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Hou Yao (; 1903–1942) was a pioneering Chinese film director, screenwriter, and film theorist. He wrote and directed many films including ''The Discarded Wife'' (1924), ''Romance of the Western Chamber'' (1927), the first Chinese film shown in Western countries, and ''Mulan Joins the Army'' (1928). He wrote ''Techniques of Writing Shadowplay Scripts'', the first theory book on Chinese filmmaking. He founded the Culture Film Company, which was merged into a predecessor of the Shaw Brothers Studio. After the Empire of Japan invaded China in 1937, Hou Yao wrote and directed a series of patriotic films against Japanese aggression. In 1942, he was murdered by the Japanese during the Sook Ching massacre in Singapore. ==Biography== Hou Yao was born in 1903 in Panyu, Guangdong province. In the 1920s, he attended Nanjing Advanced Normal School (now Southeast University) in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, majoring in education. He joined the influential Literary Association (文学研究会) at the school, and wrote the stage play ''The Discarded Wife''. After graduating in 1924, Hou joined the Great Wall Film Company in Shanghai, where he adapted ''The Discarded Wife'' into a film, which he co-directed with Li Zeyuan. It was Great Wall's first film. He then wrote the scripts for the films ''In the Dream of Loved Ones'' (1925) and ''The Star-Plucking Girl'' (1925), and directed ''Cupid's Dolls'' (1925, co-directed with Mei Xuechou) and ''The Hypocrite'' (1926). Each of his films of this period sought to reflect a social issue, such as women's rights, marriage, and war.〔 In 1925, Hou Yao published ''Techniques of Writing Shadowplay Scripts'', the first theory book on Chinese filmmaking. In the same year, he joined the Minxin Film Company (China Sun) founded by Li Minwei. He directed ''Peace of God'' in 1926 and ''Romance of the Western Chamber'' in 1927. The latter was the first Chinese film shown in Western countries. He directed and starred in ''A Poet at the End of the Seas'' (1927), a film that featured elaborate cinematography. In 1928 he directed ''Mulan Joins the Army''. Hou went to Tianjin in 1929 and worked as a teacher for a time.〔 He then briefly worked for the Beijing branch of Li Minwei's Lianhua Film Company, where he produced ''Sad Song from an Old Palace'' in 1932. He later moved to Hong Kong, and established his own studio, Culture Film Company. In 1933, he made the film ''The Fool Pays Respects'' for Zhenye Film Company. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War erupted. The next year, Hou merged his Culture Company into the Nanyang Film Company, a predecessor of the Shaw Brothers Studio, and directed and wrote a number of "national defence" films against Japanese aggression, including ''Great Wall of Blood and Flesh'' (1938), ''The Last Minute Call'' (1938), and ''Storm Over the Pacific'' (1939). ''Storm Over the Pacific'', adapted from a novel he wrote himself, envisioned the outbreak of the Pacific War and the defeat of the Empire of Japan by the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1940, Hou moved to Singapore, where he continued to work for the Shaw Brothers. After the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, Japan defeated Britain and occupied Singapore. Because of his history of anti-Japanese activism, the Japanese murdered Hou Yao in 1942, at the beginning of the Sook Ching massacre.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hou Yao」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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