Preface

The fact that Ting Liu has written an entire book about my ideas on cinema fills me with satisfaction．When I started doing research on film aesthetics and film history in the　1970s，I never imagined that a young Chinese scholar would create a book discussing my work．The honor is as great as the pleasure．

I have watched the growth of Chinese film studies with great interest．While Chinese filmmaking has grown into a major industry and a significant artistic force，Chinese scholars young and old have explored ideas from Europe，North America，and other parts of Asia in order to raise their research to new levels．

Ting Liu is right to focus on the idea of“middle-level theory”．This mixture of detail-oriented empirical inquiry and broader conceptual investigation is central to what I try to do in my work．My books，articles，and blog entries（on a site shared with my wife Kristin Thompson，www．davidbordwell．net／blog）try to apply this approach to a wide array of films，from very old classics to contemporary work from America，Europe，Japan．．．and China！This perspective seems to me a fruitful way to understand films in many contexts．It is not the only valid approach，but it is one that has，I believe，helped us grasp the power of movies．

Hou Hsiao-hsien，Wong Kar-wai，Johnnie To Kei-fung，Jia Zhangke，and other directors of Chinese heritage have fundamentally changed world cinema．They show that China can be vital centers of film creativity．I hope that similar energy and accomplishments will be fostered in the scholarly realm by Ting Lius book．

For Ting Lius efforts on my behalf，I am very grateful，and I wish her book every success．

David Bordwell