New Women

New Women (Chinese: 新女性; pinyin: Xīn nǚxìng) is a silent Chinese film released in Shanghai in early 1935 by the Lianhua Film Company.[1] It is sometimes translated as New Woman. The film starred Ruan Lingyu (in her penultimate film) and was directed by Cai Chusheng. This film became Ruan Lingyu’s better known work, as with her suicide on international Women’s Day, March 8 1935 made this film known for it status of new women is modern china a sensation.

This article is about the film. For the feminist ideal, see New Woman.
The New Women
Directed byCai Chusheng
Produced byLuo Mingyou
Written bySun Shiyi
StarringRuan Lingyu
Wang Naidong
Zheng Junli
Music byNie Er
Zhou Can
CinematographyZhou Daming
Production
company
Lianhua Film Company
Release date
February 3, 1935
Running time
106 min
CountryChina
LanguageSilent film
Written Chinese intertitles
Ruan Lingyu
Zheng Junli

The product of "New women" has been the result of a social economic trend and reform social movement that has been going on for decades. It offered criticism to China's traditional ideology and offered a change in china’s “old women” to “new women” as an alternative social convention.New Women was based upon the life of Chinese actress and writer, Ai Xia, who had committed suicide in 1934.[2] Ai Xia's death following her role in A Modern Woman (1933), inspired Cai Chusheng to emulated the tragedy in this film.[3]

A print of the film is currently maintained by the China Film Archive.[2]

Synopsis

The film deals with an educated and modern young woman, Wei Ming (Ruan Lingyu), living in 1920s Shanghai. As the film begins, Wei Ming is working as a music teacher for a school, and harbouring dreams of becoming a writer.  Dr. Wang, the school board minister, who is also Wei Ming's old classmate Zhang Xiuzhen's husband, likes Wei Ming and wants her to become his concubine. Wei Ming ignores his advances as she falls in love with the editor of a publishing company Yu Haichou. Yu Haichou, however, refuses Wei Ming's advances. Wei Ming soon befriends her neighbour Aying who is a factory worker who teaches patriotic work songs to her coworkers. Doctor Wang, angered by Wei Ming's rejection, plans to retaliate against Wei Ming. He convinces the principal of the school to fire Wei Ming. At the same time Wei Ming's older sister and her daughter come to Shanghai for Wei Ming's help as they need money. Wei Ming's daughter, Xiao Hong, is shown to be suffering from pneumonia and after arriving in Shanghai her condition begins to deteriorate. Wei Ming writes a novel called “The Tomb of love” and hopes that the payment can reduce her financial burden but she realizes too late that the she cannot be paid in advance. Under such harsh circumstances, Wei Ming decides to become a "slave for one night” and prostitute herself. Unexpectedly, her first client is Doctor Wang. Wei Ming angrily hits Dr. Wang and runs away. She helplessly watches her daughter dies, then commits suicide afterwards by taking sleeping pills. Yu Haichou takes Wei Ming to the hospital where Aying attempts to inspire her to continue living. Wei Ming cries out "I want to live, I want revenge". However, the doctor can no longer rescue Wei Ming and she dies. The publisher and the journalist cynically joins to sponsor Wei Ming's funeral for publicity benefits. Aying continues to lead her factory women workers in choral singing classes, the film ends with a scene of Aying and her factory coworkers walking out of the factory.

Cast
  • Ruan Lingyu (阮玲玉), as Wei Ming, the heroine, a young woman who teaches music at a private, all-girls high school and who is trying to have her novel published;
  • Wang Naidong (王乃东), as Dr. Wang, Wei Ming's suitor and primary antagonist, married to Wei's old schoolmate;
  • Zheng Junli (郑君里), as Yu Haichou, an editor at a publishing company, a friend of Wei Ming and her love interest;
  • Wang Moqiu (王默秋), as Mrs. Wang, Wei Ming's former schoolmate, now married to Dr. Wang;
  • Yin Xu (殷虚), as Li Aying, Wei Ming's neighbor, a factory worker, a physically strong and mentally disciplined woman who devotes her spare time to educating female laborers;
  • Chen Sujuan (陈素娟), as Wei Xiaohong, Wei Ming's daughter;
  • Gu Menghe (顾梦鹤), as Qi Weide, the editor-in-chief of the local newspaper;
  • Wu Yin (吴茵), as the music school principal;
  • Tang Tianxiu (汤天绣), as Wei Ming's elder sister;
  • Liu Qiong (刘琼), as Doctor #1;
  • Shang Guanwu (尚冠武), as Doctor #2;
  • Fang Lianying (方怜影), as landlady in the same building as Wei Ming;
  • Zhou Qianyun (周倩云), as the daughter of the landlady;
  • Long Ling (龙凌), as Wei Ming's ex-husband;
  • Qiu Yiwei (裘逸韦), as the publisher;
  • Hong Jingling (洪警铃), as the dancing hall manager;
  • Fei Baiqing (费柏青), as the man in the flat cap;
  • Diao Banhua (貂斑华), as the dancing girl;
  • Huang Yunzhen (黄筠贞), as Madam Xu;
  • Zhuo Mei (卓梅), as the hospital nurse.

