DAUGHTERS OF CHINA (中華女兒)
Dir. Ling Zifeng & Zhai Qiang, 1949
China. 86 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles

DAUGHTERS OF CHINA tells the story of the “Eight Woman Martyrs,” a group of guerilla fighters who refused surrender to Japanese armed forces by drowning themselves in the Wusihun River, and who, like Zhao Yiman, became icons of imperial resistance during the early years of the People’s Republic.

As with ZHAO YIMAN, the film eschews much of its heroes’ backstories in favor of focusing on their revolutionary activities, yet still makes for a deeply moving, visually arresting portrait of unwavering commitment to Party and country. The film is notable as the first major feature of writer & co-director Ling Zifeng, a visual artist-turned-CCP official who was instrumental to the Party’s propaganda activities throughout the 1930s & 40s, and to whom much of the film’s aesthetic polish (at least compared to other propaganda films of the era) can be attributed. Although his filmmaking career was brought to an end with the Cultural Revolution, Ling would experience a minor career resurgence in the 1980s with a series of literary adaptations including RICKSHAW BOY (1982) and BORDER TOWN (1984) that are now acclaimed as highlights of China’s “Fifth Generation” of filmmaking.