Earlier articles about the works of Zheng Zhengqiu and Hong Shen noted their committment to social reform, using their movies to criticize and expose traditional practices they opposed, such as arranged marriages and mandatory lifelong celibacy for widows, no matter their age. Another feudal practice they abhored was patrilineage, which severely restricted the inheritance rights of widows and daughters. Women had enjoyed these rights in the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), but those rights were taken from them during the succeeding dynasty, the Yuan (or Mongol), largely through the influence of Neo-Confucians at the imperial court. The practice had continued into the 1920s. (A childless widow who never remarried could legally adopt an heir, and this was a key plot point in the previous year's "The Good Brothers," which Zheng Zhengqiu had also scripted for the Mingxing studio.)
Zao Sheng Guizi (1926) 早生贵子 (He Wants a Baby)
literal English title: (Have an Heir Soon)
alternate release title: Lao Kangli (1926) 老伉俪 (An Elderly Couple)
Mingxing. B&W. Silent. 9 reels. Direction and Program notes: Hong Shen. Screenplay: Zheng Zhengqiu. Cinematography: Dong Keyi. Sets: Dong Tianya. Cast: Song Chanhong (Wu Dingqi), Xuan Jinglin (Mrs. Wu, née Sun), Zhao Chen (Sun Zijun), Zhang Minwu (Fuguan), Wang Xianzhai (Wei Qidong), Huang Junfu (Changshou), Huang Junzhen (old Mrs. Wang, the matchmaker), Cen Xueqin (Mrs. Li, née Wang), Zhao Jingxia (Pingjin), Ye Liangde (Li A Mao).
[left, an extortionist is about to be dealt with severely: Song Chanhong, Xuan Jinglin and Zhao Chen, right to left]
A prosperous couple. Wu Mei and his wife, have reached middle age, and while their marriage has been a happy one, it is childless. This worries Mr. Wu, for the lack of an heir would leave Mrs. Wu in an extremely vulnerable position, literally at the mercy of whatever male relative inherits the Wu estate. So Mr. Wu retains a matchmaker named Wang to find him a concubine, a young woman who can bear children. The matchmaker knows a shiftless thug named Wei Qidong who is himself childless, a poor provider and abuser of his wife Pingjin. So Mrs. Wang induces Wei to sell Pingjin to her, after which the matchmaker sends Pingjin to Mr. Wu, who is unaware of his second wife's childless marital history. Three years later, Wu still lacks an heir, and in frustration decides to send Pingjin back to the matchmaker and replace her with another concubine. When he tells Mrs. Wang of his intention, she secretly contacts Wei Qidong and demands her money back. Unhappy at this, Qidong goes to the Wu couple, tells them of Pingjin's earlier marriage to himself, and threatens them unless he receives compensation for his "loss." The situation is saved by the intervention of Mrs. Wu's younger brother, who roughs up the rascal and throws him out. In the meantime, not wanting to be turned out of the place where she has at last found a loving home, Pingjin feigns a pregnancy to buy some time, an act of desperation that is soon discovered. But Mrs. Wu has become fond of Pingjin, regarding her as the daughter she never had, so she persuades her husband to be patient and give the younger woman another chance. A year later, Pingjin does bear a son, and all ends well.
[below right, Mr. Wu's first and second ladies relax and admire the new addition to their family. (Xuan Jinglin, left, and Zhao Jingxia, right]
[above left: in the classic era, in conjunction with a film's release, Chinese movie studios would sometimes issue still photos that showed the cast members in character as if posing for a family portrait, even though the photo was not an actual scene from the movie. This may have been one of those, showing Xuan Jinglin and the heir some years later, although the only appearance of the boy's character in the film was the newborn, in the picture above right.]
