Spring Silkworms () is a 1933 silent film from China. It was directed by Cheng Bugao and was adapted by Xia Yan, who was credited as Cai Chusheng, from the novella written by Chinese author Mao Dun, also called by the same name.
The film stars Gong Jianong, Yan Yuexian, Xiao Ying, Gao Qianping and Ai Xia and was produced by the Mingxing Film Company.
Today the film is considered one of the earliest films of the leftist movement in 1930s Shanghai.
The film tells the story of a family of poor silk farmers in Zhejiang province, who suffer hardship and deprivation when their crop of silkworm cocoons die off. The film criticizes not only the harsh market conditions that have forced the family into poverty, but also the family's own superstitions, internal conflicts, and selfishness.
Old Tong Bao is the patriarch of a silkworm-rearing family in Zhejiang. Determined to preserve traditional practices, he refuses to buy foreign breeds of silkworms for his coming crop, believing local varieties to be more reliable and morally proper. The family invests heavily in purchasing silkworm eggs and mulberry leaves, often relying on credit from local merchants. However, bad weather, disease outbreaks among the silkworms, and the unstable silk market leave them unable to recoup their costs. Despite the family's tireless labor, the cocoons fail to fetch a good price, pushing them further into debt and financial ruin.
The film also features a subplot in which Lotus, the wife of a neighboring farmer, is accused of bringing misfortune to the family after the silkworms die unexpectedly. Driven by superstition, Tong Bao's family ostracizes her, reflecting the destructive role that fear and scapegoating play in the community's crisis. The story ultimately portrays the struggles of rural peasants trapped between oppressive economic systems and the limitations of their own traditional beliefs.
The title Spring Silkworms metaphorically represents the self-sacrificial labor of the rural peasant family portrayed in the film. In traditional Chinese culture, silkworms are seen as creatures that work tirelessly, spinning silk until they die, which symbolizes dedication and suffering. The film uses this image to comment on the economic exploitation and cyclical poverty faced by silk farmers in 1930s Zhejiang. The silkworm metaphor also reflects the broader fate of Chinese peasants caught in feudal systems and emerging capitalist pressures.
Scholars such as Zhang Zhen have noted that the film's title functions as a critical lens for understanding how leftist cinema aimed to expose class struggle through naturalistic allegory.
The film was directly inspired by Mao Dun's 1932 short story of the same name, part of his acclaimed trilogy (Spring Silkworm, The Shop Of the Lin Family, Midnight). Its adaptation was driven by the urgent social climate following Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria, which devastated the film industry and led studios like Mingxing Film to seek socially relevant content.
On January 1, 1933, Mingxing Film published a major advertisement outlining two projects: one on 5000 years of Chinese history, and another producing documentaries highlighting key national industries like silk, tea, coal, and salt. Mao Dun's story about silkworm farmers perfectly aligned with this second industrial project. As left-wing intellectuals increasingly focused on film, Mao Dun's realistic novels became the natural choice.
When the film first came out, it sparked a lot of discussion and debate among viewers. However, despite the filmmakers hoping the movie would change what the audiences wanted to see, it did not sell many tickets. Director Cheng Bugao later talked about this box office failure, saying he felt he had "let the company down," but added that he âÂÂstill felt heâÂÂd done the right thing for himselfâÂÂ.
This financial disappointment led the Star Film Company to change direction. They decided to focus on making âÂÂnew citizenâ cinema. Using the popular family stories and moral themes from older, successful movies to guarantee audience interest but also including some of the left-wing elements that the changing culture demanded
Framing - The individual rectangular photographs on a strip of motion picture film which, when run through a projector, yield the impression of movement owing to slight variations in the position of the objects being photographed.
Shot- the basic element of filmmakingâÂÂa piece of film run through the camera, exposed, and developed; an uninterrupted run of the camera; or an uninterrupted image on film.
The film is heavily made up of static, medium to long shots, often held for a long period of time. Shortly into the film, (7:26-8:15), the audience receives their first example of this as it roughly takes 40 seconds for the audience to watch the farmer gather his possessions, get off the ground, and then start to walk away, ending the shot. The use of this technique emphasizes the slow nature that is rural, poverty stricken life.
Set design - Often seen in the house, there is lots of clutter and things around them, while they themselves look to be cramped in the space they live. The usage of cramped and tight spaces with an abundance of things around them filling space, reads to the audience that they live in tight confinement due to their economic situation. This also alludes to how dire their situation is, if they do not get enough silk this season, their living conditions will worsen.
Montage - To a film sequence that relies on editing to condense or expand action, space, or time. The effect is often that of a rapid-fire series of interrelated images. There are the occasional use of montages throughout the film. Mostly they are short and used to represent the collective labour of the group when they are tending to their silkworms. These sequences are used to help the audience create empathy towards how hard they have to work in order to survive until the next season. There always feels to be a level of high risk and stakes throughout the film, but the montages sometimes will mask that through the use of upbeat music.