Zhuangzi Tests His Wife
Zhuangzi Tests His Wife () is a 1913 Hong Kong drama film directed by Li Minwei. It is the earliest feature film of Hong Kong cinema. It was the only film made by the Huamei (Chinese-American) Studio, which was co-founded by Benjamin Brosky, who had sold his Asia Film Company in Shanghai, and Li Minwei. The film was, however, never screened in Hong Kong. Brosky brought the film to the United States, and it became the first Chinese film to be shown abroad, when it was exhibited in the Chinese communities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is based on the zidishu play "The Butterfly Dream" written by Chunshuzhai.

Cast
Li Minwei stars as the wife of Zhuangzi, while Li Minwei's wife Yan Shanshan plays a servant girl, thus making her the first ever Chinese film actress.

 Li Beihai ...  Zhuangzi
 Li Minwei ...  Zhuangzi's wife
 Yan Shanshan ...  Servant Girl

Background
Zhuangzi was one of the two defining figures of Chinese Taoism, based his philosophy that all things change and that the perception of truth depends on the context under which it exists. Throughout history, his teachings have been particularly favored by Chinese scholars and artists, many of whom have been inspired by Zhuangzi's philosophy.

In other media
Zhuangzi Tests His Wife has been performed by the Peking Opera, and other local stage performances.

Most of the operatic versions of the story ends with Zhuangzi burying his wife after she commits suicide for being disloyal to her husband. But this version tackles the story from a different angle. While Tian Shi still commits suicide in the end, Zhuangzi turns her and himself into butterflies and then, eventually, into dust.

See also
 Cinema of Hong Kong
 List of Hong Kong films

References

External links
 Zhuangzi Tests His Wife at Internet Movie Database

Hong Kong films
Chinese silent films
Hong Kong black-and-white films
1913 films
1913 drama films
Chinese films
Chinese black-and-white films
Chinese drama films
Films set in the Warring States period