Category: Chinese Culture

Uproar in the Heaven (大闹天宫)

Uproar in the Heaven (大闹天宫Dà nào Tiāngōng) is a Chinese animated feature film with the two episodes produced in 1961 and 1964 respectively by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. The story is based on the first seven chapters of the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. It vividly portrays Sun Wukong (孙悟空Sūn Wùkōng), a fabulous Chinese hero. The film employs strong colors, fantastic models, and magnificent scenes, exaggerates models for gods and Buddhas on the basis of traditional ones, and highlights the decorative nature and typical characters of the figures. It fully displays the thoughts and artistry of the original work through unique artistic conception and expression methods. It is wonderful and it is worth to watch. 

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About Zhu Rong

Zhu Rong(祝融Zhù Róng) is the God of Fire in the ancient Chinese mythology(mythology is a group of myths, especially all the myths from a particular country, religion, or culture). He's believed to live in the Bright Place of Kunlun Mountain. It is said that he sent the kindling from heaven, and taught human beings how to use fire.

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Movie-Fan Princess, Connie Chan (影迷公主,陈宝珠)

Connie Chan Po-chu(陈宝珠 Chén Bǎozhū ), the "Movie-Fan Princess", was born in 1946 to impoverished parents, one of at least nine siblings, in Guangdong, China. To increase their children's chances of survival, Chan's birth parents gave away some of their youngest to other families. As a result, Chan was adopted by Chan Fei-nung(陈非侬 Chén Fēinóng) and his wife, Kung Fan-hung(宫粉红 Gōng Fěnhóng), who were renowned Cantonese opera stars. During the 1960s, Connie Chan was one of Hong Kong cinema's most beloved teen idols.

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Princess Iron Fan 铁扇公主

Princess Iron Fan is the first Chinese animated feature film. The existence of this film itself is more meaningful than its content for Chines. It was directed in Shanghai under difficult conditions in the thick of World War II and was released on January 1, 1941.

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About Taotie

Taotie(饕餮tāotiè) is a mysterious(someone or something that is mysterious is strange and is not known about or understood) monster in the ancient Chinese mythology. It is said that the monster was extremely greedy of eating and would eat anything within its sight. It even ate its own body. So, the image of the taotie is just a big head and a big mouth without body. The taotie ate too much and died as a result. The monster then became a symbol of greediness and was used to describe people too gluttonous or too greedy.

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Famous Chinese Actor, Kwan Tak-hing 中国著名演员关德兴

Kwan Tak-hing was a cantonese opera artist and a Hong Kong actor who played the role of martial artist folk hero Wong Fei-hung in at least 77 films, between the 1940s and the 1980s. No-one else in cinema history has portrayed the same person as many times. In total he made over 130 films. He was elected to be the chairman of Chinese Artist Association of Hong Kong in 1955. He was awarded the MBE in 1983

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The People’s Artist, Zhao Dan 人民艺术家赵丹

Zhao Dan(赵丹 Zhào Dān) was a performing artist with outstanding achievements. In the several decades of his movie career, he appeared in 35 films, portraying a series of brilliant images. Crossroads(十字街头 shízì jiētóu) and Street Angel(马路天使 mǎlù tiānshǐ), in which he plays the leading roles in 1936 and 1937, were two excellent pieces showing his early talent. His own experiences and temperament were similar to those of Old Zhao, the unemployed college graduate he played in Crossroads, and he vividly portrayed Old Zhao, an innocent, honest, enthusiastic and in a way, foolish intellectual.

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