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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 630

National Customs

193594 minChina

Synopsis

A headmistress's two daughters take different paths after graduation. The elder travels to Shanghai to study, while the younger entangles romance, vanity and school affairs. Jealousy within the family gradually disrupts the school, forcing their mother to choose between family affection, her responsibilities as an educator and local interests.

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Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Chinese.
This copy runs: 103:23
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Chinese. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Luo Mingyou / Zhu Shilin · Public domain

Cast

Ruan Lingyu

Zheng Junli

Lin Chuchu

Li Lili

DirectorsLuo Mingyou Zhu Shilin

Historical context

This is one of Ruan Lingyu's final screen works. Compared with contemporary films that emphasised personal liberation, it gives greater weight to educational order, restraint and family responsibility. It also reveals the different social views that coexisted within Lianhua.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Virtual Shanghai · CNRS Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons · copyright reference China · Copyright Law, Article 23 US Copyright Office · foreign works Internet Archive · film copy

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
Lin Chuchu — Unknown photographer; Liangyou (The Young Companion), issue 9, October 15, 1926; digitized by Internet Archive and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Chris Woodrich. · Public domain — PD-China and PD-US-expired
Li Lili — Unknown photographer, 1930s; source Sina, via Wikimedia Commons. Commons source was already denoised and sharpened. · Public domain — PD-China and PD-1996

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