[soft music] - by the early 20th century, film had become the "medium of record." if an event wasn't filmed, it was as if it never happened. but in china, it w difficult to first document and then preserve the film record of a country in turmoil. and the rise and fall of a republic. the emergence of so-called "war lord" generals, the founding of a second republic, cil war, ainvasion that wld, destroying much of china and tang millions of lives. a renewed civil war and revolution.

all in the span of 50 years. now, after decades of research, it is finally possible to see life in china as it actually occurred, to see "china: frame by frame." [soft sic tape] my name bill eieinhoffe and i ubt you' ever heard of me, despite 40-plus ar caer in tevision. i arted mang documentaries back when i was in college, which obviously was a long time ago. [gentle music] i've spent most of my career behind the camera. until now... when i first arrived in china more than three decades ago, i had no idea i would spend much of my professional career making stories in and about china. [gentle music continues] i also didn't know i would become a "footage detective," spending countless hours locating rare historic footage.

yet, that's what happened. today america and china have deep, fundamental differences. in fact, it's no exaggeration to say relations are terrible and threaten to get even worse. how did we reach this point? the answer to that question can, in part, be found in historic film footage, much of which was lost, stolen, or at the very least misplaced for decades. footage i have been tracking down for more than 30 years. [music fades] [soft music] these are some of the earliest film images to be shot in china. [soft music continues] who are these people? what are they doing? why are they doing it? where are they going? what kind of inner life do they live? [soft music continues] we don't know. we will never know.

foreigners shot most of the footage from this era. theyikely didn't speak or write chinese and had a limited understanding of the local culture. yet it is still possible to recognize authentic elements of chinese life. [music fades] - even if those films sometimes mischaracterize the events, yocan findome luable tngs in that. hinese mic] - ill] it s the rare forgn film that captured chinese life as it was. life that ebbed and flowed just as it did in other societies. events that mirrored the emotional lives of the chinese people themselves. as opposed to what westerners saw as strange and exotic. [music] yet foreigners didn't have a complete monopoly when it came to filmmaking. [martial music] this is a group of united states marine corp pilots

flying over the port city of tiain in north china during the 1920's. the subject matter alone makes this footage notable, but so does the cameraman. we don't know who he is, but he must have been good. would the marines have chosen someone who wasn't proficient to document their exploits? [mellow music] in china, the period from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th century the d, occupati, and rellion re seen perpetu threats by china leaders. - over its history, ina has been iaded and is has me itnsby many , spiciousf foreigrs. also, cha is a cntry diverserovinc and etic minories, so of whichad belled iearlier mes.

the inese counist pay pbeat muc] - [bil during e first halfy thousands oforeign childn, e sons and dghters of business executives,octors, lawyers, christianissionaries . chin in fact, watheir home. - [mary] wlearned to speak chinese and we were completely bilingual as children. if we played with our brothers and sisters, and there were more chinese arou us an thereere amerans. and of course, we ate chinese foo and was jusall part of r life. [train track clanging] he started helping put in the railroads in china. and then, my father got involved with the coal mines in china

th a bigritish-cnese coa miningonsortiu the kaian. and then, my father got involved with the coal mines in china i was rn over ere, in nan. [bill] le in chi during t first hf of e 20th ctury wasarsh. poverty,unger, disease, and anarly dea awaid many cnese, ev in shanai, chins largt, most osperousity. - theyollect all the dead bodies from the poor people, cause it very co and they all died because of the cold. they collect theevery da six clock inhe morni. i sait with own eyes. and i sait also with mowns ople on e street not ve few

and st write note, "who canelp my ks? "w want myids?" [soft sic] to s the prinple of sereignty the chinese people had little say in, and less control of, evts takinplace in theirwn count. during t early pt ofhe 20th ntury, mo foreigners and chinese lived in parallel wods, worl that seom mixed. the difference betweenthose. yet ronald morris and his cous, mike, [soft music] lid in both cultures. - and i member my grandmother scolding me a couple of times and that, because i wouldn't eat the food that we had.

