Regardless of how future generations may have judged it, afficionados of Chinese motion pictures should feel some gratitude for the beginning that "Ding Jun Shan" 定军山 (Dingjun Mountain) gave to the entire body of Chinese film work that followed, whether these later productions were from China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Motion pictures were introduced into China soon after the process was invented in 1895. But how, and by whom, is far from clear. 
One belief holds that some French photographers, assistants to the Lumiere brothers, introduced film to China, but others point out that while the brothers (who kept extensive and detailed records) had recorded sending these assistants to India, they make no mention of a China connection on that trip. Also, while the photographers shot considerable film in India (again, the Lumiere brothers kept extensive records on this), there is nothing in their records of any film being shot in China.
Another argument is that movies were introduced into China from Britain via Hong Kong. A third view is that the experimental films of Thomas Edison were the first ones exhibited in China. Both of these arguments have the same weakness as the first argument for a French origin: a lack of documentation.
What is certain, however, is that the first film screening in China took place in Shanghai, and no later than August 11, 1896. An advertisement in that day's Shenbao, a Shanghai newspaper, stated that a teahouse in the Xu Garden was showing "electric shadowplays from the West." Such film screenings rapidly became a popular form of early mass entertainment, inserted between programs and variety shows, such as magic acts and fireworks.
In addition to providing recreation for the common people, film aroused the interest of the upper circles, the imperial court no less. In 1904, for a celebration of the Empress Dowager Ci Xi's 70th birthday, a British envoy in Beijing contributed a film projector and several films to be shown at the festivities. Unfortunately, during the performance a generator supplying power to the equipment malfunctioned and exploded. The superstitious Empress Dowager took this as an omen, and issued a decree that motion pictures should never again be allowed in the palace. This decree was short-lived, however, as an advertisement in Shenbao two years later trumpeted the arrival of several new films for exhibition in the Summer Palace from "9 each evening till midnight, closed Sundays." Even the Empress Dowager herself seems to have reconsidered, as records show that in 1906 she presented a local official she favored with a film projector and several films for his enjoyment.
But in spite of the Chinese public's quick adoption of movies as a form of entertainment, it was not until 1905 that the Chinese produced their own. In that year, Ren Qingtai, owner of the Fengtai Photo Studio in Beijing, invited veteran opera performer Tan Xinpei* (1846-1917) to recreate a few scenes from his more well-known stage roles. Ren hung a large sheet on a wall outside his photo studio as a backdrop, and with a French-made, hand-operated camera and some film purchased from a German company, filmed Tan recreating excerpts from three of his best-known operas. The first of these was a sword-fighting scene from the opera "Ding Jun Shan", which simultaneously became China's first motion picture as well as its first martial arts film. The exact date of filming is unknown, but it must have been in spring or early autumn: Beijing's summers are torrid, and Tan turned 60 that year, so while outdoor filming was essential to adequate lighting, it would have been during one of the less humid seasons. Since Ren Qingtai also intended the filming to commemorate the legendary opera performer's 60th birthday, the late spring-early summer juncture is most likely.
The still photo shown above is the only thing left from that first Chinese effort at motion picture production. The full, original film, along with the other two opera excerpts filmed in that initial session, were destroyed in a fire in the late 1940s.
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*The Tan clan is legendary in Peking opera history. As recently as 2003, three generations of the family were active in the performing art, in an unbroken line from Tan Xinpei.
