Foreword

Since its birth in 1905， the Chinese films industry has played an important role in national cultural construction and foreign exchange. In recent years， the development of Chinese films has attracted international attention. Even in 2021 and 2022 when COVID-19 pandemic had been spreading， the cumulative box office of Chinese films in Chinese Mainland alone still reached 39，927 billion yuan and 30，067 billion yuan， according to the statistics data released by the State Film Administration. It suggests that China has become the first country in history to overtake Hollywood in terms of the box office and has accumulated the most box office across the world.

With the development of Chinese films in full swing， many excellent films and filmmakers have brought entertainment and influence on audiences in other countries. As a window to display China， the film industry directs the world to understand her people and society. At the same time， it also tells the stories of Chinese people to familiarize the world with our country's history， culture and folk customs. Xi'an， Shaanxi Province， as an important city after Chinese films entered the new era， gave birth to Western Chinese films represented by the works of Xi'an Film Studio， and contributed to a large number of classic aiding the development of Chinese films. It not only received all the awards of the three international first class film festivals， provided opportunities for other countries to become interested in Western China. In this context， the development of a Chinese Film textbook for foreign students based on Xi'an， Shaanxi Province， not only follows the development supported by the Ministry of Education on the construction of “New Liberal Arts” and interdisciplinary integration， but also shows the long historical and cultural characteristics and rich language resources of China and Xi'an， Shaanxi Province， from the film's perspective.

Chinese Films is divided into three chapters:“Western Image”，“Urban Forms” and“Martial Arts Fantasy”. In addition to highlighting the regional cultural characteristics of Xi'an， Shaanxi Province， in the first part， the other two chapters respectively portray the theme types that are most loved and appreciated by audiences all over the world in the development of films， presenting China's long-standing history and culture， along with the development process of social modernization vividly. In terms of content， this book introduces the films in the way of film appreciation and concise language， supplemented by the teaching of Chinese words and context， as well as the all-round display of Chinese culture， so that the learners can easily master the Chinese language knowledge and have a panoramic understanding of Chinese society and culture through the films.

Throughout the book， the study of films， language and culture is integrated， allowing students to understand the films and intuitively and vividly grasp the social life and cultural characteristics of China and Xi'an， Shaanxi Province. In particular， the extended reading after each section creatively combines language， geography， history， folk customs and other content with film learning to expand students' learning fields and realize all-round and multi-level coverage.

As one of the Silk Road Chinese series of textbooks， Chinese Films employs films as the portal to disseminate Chinese learning and culture， thereby helping shape the national image and social paradigm. This publication is not only a Chinese film textbook for teaching Chinese as a foreign language， but also a tool to assist students in learning Chinese and understand China's social and cultural life.

Ma Na， Yuan Wanqing
January，2023