Reception

This film was interpreted by many as an example of the leftward development of Cai's politics and the traditional constraints on women in mass media and urban society. One newspaper reviewer praised "the number of films with 'the woman question' as their subject over the past few years" and declared that "it is inevitable that this kind of film would go on to influence many aspects of the women's movement to come." [4] 'The woman question' or funu wenti, was centred around the discussion of love, marriage, education and employment for women. The term "new women" also symbolised the start of modernist discourse in China.[5] There was a lot of publicity and media interest surrounding the social construction of gendered subjectivity in the 1930s. One viewer reflected on his experience watching the movie with a female companion—he recalls his date was angered by the portrayal of Wei Ming criticising Wei Ming's weakness and stating that she was not the "modern" woman at all.

The release of New Women was marred by a backlash from the press who objected to their profession's unflattering portrayal in the film.[6] When the film opened in Shanghai the commercial press took the film's narrative to task for depicting the news media as slanderous and the potential New Woman as suicidal. The Journalists’ Union loudly protested the film's characterization of their trade and the spectre of negative publicity pressured Lianhua studio into making an open apology. In an attempt to clear away accusations that the movie was “condoning” the suicide of New Women, the producers made a public relations show of their virtue by agreeing to screen the film at a fundraiser for a women's educational center on International Women's Day, March 8. The target of much of their ire became the suicide of the film's star, Ruan Lingyu one month after the movie premiered on March 8, the same day as the screening of the film at the women's educational center.[7] The reception and publicity the film received was directly tied to Ruan's suicide by barbiturates. Her death was purportedly due to the gossip and exposure surrounding her personal life. In her final note, she stated, "Gossip is a fearful thing", attributing her suicide to the same kind of media harassment her character Wei Ming experienced. The idea of the protagonist's "crisis in subjectivity" was brought to life by Ruan's suicide.[8] It provoked much debate in the Shanghai news media on the controversy over the representation and status of women in popular culture and shed a light on the increasing feminist problems of modernity. Much discussion surrounded the similarities between Ai Xia, Ruan, and her character Wei Ming, all sources of scrutiny in 'the woman question' of urban China in the 1930s.[3] Some criticised the representation of new woman in the film as not focusing on family duties and pressured the idea of an independent new woman, conveying the traditional Chinese ideals which needed reformation.

Historical Background

In the early 20th century china, the traditional social morals, dictated that women must be modest and reserved in their homes, but after the refounding of the republic of china in 1911, the grip to traditionalism started to weaken. These include more education, employment opportunities for women and they became more common in the public eye. Reformers started to rise to promote “social equality” in society for free love, free from sexual discrimination, and freedom of choice.[9]

Following the May Fourth Movement, the term xin nüxing (new woman) was popularized. The direct translation of nüxing is "female sex". However, before the May Fourth Movement, women in China were described by the term funü which emphasized familial and gender roles rather than biological sex.[10] The new woman's role in modern China was often debated by intellectuals, liberals, and The Nationalists and the Communist. Nonetheless, the "new woman" icon found its way into popular media in the forms of film, photographs, magazines, fashion advertisements and calendar posters.[11] Cai Chusheng's film is considered to be the most well-known of the "new woman" genre films. The pioneers of the Chinese Women's Liberation Movement began to pay attention to women's equality of employment and economic independence. They argued that the fundamental reason why women had lost their independence for thousands of years lie in their financial attachment to men and the denial of property rights. Lu Xun once regarded economic independence as the premise of women's liberation,[12] and Li Dazhao believed that women's employment was the basis of equality between men and women.[13]

