Editor’s Foreword (Jon Woronoff)
Reader’s Note
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Chronology
Introduction
THE DICTIONARY
Glossary
Bibliography
About the Authors
Tan Ye is professor of Comparative Theater in the Department of
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, the Director of the Confucius
Institute, and Director of the Chinese Program at the University of
South Carolina. He is the author of Common Dramatic Codes in Yuan
and Elizabethan Theaters (1997), Theory and Practice of
Screenwriting in China and America (co-edited with Li Jin, 2008),
and Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater (2009).
Yun Zhu is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature at the
University of South Carolina, with a focus on Chinese literature
from the late Qing to the contemporary period and Chinese-language
film.
Chinese cinema has an illustrious history. This historical
dictionary of Chinese cinema strives to give the reader a grasp of
that history. This valuable reference work opens with a chronology
beginning in 1895 with the country's first public screening and
concluding with the opening of a new complex in Tianjin that serves
as a co-production site with U.S. filmmakers....A superb,
well-written, interesting book. The scholar as well as the casual
reader will certainly learn a great deal about one of the
foundations of eastern culture.
*American Reference Books Annual*
Like its siblings in the “Scarecrow Press HD” series, this
economical tome presents a neat summary of major events and
catalytic forces in shaping the title subject, here being Chinese
movie-making. Via a chronology, cross-referenced entries,
appendixes, and a sizable bibliography, films, actors, and
directors are explained in the context of China’s political
backdrop since the cinema industry’s inception in 1896. A helpful
Chinese-English translation of film titles is provided. Anyone
interested in cinema from this part of the world will find this a
fascinating browse and creditable reference source. VERDICT
Appropriate for academic libraries supporting liberal arts
curricula, and public libraries serving a Chinese-American
population.
*Library Journal*
Chinese cinema has a long and often turbulent history that reflects
the history of the country itself. That history is well served in
the chronology, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced
entries about actors, directors, and films in this informative
work. A glossary of personal names and a list of film titles in
English and Chinese are also provided. Coauthor Tan Ye is the
coeditor (with Lin Jin) of Theory and Practice of Screenwriting in
China and America (2008) and author of Historical Dictionary of
Chinese Theater (2009). Film scholars and students of modern
Chinese culture will savor this rich resource.
*Booklist*
The nearest counterpart to this volume by professor Ye and PhD
candidate Zhu (both, Univ. of South Carolina) is Yinjin Zhang's
more substantial Encyclopedia of Chinese Film (CH, Nov'99,
37-1277), which it updates and extends. Both works are necessary
for adequate reference coverage of Chinese film. Whereas historical
essays in the encyclopedia are geographically oriented, with
entries on Chinese film in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other
places, the broad historical essay that introduces Chinese cinema
in this historical dictionary is chronologically based. It
describes five phases--from a classic "origins" period to the
current, post-Tiananmen Square one. Accompanying the entries is a
thorough chronology, which lists developments from 1895 to 2012.
The introduction suggests a third scheme of classification of
Chinese cinema, based less on place or historical period and more
on filmmakers; six generations of filmmakers are differentiated.
Most of the entries that make up the body of this dictionary focus
on people connected with the Chinese movie industry. However,
entries are also included for selected specific films; "topical"
terms, such as awards ("Golden Rooster Awards"), film education
("Beijing Film Academy"), types of films ("Mainstream Melody Film,"
"Martial Arts Film"); and other terms ("Left-Wing Cinema Movement,"
"Women"). A glossary is included. Summing Up: Recommended.
Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers.
*CHOICE*
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