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The Palgrave Handbook of Asian Cinema pp 245–268Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Peace Before Storm: The Concept of Trans-Asian Cinema and Peace After Storm (Yuguo Tianqing, 1931)

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Abstract

In this chapter, I discuss the 1931 film Peace After Storm (Yuguo Tianqing), the first Chinese “sound-on-film” talkie as well as the film that used the first Japanese sound-on-film talkie system. I examine Peace After Storm as trans-Asian cinema, not only as a concept but also as an actual product in history. This film existed at the crossroads of two national cinemas. In order to understand the histories of those national cinemas in their unique cultural specificities I closely examine the production history of the film as well as many still images that I have acquired from the cinematographer Henry Kotani. I demonstrate that a genuine trans-Asian cinema came to exist at a certain historical moment before the war between China and Japan.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Mr. Kotani Eiichi for his tremendous generosity in offering valuable stories about his father, “Henry” Kotani Sōichi, as well as a number of beautiful still photos of Peace After Storm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Daisuke Miyao

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  1. Daisuke Miyao
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Correspondence to Daisuke Miyao .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park

  2. School of Humanities, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Gina Marchetti

  3. University of Macau, Macau, Singapore

    See Kam Tan

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Miyao, D. (2018). Peace Before Storm: The Concept of Trans-Asian Cinema and Peace After Storm (Yuguo Tianqing, 1931). In: Magnan-Park, A., Marchetti, G., Tan, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Asian Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95822-1_13

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