Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema

The SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies is delighted to mark the 70th anniversary of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan with a day of screenings and discussion on music in Taiyupian.

The release of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan in 1956 marked a significant moment in Taiwanese cultural history. Based on gezaixi, the film emerged from a close relationship between Taiwanese-language cinema and vernacular performance traditions, including local opera, glove puppetry, and spoken drama, all of which had flourished during the Japanese colonial period. Yet the central role of opera films in the early Taiyupian industry has not received the attention it deserves.

Marking this anniversary at SOAS offers a valuable opportunity to bring that musical and performative history back into view, while deepening understanding of Taiwan and its distinctive cultural history. Focusing on the connections between gezaixi and Taiyupian, the event will centre on two key films, Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan and The Wandering of Three Siblings. Through screenings and scholarly discussion, it will explore the musical roots of Taiyupian and consider how vernacular performance traditions shaped one of the most important periods in Taiwanese-language cinema.

Organised by SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies, University of London, in partnership with The Taiwanese-Language Cinema 70^th Anniversary Project, the Taiwan Ministry of Culture, Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), and King’s College London.