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Synopsis
A fruit seller falls for the daughter of the doctor across the street. Her father wants a son-in-law who can help his struggling practice, so the resourceful suitor puts his carpentry skills to an unexpected use. A staircase, a noisy gambling club and a succession of physical gags turn courtship into a mischievous business proposition.
Cast
DirectorsZhang Shichuan
Historical context
The earliest known complete surviving Chinese film offers a rare view of the Mingxing studio at its beginnings. Its Chinese and English intertitles show that Shanghai filmmakers were already addressing audiences beyond a single language.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 11, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Zheng Zhegu — Mingxing Film Company / director Zhang Shichuan, Labourer’s Love (1922); film frame reproduced in Christopher Rea, Chinese Film Classics, 1922–1949 (2021), via Wikimedia Commons. · Public domain — PD-China and PD-US-expired
