A Few Issues Surrounding Research into the General History of Chinese Film

关于中国电影通史研究，文章提出了“历史纵深线”的观点。从电影史的角度来看，这种“历史纵深线”可以定义为，在中国电影史百余年发展中各个时期、各个不同空间、位置之间存在的客观关系集合、延伸的一个连线。它对电影史的深度与广度的把握与探究有很大的提升，相关的可以展开的话题其实很多。通过历史纵深线，可以促使我们重新思考电影史的许多问题，给电影通史研究带来新的思路和和更高的要求。

有了“历史纵深线”的意识、方法和视野，好比你看黄河，如果坐在飞机上观察，你就知道黄河是由西东流的。如果你一辈子住在“几”字形的两边，也许你会觉得黄河是由南向北，或者由北往南在流。这就是电影通史的眼界。方方面面掌握的越多，你的眼界就可能越高，你就越有可能把握到各方面之间可能存在的联系。

Abstract and Keywords

Abstract: The practice of film history highlights the value and significance of the researcher. A more comprehensive view of the situation of film history raises several issues. General research into the history of film is directly related to the production of film history. The question of how to reinvent general film history research is necessarily connected to ideologies, cultures, systems and concepts, as well as the broad scope and complexity of film history. Writing a general history of Chinese film demands a combination of innovation and continuing tradition, with an emphasis on the construction of a rational and scientific discipline of film history and historical empiricism. The aim should be a more rational history. The paper expresses my own thoughts and efforts with respect to relevant issues and attempts to deepen and open up general research into the history of Chinese film.

Keywords: innovation, general history of film, lines of depth, limitations, the third space

提要：由电影史学实践出发，研究者的价值和意义被彰显，概观全局，随之而来的问题更多。电影通史研究和电影史创新追求相联系。电影通史研究怎么才能创新，与思潮、文化、体制和观念有关，也与对电影历史进行普遍的概括及电影历史本身的复杂性有关。中国电影通史的写作，要走传承、创新的路径，重视电影研究的学理性、学科性建构和历史学的实证性，走向历史和逻辑的统一。作者在此文中阐述了自己在相关问题上的实践与思考，以期对中国电影通史研究有所深化与拓展。

关键词：创新；电影通史；“纵深线”；限度性；第三重空间

A Glimpse of the Article

01

At the end of 2016, General History of Chinese Film was published. This book organizes, analyses and explains the different stages of development of Chinese film since 1896 as understood by the author. It includes the analysis of films, filmmakers, historical elements of film style, as well as a review and elaboration of major events. At the same time, there is no lack of an analysis, grasp, and in-depth interpretation of the intersection between film ecology and cultural ecology in every historical period.

2016年底，《中国电影通史》出版，该书对1896年以来中国电影的不同发展阶段进行属于自己的梳理、分析和阐释，其中有电影作品、电影人研究，也有电影历史风貌、重大事件的回顾与阐述，同时又不缺乏对一个历史时期电影生态、文化生态的横断面的分析、把握与深入剖析。

02

In trying to emphasize the construction of “line of depth” in film research and the empirical nature of history in the process of researching and writing the general history of Chinese films, one confronts a number of issues. 

A prominent problem with respect to the “line of depth” of the general history of Chinese film, one that raises many doubts, is how to refer to Taiwanese and Hong Kong films. 

Another problem is that the past 40 years of the history of Chinese film encompasses a great deal of content. The evaluation and judgement of contemporary Chinese films, which is the major focus of this research, are based on a complex multitude of materials and different understanding and perspectives. 

研究和写作中国电影通史，力图重视电影研究的“纵深线”建构和历史学的实证性，这之中也会面临许多问题。

一个突出的问题是，作为中国电影通史“纵深线”，其中容易产生质疑的可能是如何以及怎样涉指台湾电影和香港电影。

还有一个问题，是近40年来中国电影史，所涉内容很多，加以主要指向当代中国电影的评价与判断，材料庞杂，认识、视角各有不同，电影随着当代历史客观环境的变动承载不同定义和理解。

03

The author of film history is not a self-indulgent time traveller, nor are they someone simply going their own way, engaging in casual experimentation. The truth and narrative of film history are often two sides of the same coin. The significance of the materials of an empirical film history and their use has changed in an increasingly open digital context. The rewriting and “revision” of film history offers different angles and perspectives that perhaps contain implicit biases. The true face of a general historical narrative exists in a third dimension that transcends those issues. 

电影史作者不是一个自作逍遥的时间旅行者，也不是简单地去独辟门径，一味驰马试剑。电影史的真实与叙事往往是一个硬币的两面。经验论视域下的电影史料及其运用在日趋开放的数字化语境下改变了它的意义。电影史的重写与“修正”提供了不同的可能蕴含以偏概全的视野和角度。通史叙事的面相，存在于超乎其上的第三重空间中。

想要探究如何传承、创新电影通史研究，如何把握、梳理电影“历史纵深线”的深刻内涵，以及更多关于中国电影通史研究的问题，请点击下方的阅读原文，了解更多吧！

About the Author 

Ding Yaping

Ding Yaping is the Director of the Film and Television Research Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts. He specializes in the history of Chinese film and is well known for his in-depth and profound research in Chinese Cinema. He has published more than 300 academic papers for leading conferences and journals and is the author of 12 books including General History of Chinese Film, Art and Culture Studies, Chinese Cinematic Art from 1945 to 1949, Classic Chinese Movies, Traces of Cinema: An Historical Perspective on Chinese Film, and History of Contemporary Chinese Films.

About the Translator 

Jin Haina

Jin Haina is a professor of translation, film and communication studies at the Communication University of China. Her research interests include film translation, translation history, and film history.