China - Links & Resources

A visually stunning epic exploring the devastating price one country pays for peace and one man pays for power. Ying Zheng, The King of Qin, has one driving ambition: to unify China'sseven kingdoms into one magnificient empire. Impressed by her lovers convictions, Lady Zhao (Gong Li) helps Ying Zheng concoct an assassination plot that would justify the conquest of Qin's most powerful enemy.   When Ying Zheng's peaceful mission explodes into a brutal holocaust, a disillusioned Lady Zhao is forced to question her loyalty as well as her lover's destiny.

Temptress Moon is a captivating story of a beautiful young woman, her seductive lover and their struggle for power, passion and revenge-so shocking, it was banned in the director's own country!

Yellow earth is a haunting, evocative film set in the barren wilderness of Nothern Shaanxi province in 1939. The life of a fourteen year-old peasent girl is changed forever by the arrival of Gu Qing, a communist soldier who has been sent out to collect folk songs for the use of revolutionary armies. As a young Cui Qiao slowly falls in love with this soldier, she learns from him that she does not have to remain bound to her lonely, traditional life. Inspired to action she flees from her arranged mairrage and escapes across the great Yellow River.

It's the compelling tale of two lifelong friends unexpectedly caught in a passionate love triangle with a woman who comes between them.

*****

****

*****

****

During the Spring of 1989, nightly news acconts filmed in Tiananmen Square enthralled viewers worldwide as they watch the largest popular demonstration in modern Chinese history unfold. THE GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE, a riveting and explosive three hour documentary revisits these events and explores the complex political process that led to the protests and eventual Beijing massacre of June 4th.

Documentary Video

Chinese Folk Arts Series

No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4
No. 5
No. 6
No. 7
No. 8
No. 9
No. 10
No. 11
No. 12
No. 13

Folk arts are the works of art popular among the common people of China. At festivals, happy occasions, or daily lives, people often use these art forms to express their feelings, thoughts, ideas, and hopes.
Chinese Knotting
Fancy Lantern; Rope; Shuttle Kicking
Paper Cutting
Kites; Tops; Pull-Bell
Chinese Shadow Show
Fragrant Pouches; Dough Figures
Calligraphy
Embroidery
Chop Carving & Paper Folding
Lion Dance
Chinese Opera
Dragon Dance
Festival Food

Guest Lecturer, People's Republic of China, Department of Economics, Michigan State University

*****

*****

In a smoky gambling den in 1940's China, a drunken young man runs through his family fortune, losing their ancestral home and all their possessions. This staggering loss proves to be their salvation… and the first step in a thrilling odyssey of survival that will take them through war and revolution, love and loss, tragedy... and triumph. Through the terrors of China's civil war, the passions of the communist takeover, the betrayals of Chairman Mao's Great Leap Forward and the tragic mistakes of the Cultural Revolution, their lives unfold across four decades of momentous change... bound by love, driven by the strength of the human spirit and touched more than once by the hand of fate. [A film by Zhang Yimou. Starring Gong Li]

Tietou's parents, a librarian and school teacher, both loyal communist party members, soon learn that even the most innocent criticisms can be interpreted by the Party as imperialist propaganda. Over the next fifteen years, Tietou observes the adverse effects of party policy on various members of his family. The only image of hope and freedom offered in the film is a blue kite given to Tietou by his father which he later passes on to the next generation. Banned in China, where the director was under close government scrutiny for making the film "without permission". THE BLUE KITE is the most acclaimed and controversial of all of the films to come out of the new Chinese cinema. Told from the perspective of a young boy, Tietou, it traces the fate of a Beijing family and their neighbors as they experience the political and social upheavals in 1950's and 60's China. [Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang. Starring Lu Liping, Pu Quanxin, Guo Baochang]

China: Unleashing the Dragon

Episode 1: Deng's Legacy

Episode 2: The Fragile Rice Bowl

Episode 3: The Soul of the Master


Episode 4: Hong Kong & the Boom Towns

It happened so quickly and quietly that the world barely noticed: China has foregone the trappings of communism and is forging ahead to reinvent itself as a major economic and political power. This four part documentary chronicles the transformation currently sweeping over China, from its initiation by Deng Xiaoping, to the economic, social, and cultural realities of today's China. The government's 1992 announcement that it would re-make the vast nation as a "social market economy" has stirred reactions throughout the country and the world. A fervor has spread that will forever alter Chinese social and cultural traditions. With extraordinary access to government officials, historical documents and the people of China, this revealing program ventures behind the barriers that have shielded China from the western world.