i eferred e food dnstairs with, now i'sit down and eat with them, which they gciously ve me. t my mom granother und up st givinthem ext money for paymt for thfood. so rlly, i le chese chowthat's i [folk muc] - [bil 1930s shanghai was home to a large number of stateless jewish exiles. many had found shelter in china from russia's bolshevik revolution. later, refugees from war-torn europe, fleeing the holocaust would arrive. liliane willens and her parents lived in a part of shanghai called the french concession, an area that decades later, still has a special, even romantic quality. - well, the french concession was the residential section of shanghai, and it was very much like a french small city out there.

the stores were actually russian-owned stores. people spoke russian in the streets or you spoke english and the chinese spoke to us in pidgin english. the language in shanghai was british english. as i always mention it, language always follows trade. [jive music] - [bill] in old shanghai, the chinese did most , ile the foreigners de the money. ive musicontinue me amassed absolute founes, livi lives oluxury,unimagin. e unitedtates, eat britn, france, and japan all matained a permanent military presence in china. [bugle call] men serving in the u.s. navy's yangtze patrol, dubbed china sairs, cod live the good life spite their meager p.

manyever went home. [trational music] - [narrator] the wngpoo rir fied with nks frommoy, radition music ctinues and plty of sampans r sailor bounfor libey in shahai. who combe orient charm th modersnap. the sult is t bounforrd to lo at.ahai. [mic conties] - [bl] it wod be a mtake toudge alloreigner living in china harshly. many were committed to saving souls and saving lives, like those who served at a presbyterian mission in a northn chinese town, en called weihsien. [instrumental musicontinues] in a placef desperate poverty, prer medical care was the between life and death. there were even holiys, which might be called christmas

with chinese characteristics. [instrumental music continues] thomas dunn was a physician, as well as a leader, in shanghai's american community. - he'd been in the navy in the first world war and just got intereeda and thought he'd just spent a couple of years there which wm but heiked it muchhat my mher, whom he'd known in college, she came out and theyere marrd inhe philiines d then med to shghai, where heet up prtice patits, a loof paties. so he [mellow sic] - ill] whaver advantages reigne enjoyed wealth, status, servants, they still succumbed to the same endemic diseases that killed millions of chinese. they ended their days in a special foreigner section of one of shanghai's largest cemeteries. today, their graves are seldom, if ever, visited.

[bugle] so-called newsreels, short films usually shown in theaters, were the only way to actually see the news before the arrival of television. often sensational, the newsreels told stories withhat todamight be calleattitude ey also hibited kind ocasualacism, slurs, insults, paternalism that is astounding by today's standards. [bugle call ends] - [newsperson] arriving in modern steam freighters, the cars are swung into waiting river junks, amg the olst typeof boatsn. [gtle musi the seems be ngreat ru. thcoolies e phosophicaabout itll. th isn't t regular assembly line. the chinese very courteously insisted on bringing their work out of doors, so we'd sure th had nothing up their sleeve.

anothes. [suspenseful music] - [bill] when china's last imperial dynasty, the qing dynasty, collapsed in 1911, the country was plunged into chaos. it saw the rise of what the west termed, "warlords," regional leaders with their own armies, hungry for personal power. sun yat-sen, the founder of the kuomintang, or nationalist party, didn't live long enough to see it come to power. his successor, generalisimo chiang kai-shek, participated in a united front effort with china's then small communist party. one of its members was a former college librarian, named mao zedong. but in 1927, chiang kai-shek violently ended e unitedront, dering t executi of thousds of counists

ars late the comnists would ta revenge on rural landlords and so. in september 1931, the imperial japanese army occupied three provinces in northeast china, in september 1931, an areoften caed manchia.rmy for massive panese militarynvasion. [suspenseful music] - this is the time that the japanese were very worried about a number of things, including the sustainability of the japanese empire. [engine noise] they were worried about shortages, shortages in oil in other sorts of supplies. they were also worried about the fact that they have too many peop. they needed new spac especily for their faers to live. and ey had been mpeting with chi, as wl as theoviet unn foinfluencin manchia,.

and mahuria wathe st indusialized rt of connental et asia, and they waed toove in tre. [bill] ding januy, 1932, the imrial japanese vy sent troops ashore in shanghai, algedly to protect japanese economic interests and civilis. chiang kai-shek largely avoided confronting the japanese troops, who were occupying evermore territory in china, concentrating instead on his communist rivals. [intense music] not until he was kidnapped in 1936 anfacing death, would he agree to a second united front with a now larger, but stl relatily the age was set for ina

