Shanghai Daily news

Everyday scenes from life in the days of old Shanghai have been preserved on film by a Shanghai resident whose family members were pioneers of the Chinese movie industry, writes Xu Wei.
Zang Zengjia's old-fashioned residence -- Chong Wen Zhai -- could confuse guests into thinking they are taking part in a scene on a movie set in the days of old Shanghai.
The name of the house is a literal expression of Zang's respect for Dr Sun Yat-sen, the pioneer of China's democratic revolution. An old-fashioned clock with a brass pendulum is ticking away against a wall and Zang himself, with an antique camera and projector close by, looks just like a veteran movie director. When a reel of old 16-millimeter film is ready for showing, Zang closes the curtains in the room to create the genuine ambience of a family mini-cinema. Unlike the movies shown in cinemas today, the films he screens are soundless and grainy, black-and-white reminders of China's cinematic history. ``These films have survived the long passing of time and some of them are even older than I am,'' says the outgoing 67-year-old with a smile. ``The flickering black-and-white images of rickshaws, buildings and vintage cars vividly tell some of the tales of old Shanghai.'' Zang is one of very few collectors in town devoted to preserving old Chinese movies. He shows a film of his father's grand Chinese-Western-style wedding ceremony in 1932, one of the favorites in his collection. Zang Shouqi, his father, is seen proposing a toast to hundreds of guests at the marriage feast. He's dressed formally in tails and the images of the ceremony, although a little flickering due to age, are a mirror to the wedding customs of that era. ``Film was absolutely a novel thing at that time,'' junior Zang says. ``Watching the age-old episodes of my father is such a fresh and fabulous experience.'' Zang, a film enthusiast who has retired from his post at a Shanghai fisheries research institute, has collected some 50 reels of old film footage (122 meters per reel) in exquisite teak boxes. Silent as the movies are, they speak volumes about the evolution of the city. The subject matter of a lot of Zang's old films are the family's daily life and entertainment. But there are also profiles of well-known artists and some documentaries. Some he shot himself and others were made or purchased by his father and grandfather. The movies in the collection cover the period from the 1920s to the late 1940s and are of great historic and cultural value. They range from a filmed advertisement for cigarettes made in the 1920s to the funeral of Dr Sun and there is also film of other influential figures in old Shanghai. ``Regrettably, one of the films in my collection -- a news documentary entitled `Japan over China' -- was lost,'' Zang says with a groan. ``If we still had it, the footage shot by a Japanese cameraman would be strong proof of the atrocities committed by Japanese troops in World War II.'' But another precious proof of the havoc caused by the Japanese invasion is in film shot by Zang's grandfather. It shows the city's devastated Wusong area which, on January 28, 1932, was a fiercely fought over battlefield. ``Look at the ammunition scattered here and there and the ruins of houses and shops that are still smoking,'' Zang says in his commentary accompanying his running of the silent film. ``We suffered a lot from that catastrophe but the younger generations has little idea of the history of that time.'' Zang's old film footage will also satisfy the curiosity of those who wonder about the kind of live entertainment that went on in Shanghai's famous Great World more than 70 years ago. The Great World was founded in 1917 by Huang Chujiu, a local business tycoon and the father of Zang's grandmother. With all-day performances of music, films, opera, gambling and magic shows, the building with a distinctive tower at one of the city's major intersections on Yan'an and Xizang roads was the biggest entertainment complex in old Shanghai. From the late 1960s and 1970s, Zang also treasures his films of some 20 top Chinese artists of the time such as painter Zhu Qizhan, composer He Luting and sculptor Zhang Chongren. ``The idea to record their work occurred to me by chance,'' Zang chuckles. ``I visited their houses one by one and was able to capture many precious moments with my old-style camera. Their dedication to their art deeply moved me.'' In addition to the old footage, Zang also possesses a variety of somewhat ancient movie equipment such as a Filmo 8mm motor lamp (projector), an antique Bell and Howell camera and a Leicina camera. Zang Boyong, Zang's grandfather, was a friend of Dr Sun. The calligraphy inscription of ``Bo Ai'' (philanthropism) presented by Dr Sun to the grandfather now hangs in Zang's living room. Zang's father was a doctor and businessman. Both father and son were lovers of film and photography. ``Actually my interest directly derives from my family and our interest in Chinese culture,'' Zang explains. ``I was more lucky than many of my peers because I could afford to use a camera from a very young age.'' Few people today know Zang family's connection with one of the first public screenings of a film in China. It was at the residence of Xu Lingyun, Zang's grandfather-in-law. ``On June 29, 1896, there was an advertisement for this public screening in `Shen Bao,' an influential newspaper at the time,'' Zang says. ``I heard from my grandfather-in-law that the film was projected onto a wall in his garden. Water was splashed on the wall to make the screen brighter.'' Zang's interest in film and photography over more than 50 years continues unabated. He keeps up with the latest technological developments and today he shoots with a DV (digital video) camera. ``It's quite a different feeling,'' Zang says with a laugh. ``Actually, I still prefer to use my old-style cameras. They remind me of those special DIY days when I myself perforated old film with an old sartorius and moved subjects about to create simple stunt effects.'' His wife, You Yunfen, says Zang's passion for keeping alive the history of the city is all because he cannot allow the beauty of the old days to be forgotten. ``His collection will help the younger generation understand what the real Shanghai was like several decades ago,'' she says. During the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, some of the films in Zang's collection will be shown on ``Was'' (``Wang Shi'' in Chinese), a local TV program made by the Shanghai TV Documentary Channel. ``Zang has provided us with a large and valuable collection that even some museums do not have,'' says Gan Chao, producer of the program.