pinyin:Yán Ruìshēng) is a 1921 Chinese silent film directed by Ren Pengnian and starring Chen Shouzi and Wang Caiyun. A docudrama based on the murder of Wang Lianying the previous year, it follows a young man named Yan Ruisheng who, deeply in debt, kills a courtesan to steal her jewellery. The crime is discovered, and he and his accomplices attempt to flee. Yan is captured in Xuzhou and returned to Shanghai, where he is executed.
China's first full-length feature film,[1]Yan Ruisheng was produced as short films were gaining traction among domestic producers. A collaborative project of the Chinese Cinema Study Society, the film extensively used the resources of the Commercial Press' filmmaking division. It emphasized verisimilitude in its casting and setting; the stars were chosen based on their physical resemblance to those involved, while extensive use of location shooting allowed scenes to be set in places associated with the murder.
Despite the generally poor box-office performance of earlier Chinese-made films, Yan Ruisheng was a commercial success upon release. Critical reception of its technical aspects was positive; however, the subject matter was challenged and the film faced several calls for banning. The success of Yan Ruisheng stimulated the rise of the domestic film industry even as it contributed to the rise of film censorship in China. The film is thought to be lost.
Plot
Yan Ruisheng, having wasted his money on gambling, fine food, and prostitutes, decides to rob the courtesan Wang Lianying. He travels to her brothel and hires her. He also attempts to entice Xiaolin Daiyu, but she declines. Yan and Wang travel outside Shanghai, where Yan's friends Wu Chunfang and Fang Rishan are waiting. Although Wang begs for her life, she is killed. Her jewellery is stolen, and her body is left in a field. Back in Shanghai, the brothel manager realizes that Wang is missing. He learns from Xiaolin that she had gone with Yan, and reaches out to the police. After her body is found, Yan and his compatriots unsuccessfully attempt to evade their pursuers. Yan is caught in Xuzhou, then repatriated to Shanghai and executed.[2]
Front page of the Shen Bao, 19 June 1920, offering a reward for the capture of Yan Ruisheng. His murder of Wang Lianying captured the imagination of contemporary Shanghai society.
Film was introduced to China in 1896, with the first one screened as part of a variety show in Shanghai. Over subsequent decades, numerous films imported from the West– at first, one-reelers with little plot but later expanding to include feature-length films– were screened. In 1905, Fengtai Photographic Studio produced Dingjun Mountain, a short film depicting Tan Xinpei in a Peking opera. This was the first Chinese-produced film.[3] Through the 1910s, several film studios were established. Working with Zhang Shichuan, the American Benjamin Brodsky established the Asia Film Company, which produced documentaries as well as The Difficult Couple (1913)– the first Chinese-made short fiction film. Other studios were established in Hong Kong and Shanghai,[3] and toward the late 1910s the production of shorts was increasing.[4] Though initially tepid,[5] audience interest in this new medium– known under such terms as "electric shadowplay" (電光影戯; 电光影戏)– blossomed, and by 1926 more than a hundred cinemas were attested throughout the region.[3]
Yan Ruisheng was based on a murder case in Shanghai wherein a university-educated youth named Yan Ruisheng had killed Wang Lianying, a courtesan known as the "Prime Minister of Flowers".[a][6] The case immediately "scandalized and mesmerized the city's chattering classes",[7] as did Yan's confession that the idea for the murder came from American cinema.[8] Newspaper coverage extended for months, with the 5,000-word verdict and accompanying confessions serialized in the Xinwen Bao newspaper from 25 November to 8 December 1920.[9] The story was quickly adapted to the stage, including as spoken-word "civilized dramas",[10] Peking operas, and various local forms of theatre.[11]
Production
Production of Yan Ruisheng was handled by the Chinese Cinema Study Society (CCSS), a recently established group of students that also published an illustrated periodical titled The Motion Picture Review (影戏杂志).[b][12] Although the production process was primarily collaborative, several individuals were identified as fulfilling specific roles.[13]Ren Pengnian was credited as director, while Yang Xiaozhong was attributed for the script and Liao Enshou for cinematography.[14] Also involved were society members Xu Xinfu and Gu Kenfu.[c][15] In its production announcement, CCSS claimed that it intended to disrupt foreign films' monopoly over Chinese audiences, transform the screen portrayal of the Chinese, and produce films for export; a desire to stimulate investment in film was noted in post-release coverage.[12]
Initially, the filmmakers considered hiring cast members from existing stage productions. Ultimately, they decided to cast amateurs.[16] CCSS member Chen Shouzhi was cast in the lead role due to his physical resemblance to Yan Ruisheng; having been one of Yan's friends, he also knew the man's mannerisms.[17] For the victim Wang Lianying, a retired courtesan named Wang Caiyun was hired;[18] she had also had previous theatrical experience.[19] As earlier films had used male actors to portray women, she has been identified as the first woman to act in a mainland Chinese film production.[d][20] A third role, the supporting antagonist Wu Chunfeng, was played by Shao Peng.[21] Yan's friend Zhu Zhijia, whose car had been used in the murder, offered to play himself.[22] The film also featured numerous extras, including uniformed guardsmen who were involved in the execution scene.[12]
The makers of Yan Ruisheng emphasized verisimilitude, advertising that the cast looked exactly the same as their characters' real-life counterparts.
