Runje Shaw

Runje Shaw
Shaw's portrait on a 1934 issue of Liangyou magazine
Born
Shao Renjie

1896 (1896)
Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
Died1975(1975-00-00) (aged 78–79)
Shanghai, China
Other namesShao Zuiweng
Alma materShenzhou University
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, filmmaker
Known forFounding Tianyi Film Company
Spouse
(m. 1934⁠–⁠1975)
Children6
Relatives
Shao Zuiweng
Chinese邵醉翁
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShào Zuìwēng
Shao Renjie
Traditional Chinese邵仁傑
Simplified Chinese邵仁杰
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShào Rénjié

Runje Shaw (1896–1975), also known as Shao Zuiweng (C.W. Shaw) and Shao Renjie, was a Chinese film entrepreneur, producer and director. The eldest of the Shaw brothers, in 1925 he founded Tianyi Film Company (also called Unique Film Productions) in Shanghai, which became one of the top three film production companies in pre-WWII Republic of China, and the beginning of the Shaw Brothers media empire.

Under Runje's leadership, his younger brothers Runde, Runme, and Run Run established branches of Tianyi in Hong Kong and Singapore. Runje retired from filmmaking after Tianyi's Shanghai base was destroyed in 1937 during the Japanese invasion, but his younger brothers, particularly Sir Run Run, rebuilt Tianyi's offshoots in Hong Kong and Singapore, of which Shaw Brothers Studio came to dominate filmmaking in Hong Kong.[1][2]

  1. ^ Ye, Tan; Zhu, Yun (2012). Historical Dictionary of Chinese Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 133. ISBN 9780810879133.
  2. ^ Xiao, Zhiwei; Zhang, Yingjin (2002). Encyclopedia of Chinese Film. Taylor & Francis. p. 302. ISBN 9780203195550.