Examines Deng's role in shaping the reformed China

Looks at the impact of economic and generational lines

Illustrates how changing values and economic pressures are influencing popular culture and long-standing cultural institutions.

Examines what may lie ahead for China and Hong Kong and how it will interact with the international cultural and economic community

The most renowned of China's social commentary films of the 1940s, Crows and Sparrows is hailed by film historian Jay Leyda as "a milestone in Chinese film history". Capping the richly creative period of pre-Revolutionary Chinese cinema, the film is also a landmark in Neo-Realism (a major movement within European cinema of the era), A greedy landlord tries to sell off his Shanghai boarding house and emigrate to Taiwan in advance of the expected Communist takeover. His tenants (including a teacher and his family, a peddler, a clerk, and some students) struggle valiantly to keep their homes, triumphing when the landlord is forced to flee the approaching Red Army. Completed on the eve of the Communist revolution, the production of the film itself is historic. Chinese censors approved a sham script believing it to be a harmless comedy. Meanwhile, the real script was updated daily as the civil war progressed and was saved from confiscation by being hidden in the film studio ceiling. Director Zheng Junli himself fell victim to the Communist Cultural Revolution and died in prison in 1969. Starring Zhao Dan, Wu Yin and Wei Heling.

Produced by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone and based on the powerful #1 best-selling book. The Joy Luck Club tells the uplifting story of four remarkable friends whose extraordinary lives are filled with joy and heartbreak. Their lifelong friendship reveals a mosaic of the startling events and conditions that have shaped their lives - and how these experiences have affected the hopes and dreams they hold for each of their children. Hailed as one of the must-see films of the year, this exceptional motion picture is sure to entertain and inspire you from beginning to end.

World-famous artist David Hockney invites the viewer to join him on a magical journey down a 72-foot long legendary 17th-Century Chinese scroll. As he unrolls the richly detailed painting, Hockney traces the Emperor Kangxi's grand tour of his southern domains. The bustling streets and waterfronts of 300 years old come alive in the shape of delightful "mom-and-pop take-out" dumpling shops, fishmongers hawking their wares, and bonsai vendors pruning trees. Comparing the work with a Canaletto painting and a later Chinese scroll, Hockney spins a dazzling discourse on eastern and western perspective and their relationship to his own artistic vision. Hockney's trip through one of China's most magnificent artworks is a joyous adventure for all. Director Philip Haas has been honored with film retrospectives at the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Tate Gallery in London for his films on arts and artists.

Raise the Red Lantern received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, 1991. In a sweeping and magnificent tale of passion, aspiration, dreams and desire set in 1920's China. 19-year-old Songlian (Gong Li) has become Fourth Wife to the wealthy Chen. Yet she must share her husband with his three existing wives. Each wife has her own house on the estate, and each must wait until dusk for the arrival of a red lantern. When the lantern is carried signifies which wife the master will sleep with that night. The lantern brings with it privileges none of the wives will sacrifice without a fight. When Songlian discovers that the other wives manipulate and cheat their ways to win the red lantern, she decides to join in the fight for Chen's attention. A battle of wills commences that can only bring misfortune to all concerned. [Directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Gong Li]

****

******

A cross-cultural comedy-drama chronicling the return of a Chinese-American businessman to his homeland the ensuing cultural clash between his thoroughly Americanized family and his Beijing relatives.[Directed by Peter Wang. Starring Peter Wang, Sharon Iwai, Kelvin Han Yee, Li Qinqin, Hu Xiaoguang]

*****

A slide show on video tape of Tokyo, Taipei, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Trip led by Jack Williams, Professor of Geography at MSU

*****

******

Beginning as a lusty romantic comedy about a nervous young bride's arrival ans ensuing seduction at a remote winery, and ending as a heroic and harrowing drama of partisan resistance during the Japanese occupation, the film builds to a spell-binding, explosive climax.

