Zhuangzi Tests His Wife

Infobox Film
name = Zhuangzi Tests His Wife


image_size = 200px
caption =
director = Beihai Li
producer = Beihai Li
writer = Minwei Li
narrator =
starring =
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Huamei
released = 1913
runtime =
country = Hong Kong
language =
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0266097

"Zhuangzi Tests His Wife" (Traditional Chinese: 莊子試妻 "Zhuangzi shi qi") is a 1913 Hong Kong drama film directed by Li Minwei. It is the first ever feature film in Hong Kong cinema. It also became the first ever Chinese film to be shown abroad, when it was exhibited in the Chinese communities of Los Angeles and San Francisco [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266097/ Trivia present in the IMDB profile] ] .

Plot

Philosopher-eccentric Zhuangzi (Wade-Giles: Chuang Tze) comes across a woman fanning the newly built grave of her dead husband because she desires to marry again. On returning home, Zhuangzi decides to put his wife to the test - he fakes his own death; the wife is grief-stricken and goes into mourning. While funeral arrangement are in progress, a handsome young man come to call on Zhuangzi. Later, there is talk of marriage between Zhuangzi's wife and the man. However, the young man falls ill; his servant says that taking the human brain is the only medicine to cure him.

Li Minwei stars as the wife of Zhuangzi (Beihai Li), while Li Minwei's wife Yan Shanshan played a servant girl, thus making her the first ever Chinese film actress. The two-reel film was successful and was shown in the United States by Polaski.

Historical background: Taoism

Zhuangzi (396 BC-289 BC), was one of the two defining figures of Chinese Taoism, based his philosophy on the premise that all things change and that the perception of truth depends on the context under which it exists.

Throughout history, his teachings have been particularly favored by Chinese scholars and artists, many of whom have created thought-provoking works inspired by Zhuangzi's philosophy.

"Zhuangzi Tests His Wife" is one such work and has become known to people in China through Peking Opera, and other local stage performances.

According to tale, Zhuangzi one day comes across a grieving widow, who is vigorously fanning her recently deceased husband's grave. At his deathbed, the husband has made his wife promise not to remarry until the earth around his tomb is dry -- a common request in ancient China. Aroused by his curiosity, Zhuangzi decides to test his own wife's moral convictions, by faking his death and changing himself into a handsome young man named Chu Wangsun. His wife, Tian Shi, falls in love with the striking young buck, and a courtship develops.

Most of the operatic versions of the story end with Zhuangzi burying his wife after she commits suicide for being disloyal to her husband. But this version tackles the story from a different angle. While Tian Shi still commits suicide in the end, Zhuangzi turns her and himself into butterflies and then, eventually, into dust.

The significance of the ending, from the perspective of Taoist philosophy, is that her yearning for a second love does not go against nature, but is in fact a very human instinct. This is in stark contrast to original opera versions of the story, which purport that her actions were a violation of common moral beliefs, and therefore against the way of nature.

Cast

*Beihai Li ... Zhuangzi
*Minwei Li ... Zhuangzi's wife
*Shanshan Yan ... Servant Girl

ee also

* Cinema of Hong Kong
* List of Hong Kong films

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266097/ Zhuangzi Tests His Wife at Internet Movie Database]
*http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/denton2/courses/c505/temp/history/chapter1.html