Eight Thousand Li of Cloud and Moon
Encyclopedia
Eight Thousand Li of Cloud and Moon is a 1947 Chinese film
directed by Shi Dongshan
and Wang Weiyi, starring Bai Yang and Tao Jin, two actors who were the leads in The Spring River Flows East released that same year.
The film was selected as one of the 100 greatest 20th-century Chinese-language films chosen by Asia Weekly.
, decides to join the Resistance Acting Troupe after Marco Polo Bridge Incident
of 1937. Although dissuaded by her uncle, aunt and cousin, she adamantly leaves her uncle's home, where she has been staying, without telling them. The company arrives at Suzhou
, Wuxi
, Changzhou
and Xuzhou
and many other cities to perform for soldiers and ordinary folks alike.
For years the company perseveres with their arduous journey, with many of them falling sick. Finally they reach Chongqing
, where musical instructor Gao Libin (Tao Jin) falls ill. Jiang remains behind to take care of him, where they receive news that Jiang's father has agreed to their marriage. They decide to get married once the war is over. Jiang's cousin, an entrepreneur, comes to see her. Soon, the troupe read from the papers that the Japanese has surrendered
. Ecstatic, the couple gets married immediately.
The couple leaves the troupe to take a barge home. Postwar situation is bad, and they discover Jiang's father has died in the Jiangxi
countryside before the war ended. They take up lodging at Jiang's uncle's mansion in Shanghai. They are disappointed at the self-centered, bourgeois attitude held by her uncle's family.
During Chinese New Year
, a widow
comes to visit Jiang's cousin. It turns out the widow has had her house forcibly occupied by her cousin. Indignant at this, Jiang and Gao decide to move out to a smaller, shabbier attic apartment scouted out by their friends. Gao becomes a schoolteacher and Jiang a journalist. Jiang becomes pregnant. She writes in her column about the incident of the widow and of her cousin's oppression. Jiang and her cousin later has a falling-out, and Jiang asserts that she will continue writing about such injustices in the papers.
Weak from overwork, Jiang faints in the streets one day and is brought to the hospital. Her fellow friends from the Troupe put together money for her hospital fees. Jiang has a premature delivery, but is nonetheless very weak. The doctor warns that she may not pull through; even if she does, she must be given good nutrition and a healthful living environment. Jiang, on her bed, asks her friends to help take care of her new-born child and is wheeled away. An intertitle
then appears asking audiences to imagine what the ending is like: if Jiang's future is a dead end, it says, are the audiences themselves not all responsible since they are part of the society? The film ends with a giant question mark
.
Cinema of China
The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...
directed by Shi Dongshan
Shi Dongshan
Shi Dongshan was a prominent Chinese film director throughout the 1920s and 1950s. Shi directed several films that have gained in stature in the intervening years, most notably Eight Thousand Li of Cloud and Moon....
and Wang Weiyi, starring Bai Yang and Tao Jin, two actors who were the leads in The Spring River Flows East released that same year.
The film was selected as one of the 100 greatest 20th-century Chinese-language films chosen by Asia Weekly.
Plot
Jiang Lingyu (Bai Yang), a female student who is studying in ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, decides to join the Resistance Acting Troupe after Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War .The eleven-arch granite bridge, Lugouqiao, is an architecturally significant structure,...
of 1937. Although dissuaded by her uncle, aunt and cousin, she adamantly leaves her uncle's home, where she has been staying, without telling them. The company arrives at Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
, Wuxi
Wuxi
Wuxi is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split in half by Lake Tai, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou across the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south...
, Changzhou
Changzhou
Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, Jinling, and Wujin. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhenjiang to the...
and Xuzhou
Xuzhou
Xuzhou , otherwise known as Pengcheng in ancient times, is a major city in and the fourth largest prefecture-level city of Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China...
and many other cities to perform for soldiers and ordinary folks alike.
For years the company perseveres with their arduous journey, with many of them falling sick. Finally they reach Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
, where musical instructor Gao Libin (Tao Jin) falls ill. Jiang remains behind to take care of him, where they receive news that Jiang's father has agreed to their marriage. They decide to get married once the war is over. Jiang's cousin, an entrepreneur, comes to see her. Soon, the troupe read from the papers that the Japanese has surrendered
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
. Ecstatic, the couple gets married immediately.
The couple leaves the troupe to take a barge home. Postwar situation is bad, and they discover Jiang's father has died in the Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
countryside before the war ended. They take up lodging at Jiang's uncle's mansion in Shanghai. They are disappointed at the self-centered, bourgeois attitude held by her uncle's family.
During Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
, a widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
comes to visit Jiang's cousin. It turns out the widow has had her house forcibly occupied by her cousin. Indignant at this, Jiang and Gao decide to move out to a smaller, shabbier attic apartment scouted out by their friends. Gao becomes a schoolteacher and Jiang a journalist. Jiang becomes pregnant. She writes in her column about the incident of the widow and of her cousin's oppression. Jiang and her cousin later has a falling-out, and Jiang asserts that she will continue writing about such injustices in the papers.
Weak from overwork, Jiang faints in the streets one day and is brought to the hospital. Her fellow friends from the Troupe put together money for her hospital fees. Jiang has a premature delivery, but is nonetheless very weak. The doctor warns that she may not pull through; even if she does, she must be given good nutrition and a healthful living environment. Jiang, on her bed, asks her friends to help take care of her new-born child and is wheeled away. An intertitle
Intertitle
In motion pictures, an intertitle is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of the photographed action, at various points, generally to convey character dialogue, or descriptive narrative material related to, but not necessarily covered by, the material photographed.Intertitles...
then appears asking audiences to imagine what the ending is like: if Jiang's future is a dead end, it says, are the audiences themselves not all responsible since they are part of the society? The film ends with a giant question mark
Question mark
The question mark , is a punctuation mark that replaces the full stop at the end of an interrogative sentence in English and many other languages. The question mark is not used for indirect questions...
.