Zhang Shichuan

Zhang Shichuan 張石川
Born	Zhang Weitong 1889 or 1890 Ningbo, Zhejiang, Qing China
Died	1953 or 1954 (aged 64) Shanghai, China
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, filmmaker
Known for	A founding father of Chinese cinema
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	張石川
Simplified Chinese	张石川
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Shíchuān Wade–Giles Chang Shih-ch'uan

Zhang Shichuan (Wade–Giles: Chang Shih-ch'uan; 1889–1953^[1] or 1890–1954^[2]), also credited as S. C. Chang, was a Chinese entrepreneur, film director, and film producer, who is considered a founding father of Chinese cinema. He and Zheng Zhengqiu made the first Chinese feature film, The Difficult Couple, in 1913, and cofounded the Mingxing (Star) Film Company in 1922, which became the largest film production company in China under Zhang's leadership.

Zhang directed about 150 films in his career, including Laborer's Love (1922), the earliest complete Chinese film that has survived; Orphan Rescues Grandfather (1923), one of the first Chinese box-office hits; The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (1928), the first martial arts film; and Sing-Song Girl Red Peony (1931), China's first sound film.

After the destruction of Mingxing's studio by Japanese bombing during the 1937 Battle of Shanghai, Zhang Shichuan made films for the China United Film Production Company (Zhonglian) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, which led to accusations of treason after the surrender of Japan in 1945. He never recovered from the humiliation, and died in 1953 or 1954.