"Dingjun Mountain" is China's first domestic film. The Chinese tried to shoot a film in the autumn of 1905 (the 31st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty) at the Fengtai Photo Studio opened in the Tuci Temple in Liulichang, Beijing (the original site of today's South Xinhua Street Primary School).
This film records the performance of "Dingjun Mountain" by Tan Xinpei, the founder of the "Tan School" of Peking Opera in my country. In order to adapt to the characteristics of silent films, scenes featuring martial arts and dance, such as "asking for a tassel", "dance with swords" and "confrontation", were selected and filmed. The photographer was Liu Zhonglun, a photography technician at the museum. He shot for three days and compiled three videos.
The significance of "Dingjun Mountain"
From 1905 to 1908, Ren Qingtai of Beijing Fengtai Photo Studio successively shot a number of opera films such as Tan Xinpei's "Dingjun Mountain", and It was screened successively in Daguanlou. In this process, Ren Qingtai, Liu Zhonglun, and Tan Xinpei undoubtedly became pioneers of Chinese films. Their bold attempts and explorations can be called a feat of the times, but it is the combination of film and Chinese tradition in the ancient capital of Beijing that most perfectly explains the localization of film in China.
As scholar Rao Shuguang said: "It seems to be the destiny of Chinese movies. From the earliest beginning, Chinese movies have been 'marriage' with traditional opera, integrating the most essential part of traditional Chinese culture, which is opera; The most quintessence of Chinese opera, Peking Opera, is displayed in front of the Chinese people, miraculously blending historical memory, national imagery and cultural history. ”