- [bill] the arrival of war in shanghai was sudden and deadly. - we lived about a half a mile from the railroad, and e japane are riodical trng to bo the raioad. sos a chil i can rember that awf sound oa plan you knowdiving wadays, ey'd jusdrop it, t in tho days th dove in

yand had a pch in our houson the trd floor we useto have tea inhe n t in tho days th dove in anone timee saw this pla was comg and ve bombi and myovernessaid, anone timee saw comen, we goa go inse. and here could s the pit in thelane. he dpped thebombs onhe . [suspenseful music] - there was a lot of slaughter. my cousin mike and i, we were scared to death. we saw a lot of, [suspenseful music continues] lot of bad, we saw a lot of hunger. eatinghe. yoknow, th chilen beingayoneted ah, it w pretty d. - [bl] chi's soiers werbrave, [suspenseful music] but courage alone could not stop japanese tanks

nor thjapanese aircraf that bombed largely defenseless chinese cities. when the battle of shanghai was over, much of the central city, as well as many outlying districts were in ruins. - when we went there, i was shock to see buildings broken, everything was broken down, shattered, and people in the streets. so there was a little store and i saw a gleaming white bicycle and i told my father, "i'm going to take it." he said, "absolutely not." someone owns it, it's owned by someone, and the person could have been killed. and i think then i realized what death meant. i was 10 years old. [drum beats] - [bill] chiang kai-shek unsuccessfully fought a conventional war against the japanese military. china's ldiers were often d by poor strategy and inferior equipment. mao zedong anthe communist foes

che a comptely fferent rategy. th used wh today icommonly cal. - mao'guerrill warfe is notust, you knowsmall uns takingn, sortf havingotshots no, no, 's much more shist. it is going into the rear of the japanese, building up these base areas with new government, new laws, sometimes new currencies, sustaining a red army. athru army is it's called at this time, that can operate outside of the base, but also local guerrilla forces, local militia and sort of middle level units that can operate throughout that base area. - [bill] it is impossible to overemphasize millions of people fled to western chin every family has a story. it is how beijing-based journalist,

melinda lou's father, met his future wife. - he and my mother, they actually were both at ching hui university that uvers wells a numb of otherhinese iversiti in a ve dramati and so of romaic episo, thentire sdent bod the professors, the laboratories, the books, the libraries, the classrooms, they all try to relocate west to get away from the japanese. - [bill] this footage unseen in america or china for decades, is unique. [upbeat music] under the terms of the united front agreement, thcommunisparty wa alloweto maintn a presce in china's wartime capital,th. zhou enlai, mao zedong■s trusted lieutenant, was in overall charge.

[upbeat music continues] workers wrote, printed and assembled e communt newspar, xiua daily an a whichould t them aested th worked der e watchf gaze ildren aended clses in school like anyther in natnalist or japane controed china, school wh a mmunist urse of udy. security forces cleaned their weapons, eparing r a possle attac not japanessoldiers but eir erstile tionalisallies st as took place in 1927. [upbeat music ntinues] and o knew that revolutionaries enjoyed playing basketball? [music fades] [oscillating rumble] [soft music] during the 1930s and 1940s, the imperial japanese government

inese anglobal aiences. their goal was to paint a picture of an imaginary world that never existed. it included documentaries about how wonderful life was in the mythical country of manchukuo, ich in ft was the lae ea in noheast cha, japan invaded in 1931. [expsions] a janese feare film included scenes of selfless japanese soldiers feeding hungry chinese refugees, protecting them from murderous chinese troops. the act oppote of feedat actuay happen.e refugees, lane enge] [st music] enish language presentations were aimed at convincing american audnces that onlbenevolent japanese rulers could minister a fractious and fractured china.