Funds for the production– advertised as tens of thousands of yuan[23]– were borrowed,[13] and equipment and crew were loaned from the filmmaking division of the Commercial Press.[e][24] The Commercial Press' filmmaking division also made available to the crew its indoor studio. Located on the glass-roofed fourth floor of the company's headquarters, the venue was lit by mercury-vapor lamps that allowed for shooting at night.[25] Despite the availability of such facilities, advertisements emphasized the extensive use of location shooting, name-dropping the Fuyuli, Huileli, and Juanli brothels as well as the Helinchun Teahouse.[12]
When making Yan Ruisheng, the filmmakers emphasized a high level of verisimilitude.[f] In this, they were aided not only by the extensive coverage of the court case, but also their own personal familiarity with the culprit. Some scenes were shot at the same locations where the events had occurred,[26] or at venues frequented by those involved,[24] and the car used in the film was the same one in which Yan had driven Wang.[26] Also featured in the film were the Xuzhou railway station, the Shanghai Garrison Command[zh], and the execution grounds,[16] as well as scenes of horse racing.[12]
The production of Yan Ruishing was announced in the Shen Bao on 6 April 1921, with principal photography having been completed and post-production in progress. Coverage appeared in several subsequent issues of the newspaper,[12] and later advertising material explained that the film had been completed over the course of six months.[23] As released, it was ten reels (approx. 100 to 120 minutes) in length,[27] with one advertisement describing this as much more economical than the two- or three-night performances of existing stage versions.[23] This silent film was interspersed with intertitles in vernacular Chinese by Yang Xiaozhong.[28]
Release and reception
Yan Ruisheng premiered on 1 July 1921 at the Olympic Theatre in Shanghai's international settlement.[29] One of the largest cinemas in Shanghai, the Olympic– owned by Spanish entrepreneur Antonio Ramos– was normally used for first-run releases of Hollywood and French imports. The Chinese Cinema Study Society rented the theatre at 200 yuan (¥18,353 in 2019) per day, which excluded the cost of advertising. Given the general underperformance of Chinese films at the time, the extravagance of the release could have been disastrous.[30]
However, Yan Ruisheng film was an immediate commercial success upon release. Despite high ticket prices, ranging from one to twenty yuan (equivalent to ¥92 to ¥1,835 in 2019), screenings were sold out.[8] The most expensive balcony seats were reserved prior to the premiere, and per-day revenues reached 1,300 yuan (¥119,293 in 2019) per day. Total profits for the one-week screening were reported at 4,000 yuan (¥367,055 in 2019).[22] This success challenged the contemporary belief that domestically produced films were unprofitable, and the film toured China extensively in subsequent weeks.[12] By mid-July it had been shown in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hankou.[31] It was screened in Taiwan in 1925.[32]
In its technical achievements, the film was praised. Critics highlighted the film's cohesion and realism, with some comparing it positively to imported films.[33] Reviewing for the Shen Bao, Mu Gong wrote:
The arrangement is much like that of Western film, but incomparable to the chaos of the stage. It could not have been expected that the Chinese people would achieve this level of photography. [...] As for the plot, it is compact, and the male and female actors play their roles well.[g][34]
Scenes from Yan Ruisheng depicting the murder and autopsy of Wang Lianying; the film was criticized for its focus on the killing of a courtesan
At the same time, critics decried Yan Ruisheng's focus on a murderer and a prostitute.[8] Some urged that the film not be screened internationally, while others accused it of teaching sex and violence.[35] In the Xinwen Bao prior to the film's release, the critic Yan Duhe urged against exporting the film, writing that despite its potential commercial success "for the sake of appearance, it is not very decent to show such criminal incidents to outsiders."[h][34] Similarly, in the Chunsheng Daily the drama critic Guan Ji'an questioned the prudence of adapting the case to film, deeming it unsuited for the purpose of "promoting China's inherent civilization and washing away the shame of Europe and the United States".[i][34]
