Rural China and its many farmers, along with other portions of the country’s large population, are depicted in this educational color film piece (0:10-1:05). Produced by Coronet Instructional Films, this reel was most likely released in the late 1960s along with other Coronet films covering agricultural China dated from 1955 to 1969. As the narrator emphasizes the huge size of the country, the film settles upon a brightly colored yet simple map of Asia at 01:29. Describing how large the nation’s land mass is within the borders of Asia, our narrator guide points out the fact that China takes up about one fourth of the continent. Starting from 02:00 in the film, the borders of the country are mentioned and highlighted on the map, as well as major cities like Peking and Manchuria – relative to major U.S. cities for viewers’ reference. Much like the United States, China’s main cities lie on the Eastern coast, as the film points out. These key cities are marked on the pink and blue map shown in the film and include Mukden, Shanghai, Nanking, Foochow, and Canton (2:10-2:15). Footage of busy urban streets filled with Chinese people working, shopping, and using transportation are intermingled with other, more detailed maps pinpointing important areas of the country as the narrator describes their significance based on land area and specific resources driving the population of such regions (2:22-3:08). The film goes on to touch upon the southern part of the country and its main labor activity – farming. South China’s fertile soil, landscape, and good climate for growing major exportable crops like rice is discussed. As the film alternates between shots of the map of China – filled with key landscape details – and shots of rivers, farm lands, and the inhabitants of the areas, the viewer is given a broad and comprehensive sense of both Chinese geography and the work and trades of China’s people (3:12-10:30). Bamboo shoots on their way to be processed float in a river while boats tended by workers overlooking them are captured at 06:00. The film describes a staple of Chinese merchant life: the artfully designed boats called “junks”, used in China since ancient times for trade and travel by water (6:27-7:13). Men load pine logs onto a junk at 06:47. The narrator transitions to discussing North China, a dry and dusty area known for growing millet, sorghum, corn, wheat and especially kalian, all widely-used food crops (7:17-9:00). A shot of the traditional Chinese architectural structure, the pagoda, is represented at 09:42. Similarities and differences between North and South China are reiterated, underscoring the major rivers in each region such as the southern Yangtze River and the northern river of Hwang Ho, also known as the Yellow River (10:05-11:31). The film concludes with a brief introduction into Chinese efforts to progress towards industrialization while maintaining agricultural roots.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
