No subtitle track in this language
Wikimedia Commons · Sun Yu · Public domain
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Chinese. No subtitle track in this language.
Audience rating
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Synopsis
A skilled toymaker struggles to support her family as imported goods erode the market for handmade toys. Personal loss drives her toward Shanghai, where war threatens an already fragile livelihood. The small objects she creates become inseparable from larger questions about work, community and the survival of her country.
Cast
DirectorsSun Yu
Historical context
Made after the fighting in Shanghai in 1932, the film joins economic nationalism to an account of civilian suffering. The mother-and-daughter pairing of Ruan Lingyu and Li Lili gives its public concerns an intimate emotional scale.
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 public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.
Availability checked on September 11, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Ruan Lingyu — Chen Jiazhen (陈嘉震), 1935, 中国电影女明星照相集; Wikimedia Commons. · Public domain — PD-China and PD-1996
- Li Lili — Unknown photographer, 1930s; source Sina, via Wikimedia Commons. Commons source was already denoised and sharpened. · Public domain — PD-China and PD-1996
