'Venus' pioneers China's path to independent camera development

In the history of Chinese films, there is a well-known tragic movie titled "A Spring River Flows East." Directed by Cai Chusheng, the movie condenses the complex social realities of nearly a decade – spanning the years before and after the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression – into the struggles of a single family, weaving a dramatic and touching story. Yet few know that this classic was also the first Chinese feature film shot with a domestically developed camera.

The years from 1946 to 1947 were important turning points in the development of Chinese cameras. In that year, Shanghai Venus Film Equipment Factory successfully trial-produced the "Venus" – the first 35mm electric sound camera in China – based on the prototype of an American camera.

The birth of "Venus" broke a long-term foreign monopoly and dependence on imports of photographic equipment, and also paved the way for independent research and the development of domestic cameras in China.