Director Cai Chusheng and scriptwriter Sun Shiyi based the plot of New Women on the life and death of actress Ai Xia [14]. While Wei Ming, played by Ruan Lingyu was a teacher, Ai Xia was an actress that committed suicide in 1934 at the age of 21 after starring in a movie that she wrote herself called "A Modern Woman".[14] Ai Xia was condemned by the popular press when they found out about a single act of prostitution to raise money in order to afford medicine for her sick daughter.[15] Cai Chusheng was thought to have been affiliated with Ai Xia in some way and made New Women for personal reasons.[15] Ai Xia's suicide and legacy in the film industry in China made her become a symbol for the Chinese women's emancipation.[16] Ai Xia was one of the new-style women emerging in early 20th century China. During these times, female suicide was not an uncommon occurrence with Confucian and patriarchal pressures for women to be mothers and wives while not expressing their true selves.[16] Ai Xia represented this ideology of new women being a young intellectual woman that reflected the need for modernity of fashion, customs and emancipation from men.[16] Ruan Lingyu ended up playing a role that was relatable to her own life.[17] Ruan Lingyu committed suicide on International Women's Day (March 8th, 1935) by overdosing on sleeping pills.[7] Her suicide note apparently contained a line which says "gossip is a fearful thing" (人言可畏), although recent researchers have doubted the note's authenticity as it appeared to have been forged by Tang Jishan. Even China's preeminent intellectual Lu Xun was appalled at the details surrounding Ruan's death and wrote an essay entitled "Gossip is a Fearful Thing", denouncing the tabloids. Her funeral procession was three miles long, three women committed suicide during it and the New York Times ran a front page story, calling it “the most spectacular funeral of the century.” [18]

At that time, female writers were respected in Shanghai. However, the rise of the status of women in society was perceived by some to be a threat to man's status in the family and in society. Therefore, females still needed time for society to adapt to the modernisation and let others accept them.[19]

At the beginning of the 20th century, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jiangsu, and other coastal areas were the first places where women workers appeared. Some women also raised money to set up shops and businesses to create opportunities for other women. Some industries even preferred to recruit female employees and paid equal salaries to female and male employees for the first time. Teachers and doctors were the first intellectual professions for women, and women soon appeared in banks and shops as well. They even found work as actors, writers, translators, and editors.[20] Wei Ming in New Women, is like Ai Xia or Ruan Lingyu in that they are the products of this era.


Music

There were two important songs in the movie. One is called "Huangpu River", Aiyin's revision of "Peach Blossom River". This song was cut from the film in order to pass the government’s censors. The other is "Song of the New Women", which appeared at the end of the film. It was composed by Nie Er, a young musician who also wrote the melody later chosen for the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. The song culminates in a revolutionary verser which envisions the simultaneous dissolution of class and gender divisions. [21]

Reputation

Today, the film's reputation has become firmly established as one of the classic examples of 1930s Chinese film. The organizers of the 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial on Contemporary Art referred to the film, in their retrospective of Ruan Lingyu's work, as a "Masterpiece in the spirit of the May 4th tradition."[2]

As a glorious chapter that marks the beginning of Cai Chusheng's film career, the film "New Women" is a remarkable one. There are episodes and no dialogues when the film is released. It can be regard as a transitional bridge from Chinese silent films to sound films.[22] In the film, Ruan Lingyu's performance can also be described as powerful and sorrowful.

The story is allegedly based on the talented actress Ai Xia who committed suicide under the dual pressure of survival and spirit of being the spotlight. The director Cai Chusheng was deeply affected by her death and realized that Ai Xia's life and death is of great social significance. He hoped to make a movie based on her story to educate the female population that suicide is not the solution. As a make-up version of Ai Xia's tragic fate, the actress Ruan Lingyu starred as the main protagonist in "New Women". The protagonist in the story has been abandoned by her oppressive patriarchal family to start an independent life as a writer. She wrote the autobiographical novel "The Tomb of Love." [23] However, it was impossible for her to escape the fate of suicide as in reality, females were mere playthings of male desires and a gimmick in the commercial operation of the publishing industry. The film has caused an uproar due to the violation of the patriarchal society before its release, and eventually led to the death of Ruan Lingyu. A rebellious new woman's echo-like record of self-destruction seems to show quite clearly the fragile collusion between women and the society.[24] In addition to the message that the film conveys, the death of Ruan Lingyu after a month of the film's premiere is regarded as a female tragedy under the commercial and star system, which illustrates the tragic impact of the new woman and patriarchal/male culture. It is also a reflection of the conflict between left-wing movies and the right-wing newspaper. Interestingly, this conflict did not damage the reputation of the director of the film, Cai Chusheng, but ultimately sacrificed the reputation and life of actress Ruan Lingyu. The film New Women is now closely linked to the death of Ruan Lingyu, as a symbol of the dangers of mass media and female objectivity in the film industry.