- [announcer] hungry children soon learned th other b childre fromver the a would gi them so of tir rice even swts ifhey askefor it. [mic conties] while long rows ofeasants wait basket in han olgranny would get her cigarette too. [music fades] - [bill] what was ssing was andiscussi of the janese litary'sse of ra, terror, son, oting anmurder [somber music] even chemical and biological warfare, similar to nazi atrocities in europe. [eerie noise] the conflict traumatized millions of chinese children, [somber music] who made toys reflecting the world they saw every day, a world at war. [somber music ends] the imperial japanese navy's attack on america's base at prl harbo hawaii change.

now ina and e unitedtates re officlly alli and american fors could enly attack japase mility target and american fors cou[eer music]ack replacincovert orations,like t . living in japanese-occupied china beme ene nationa. entire filies we sent to civiln prisonamps. - the food was terrible. fish, rice and cabbage, slimy cabbage, rotten fish and rice fled th boll evils anstones, ause it s off of shavin s and th had to-- filly, theoctors sd, ta out thetones, and th had to-- but n't takeut the bl weils becae that i theyre cooke and at is prein. [bill] abadly as the panesy treated foreigners in the ternment cps, it paled in comparison

to what the chinese people experienced. [eerie music continues] millions of chinese, many innocent vilians, would die as a result of tactics that eventually were summarizeds "the three as." kill all, bu all, loot all. [eerie music continues] on july 4th, 1943, independence day in the united states, american children at one internment camp, joined their parents in singing patriotic songs. - [voice cracking] began to sing the "star spangled banner", [deep brthe] and the panese rushed i.. [cryg] i'sorry, sry. [sobbi] the janese rusd in andaid, u can't ng thasong. and... as iot to thdoor or room, i rned,

[deep brthes] and yocan hear those st str. ome of t brave home of e free thinfor me, apologiz it wasusn - the was a mble tt weere gointo be exuted ansome stas were bng driv into throll call field. i thought it was a big fat joke. i d no ideand i di't fi out lat on otheise we wld've been- [bil august,945,. japane militar forc surrend in chin it w sudden, unexpeed. oft musi inhina, lelets nouncingictory were organized into bundles to be dropped by american aircraft over major cities. [soft music continues] the news literally fell from the sky. in shanghai, there was a parade.

with the fighting over, china could finally enjoy the benefits of peace. the fighting had ended or had it? [soft music continues] many chinese felt it wasn't just japanese troops who shou leave cna. theyanted all reign litary uts to ex, including thousands of american troops. - i always see with my own eyes. the military ships from america and britain on the river of huangpu. and on the streets, there's always the navy and the mps. said, "w? "t japaneshave lefus and y you come here? "what r?" "t japundersnd me?us and ask me w?e here? [silence] because said thiis our therlandthis is own lan weo not ne other hp. - [bil g,

threcently retired u.s. army chief of staff, was sent to china to negotiate the tablishment of a coalition government, incorporating both the nationalists well ashe communists. according to american newsreels, marshall was able to do the impossible, brokering as ceasefire between the communists and the nationalists, ending china's civil war. [gentle music continues] thosnewsreels were wrong. - with the initial support of the soviets, e chinescommunisparty gradually gained the ability after japan's surrender, the u.s. attpted to reconcile the parties, but mao's support amongst the peasants had grown and his demand to share power went far beyond what chiang could accept. therefore, china's civil war resumed. ntense mic] - [bill] the soviet union, in the final days of the war, had occupied northeast china,

[intense music continues] and besides putting their own imprint on the region, all of t militarequipmen surrdered by theapanese was gin to the communisforces ntense mic conties] was gin to the common per,ces the t, the nationasts, looked unbeatable. in fact, the cpc, the communists, were stronger. chia kai-sk had lo the fah of thehinese pple. sie 1937, scorchedearth pocd chthe vast majority of the fathe chese people,le. who could not follow the retreating kmt troops to live in a ruined wasteland. [music] as many as 900,000 chinese died in 1938, the yellow river destroyed, hoping it would stop onming japanese troops.

[somber music] it only delayed them. by 1946, china was in political and economic chaos. there was triple digit. only the black market merchants seed to be making money. [somber music continues] as the months went by, nationist forc were repeated defeate was terribleeneral. his chieopponent counist geral lin ao, had been brilliant in the fight against japanese forces. - general lin biao is one of the greatest commanders of world war ii, not just in china, but around the world. he was a great tactician, a great leader of men obviously,