Abstract

Considering the synchronism between the screening of American serials in China and the production of the first few Chinese feature-length films, this paper traces the interaction between Pearl White and Chinese actresses in the early 1920s. It demonstrates how Pearl White was absorbed into Chinese vernacular cinematic culture through the mediation of Chinese film actresses in the early years of Chinese filmmaking. Taking The Shun Pao [Chinese Daily News], one of the most influential newspapers in the 1920s, as its main resource and reconsidering Chinese film history in terms of modernity and gender, this paper reveals how American serial movies, especially “serial queens” such as Pearl White, created a new female image for Chinese movie-goers. It further explores how Yin Mingzhu (1904-1989), a Chinese actress known for her Pearl White-style attire in off-screen life, links Pearl White with the transformation of femininity of modern Chinese women and their search for a new self-image.