Further Viewing

Further reading

Lu, Sheldon H. Transnational Chinese Cinemas: Identity, Nationhood, Gender. University of Hawai'i Press, 1997.

“Gossip is a fearful thing”: Ruan Lingyu’s 新女性 from The New Women (1935). August 2015.

The New Woman: Image, Subject, and Dissent in 1930s Shanghai Film Culture by Kristine Harris [25]

New Women and the Cinematic Representation of Colonial Modernity in 1930s Shanghai[26]

Ruan Lingyu: reflections on an individual performance style by Mette Hjort [17]

Ruan Lingyu: Media killed the movie star by Rob Hemsley[27]

Jing, Shen. “Women’s Revenge: Male Violence vs Female Masculinity in The New Woman (1935) and The Price of Madness (1988).” Asian Cinema, Volume 22, Number 2, September 2011, pp. 226–252(27)

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References
  1. Some sources state that the film is a 1934 release. This is inaccurate, as the film was released on February 2, 1935, the first day of the Lunar Chinese New Year.
  2. "Shanghai Goddess: Ruan Lingyu". 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial on Contemporary Art. Archived from the original on 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  3. Cui, Shuqin. "Stanley Kwans Center Stage: The (Im)Possible Engagement between Feminism and Postmodernism." Cinema Journal, vol. 39, no. 4, 2000, pp. 60–80., doi:10.1353/cj.2000.0012.
  4. Harris, Kristine (1997). The New Women Incident. University of Hawaii Press. p. 277.
  5. Harris, Kristine (1997). New Woman Incident. University of Hawaii Press. p. 287.
  6. "New Women (Xin Nuxing)". UCSD Chinese Cinema Web-Based Learning Center. 2003-01-10. Archived from the original on 2007-08-14. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  7. Harris, Kristine. New Woman Incident. University of Hawaii Press. p. 291.
  8. Harris, Kristine. New Woman Incident. University of Hawaii Press. p. 271.
  9. Jing, Shen. "Women's revenge: male violence vs female masculinity in The new woman (1935) and The price of madness (1988)." Asian Cinema Volume XXII. 2011: 226-251.
  10. Sarah E. Stevens. (2003). Figuring Modernity: The New Woman and the Modern Girl in Republican China. NWSA Journal, 15(3), 82-103.
  11. Pan, Yihong. "Crafting the 'New Woman' in China's Left-Wing Cinema of the 1930s: Sun Yu’s Three Films." Frontiers of History in China, vol. 6, no. 2, 2011, pp. 264–284., doi:10.1007/s11462-011-0129-9.
  12. "对鲁迅小说对妇女解放问题的探索与思考". login.cnki.net. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  13. "毛泽东诞辰110周年纪念". www.people.com.cn. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  14. Harris, Kristine (1997), "11. The New Woman Incident: Cinema, Scandal, and Spectacle in 1935 Shanghai", Transnational Chinese Cinemas, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p. 280, ISBN 978-0-8248-6529-0
  15. Farquhar, Mary. (2010). Chinese Film Stars. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-203-85485-3. OCLC 642661346.
  16. Nelmes, Jill & Selbo, Jule (2015). Women screenwriters : an international guide. Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978-1-349-58086-6. OCLC 1063477189.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. Chinese Film Stars Edited By Mary Farquhar, Yingjin Zhang，Chapter 3，Page 18
  18. Cousins, Mark. "The Asian aesthetic". Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  19. Changchun (2011). "中国早期电影《新女性》 与民国上海的女性话语建构": 109. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. "抗战以前国统区妇女职业状况研究". r.cnki.net. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  21. Harris, Kristine (1997). The New Women Incident. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 285–286.
  22. "听蔡楚生讲《新女性》和ruanlingyu". 奥华文学网.
  23. "女性意识的成长——以《新女性》为例". 大众文艺. 15: 197.
  24. "阮玲玉与"新女性"". 电影画刊. 12: 57.
  25. Journal Republican China Volume 20, 1995 page 55-79
  26. Hong, Guo-Juin. "Framing Time: New Women and the Cinematic Representation of Colonial Modernity in 1930s Shanghai." positions: east asian cultures critique 15, 3 (Winter 2007): 553-80.
  27. Hemsley, Rob. "Ruan Lingyu: Media killed the movie star". gbtimes.com. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
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