Chinese Name for Cinema
The traditional Chinese name for cinema is made up of the two characters dian and ying, which translate as “electric shadows.”
Dianying: Electric Shadows is the name of an excellent history of Chinese films from 1896 through 1967. The book was written by Jay Leyda, who worked with the Chinese film industry in Peking from 1959 to 1964. Leyda is best known for his books on Sergei Eisenstein and the Soviet cinema, though he also published studies of Herman Melville, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Emily Dickinson.
Unfortunately, Dianying: Electric Shadows is currently out of print. You can still find it in both hardback and paperback through used booksellers.
Trivia