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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 618

New Women

1935104 minChina
Drama

Synopsis

A Shanghai teacher hopes to become a published writer and maintain control of her own life. Sexual pressure, insecure employment and sensational reporting close in around her. Her friendship with a working woman offers another model of independence, but the distance between an ideal of emancipation and daily survival remains painfully large.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Chinese.
This copy runs
104:46
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 · 蔡楚生 (director) · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsCai Chusheng

Historical context

The film draws on contemporary debates about women’s emancipation and the treatment of women by the press. Its portrayal of predatory journalism made those debates part of the film’s own public reception.

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 · CNRSWikipediaChinese Film ClassicsWikimedia Commons · copyright referenceChina · Copyright Law, Article 23US Copyright Office · foreign worksInternet 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.

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