Ultimately, in 1923, Yan Ruisheng was banned in Shanghai as part of an effort to crack down on films that challenged traditional morals.[8] The Department of Mass Education at the Republic of China's Ministry of Education in Beijing similarly urged the banning of Yan Ruisheng and Zhang Shichuan's Zhang Xinsheng (1922)– another film based on a notorious murder case.[36] The body later drafted a series of regulations seeking to censor films that "disturbed social order, damaged social mores and (in the case of foreign films particularly) were offensive to Chinese sensibility", publishing them in 1926.[36] This was part of a broader discourse on the influence of cinema– particularly the crime genre– on Chinese society. There was much concern that the advent of films was incentivizing crimes and other acts that were deemed immoral by the contemporary community.[37]
Legacy
Yan Ruisheng was the first Chinese-made full-length feature film.[1] Inspired by the film's commercial success, numerous companies began working on their own productions. Two more feature-length films, Dan Duyu's Sea Oath and Guan Haifeng's The Pink Skull, were released the following year.[j][17] By the middle of the 1920s, some 146 film studios had been established in Shanghai alone; most never completed a film.[38] Of the films that were completed, many focused on urban crime, which continued to draw commercial audiences[24]– and criticism from journalists.[37] Others, drawing on the popularity of courtesans, hired former prostitutes as actresses or told stories centred around the practice.[k][39]
The CCSS disbanded after the film's release,[5] though members such as Ren Pengnian and Xu Xinfu remained active in the industry.[40] The story of Yan Ruisheng remained well known through the 1930s.[11] In 1938, the case was again adapted to film, this time by Kwan Man-ching in Hong Kong. Starring Yip Fat-Yeuk as Yan Ruisheng and Fa Ying-Yung as Wang Lianying, this version was given the English-title Woe to the Debauched! but known in Chinese as Yan Ruisheng.[41] The case also served as an inspiration for Jiang Wen's Gone with the Bullets (2014).[42] The film, in which Jiang starred alongside Ge You and Shu Qi, followed a mafioso in 1920s China who arranged to launder money by staging a beauty pageant.[7]
The film Yan Ruisheng is thought lost;[12] the earliest Chinese film known to have survived in its entirety– the short Labourer's Love (1922)– was produced the following year. The loss of early Chinese films has been attributed to various causes, including natural degradation, internal conflict, and warfare;[43] for example, the Japanese bombing of Shanghai on 28 January 1932 resulted in the destruction of numerous works by Mingxing, the Commercial Press, and other studios.[44] Several film stills from Yan Ruisheng are known to have survived.[12]
Explanatory notes
↑ In China, the term "flower" (花) has a long history as a euphemism for courtesans. Prostitution was legal in China, and in Shanghai's international settlements courtesans paid a "flower tax" through the 1860s. The highest class courtesans entertained their clients not only with sexual services but also with their musical prowess. According to the Shanghai Chronicles, in 1915 some 9,700 women were active as prostitutes in the Shanghai International Settlement (Shanghai Chronicles 2008). In the 1920s, authorities in the British Concession closed one-fifth of the area's brothels, with plans to eliminate the remainder by 1925 (Chen 2021).
↑ This magazine, which only lasted three issues, did not identify its editorial board. Contents focused primarily on Western imports and included several photographs of Charlie Chaplin, though discussion of the emerging cinema of Japan was also found (Chen 2021).
↑ As noted by Chen (2021), sources disagree as to the exact composition of the CCSS. Yang Xiaozhong identified Chen Shouzhi, Shi Binyuan, and Shao Peng as leading members. Lu Jie[zh] described the group as having been established by Gu Kenfu before being joined by himself, Shi Binyuan, Xu Xinfu, and Chen Shouzhi; all of these students contributed to The Motion Picture Review.
↑ Wang was not the first woman to act in a Chinese film production. Yan Shanshan, the wife of Lai Man-Wai, had played a servant girl in her husband's 1913 short film Zhuangzi Tests His Wife (Zhang 2005, p.38). This film was not produced in Shanghai, but in British Hong Kong, which had more liberal policies that may have facilitated her screen appearance (Selbo 2015, p.55).
↑ The Commercial Press' filmmaking division produced some forty-eight films, mostly documentaries, between 1917 and 1924. None are known to have survived, the warehouse having been destroyed during the Shanghai incident of 1932 (Qian 2024, p.52).
↑ Such an emphasis on realism was thought to draw audiences; a similar approach was used for Lee Tit's House Number Sixty-Six (1936) fifteen years later (Troost 2023, p.54).
↑ Original: ｢一切布置均与西片相仿，殊与各舞台之乱七八糟者不可同日而语，国人自摄影片，竟能臻此境界，殊出意料之外。[...] 至于此剧中之情节，编制尚紧凑，演男女各员均能适如其分。｣. Original source: Mu Gong (木公) (11 July 1921). 顾影闲评[Shadowplay Reviews]. Shen Bao (in Chinese). pp.13, 18.
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