Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of Mainland China and Cinema of Taiwan. Taiwanese cinema grew up outside of the Hong Kong mainstream and the censorship of the People's Republic of China. Taiwanese cinema is deeply rooted in the Taiwan's unique and rapidly changing history. Since its introduction to Taiwan in 1901, cinema has developed in Taiwan through several distinct stages. The first film was introduced into Taiwan by Toyojiro Takamatsu in 1901. From 1900 to 1937, Taiwanese cinema was strongly influenced by the Japanese. This was during the era of Japanese rule, and many conventions in Japanese films were adopted by the Taiwanese filmmakers. For example, the use of a benshi (narrator of silent films), which was a very important component of the film-going experience in Japan, was adopted and renamed benzi by the Taiwanese.
