Diaochan (aka Diau Charn and Sable Cicada), one of the Four Beauties of China, is supposed to be so stunningly lovely that the moon was shamed to hide behind clouds. Despite being the only Beauty among the four who is not a real historical figure but one conjured by storytelling imagination and embellished by public fascination, her story was nonetheless incorporated by author Luo Guangzhong into his popular and influential novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Her tale is one of Machiavellian intrigue, in which she schemes with her godfather Wang Yun to restore moral order to the land, sowing discord between the corrupt Minister Dong Zhuo and his adopted son Lu Bu, a man of martial and military prowess.
A primary school teacher rallies the citizens of a small town to resist the corruption of the local government and unite to build reinforcements against an oncoming flood.
The first Chinese sound film. It tells the story of Hong Pion (Red Peony), a singer-songwriter who, after her marriage to the depraved Faxiang Chen, not only tormented and suffered, but also endured the decline of her artistic career.
Part two of A comedy film set on Shanghai film studio. The background events frequently involve the shooting of other films being made at Mingxing Film Company at the time. This includes a sequence of the 17th episode of the silent wuxia film series Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, which is the only known footage from this historic series to exist.
After being defeated in a fight by a local gang, local official Lu Fengyang sends his weak and sickly son Lu Xiaoqing to study with a master of the Kunlun school of martial arts. Recovered and strong, he comes upon the Red Lotus Temple, and puts up there for the night. Unable to sleep, he begins looking around the palatial temple, and discovers a room decorated with many images of Buddhist demons, and an altar to worship them. Entering to look around, he finds the entrance to a deep cave from which an oppressive, foul odor emanates. (https://web.archive.org/web/20131015062919/http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2009/07/1928-31-burning-of-red-lotus-temple.html) This wuxia serial was adapted from a newspaper serial (Strange Tales of the Adventurer in the Wild Country) and released in 18 feature-length parts over a period of 3 years. In its entirety it would be 27 hours long. Considered lost.
To get over a breakup with his actress girlfriend, a playwright goes on holiday to a lakeside resort, where he meets a strangely mismatched couple, a man and his much younger wife. He and the wife begin an affair, during which she introduces him to some of the darker aspects of romance.