As a rare master of an ancient are, the skills of the King of Masks are sought out by even the most beloved star of the esteemed Chinese Opera. But tradition dictates that the aging master's trade only be passed on to a male heir. Desparate for his art to survive, The King of Masks finds a apprentice in a destitute shild purchased on the black market. When the child reveals ann unexpected secret, their relationship is suddenly tested by both the old man's stubborn sense of tradition and the established customs of China.

As a rare master of an ancient are, the skills of the King of Masks are sought out by even the most beloved star of the esteemed Chinese Opera. But tradition dictates that the aging master's trade only be passed on to a male heir. Desparate for his art to survive, The King of Masks finds a apprentice in a destitute shild purchased on the black market. When the child reveals ann unexpected secret, their relationship is suddenly tested by both the old man's stubborn sense of tradition and the established customs of China.

0

0

No women in any country have seen their lives change so radically as Chinese women. "Women are 'half the sky'," declared Mao Zedong, "and they are absolutely the equal of men." This program explores these changes within the lives of four generations of women in the Jiang family over the last 50 years in China, from the grandmother who was bought by Jiang family at age 14 to be grandfather's second wife, the her 24-year-old great-granddaughter who works as a sales assistant at the Pierre Cardin boutique in Beijing.

Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan and Su Li-zhen move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are profile and formal-until a discovery about their respective spuses sparks onan intimate bond. At once delicately mannered and visually stunning. Wong Kar-wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments in time.

Including: LIAONING Impressions of Splendor, highlights of LIAONING Culture, selected performances form the opening ceremony of Dalian International Fashion Festival and selected performances of ceremonies on LIAONING TV.

Insight to the cultural value systems affecting the process of business and social life. Guidelines to assist you in day-to-day dealings with the Chinese. Strategies fro each stage of your China venture from initial contact to contract fulfillment. Protocols for various social and business contacts. Essential Chinese expressions that can help you along.

This program profiles people on the extremes of poverty and great wealth in the new China. The video opens with four segments about the impact on the Chinese people of membership in the World Trade Organization. In an excerpt from the program's final interview, former U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky talks about the difficult process of economic modernization in the world's most populous nation.

When widowed Mr. Chu, a tai-chi master, arrives from Beijing to live with his only son in an upscale New Yourk suburb, it sets the stage for a warm comedy of manners. With a daughter-in-law who has no use for him and an ever-changing society, problems quickly arise. His forced to call upon his tai-chi teachings and his Pushing Hands, a traditional exercise, which imparts him the balance needed to survive in this poignant and comic tale.

0

Slides from the Asian Studies Center

Book1
Book2

Book 1:
From Canton to Yenan
Chinese Festivals and Customs
Urban Area and Architecture: China (THE GREAT WALL) UAA
China: People (PEP)
Map (MAP) China: Maps, Graphs, Charts, Aerial Photos
Industry (IND) China: Factories, Mines, Industrial Worker
Urban Areas Architecture China
Pretty Pictures (PP) Scenery
History (HIS) China
Art China (C)
Rural Area (RUR) China: Communes, Ag. Technology, Rural People

Book 2:
Rural Area (Cont.)
Outer Provinces
Science and Medicine (S+M)
Armed Forces (AF): Weapons, Soldiers
Roads, Rivers, Dams, Dridges (RR) China
Political (POL): Political Cartoons, International Politicians, Chinese Leaders
Sports and Exercise (C)
Arts and Crafts (ART): Visual Arts, Crafts, Ballet, Opera
Images of China (Part 1) (China Council)
How to make maps (China)