Gender and New Women in the 1935 Chinese Film

Introduction: New Women and the May Fourth Movement

New Women is a Chinese film released in early 1935 in Shanghai and directed by Cai Chu Sheng. The film depicts women as vulnerable figures in a cruel society, illustrating male entitlement through abandonment, despair, and suicide. Sheng's perspective is that new women follow the proletariat revolution not only by being ambitious but also by taking real action to fight against men's power under the May Fourth Movement of the early 1900s.

The May Fourth Movement was both a cultural revolution and a social movement. From a cultural standpoint, young people were inspired by Western thought, developed the revolutionary spirit of the movement, and became politically conscious workers with socialist awareness. That socialist awareness expressed itself through ideals of self-determination in marriage, financial independence, and the right to education. Through his film, director Sheng explored several of these social issues as they affected women in Chinese society.

Wei Ming as the Tragic New Woman

Wei Ming embodies the new woman of the May Fourth Movement from the moment she falls in love with a man as a college student, defying her father's strong opposition to their relationship. The close shot of the scissors and rope her father throws at her after she becomes pregnant signals his desire for her death, and the fast-moving shot that cuts from the ancestors' name plaque to the moment her father shames her before the entire family underscores how disgraceful premarital pregnancy was considered at that time. The restrictions imposed on women were far greater than those placed on men. When Wei Ming's husband abandons her after their marriage, the film makes clear that women had little control over their own unions. The snowy backdrop of her weeping scene serves as a metaphor for the coldness and hopelessness of her inner world.

Wei Ming is nevertheless established as a leading new woman: she flirts with a journalist named Yu, pursues her dream of becoming a writer, and refuses to be reduced to an object. The role she plays sets her apart from other women, and the director uses her character to show the audience what the new woman looks like in reality. However, given her social status and the limitations imposed upon her, Wei Ming lacks the strength and resources to overcome the troubles she faces. She is ambitious but cannot take responsibility for herself — or even for her daughter — as she nears death from illness. This ultimately leads her to a tragic fate, and her story reflects the struggles women of the era faced in marriage, work, and personal autonomy.

Contrast Between Wei Ming and Li Aying

As Wei Ming and Dr. Wang enter the dancehall, the film contrasts their dancing with scenes of Wei Ming's neighbor, Li Aying — a factory worker who leads her fellow workers in learning patriotic songs. In broad narrative terms, the two sequences stand in sharp contrast. Li Aying is depicted as a role model of the new woman who seeks progress by empowering the women around her. Meanwhile, Wei Ming watches a dance performance and imagines herself in the role of the chained woman, seeing herself as helpless and desperate for work yet clinging to self-determination. Based on the framing of the film, Wei Ming is its most important character, and the lighting consistently concentrates on her. The back-and-forth editing vividly compares these two contrasting figures.

When Wei Ming returns from the dancehall, she encounters Li Aying, who has just finished teaching her class. As the lighting shapes the scene through highlights and shadows, Li Aying's shadow grows larger as she walks away from Wei Ming until it becomes enormous — the shadow of a giant. This shadow represents the emerging new form of womanhood. By showing Li Aying's giant shadow, the director praises the ideology of the new woman and contrasts it with Wei Ming's inability to fully embody that ideal.