Despite the success of films such as Twin Sisters (1934) and efforts to attract new writers, the company was unable to recover and operations ended after the Japanese occupied Shanghai in 1937.

Both men also worked with Zheng Zhegu and Zhou Jianyun in the late 1910s to operate the Xinmin Library, a publisher responsible for periodicals such as the Yaofeng Monthly (药风月刊) and the Emancipation Pictorial.

[b][12] Mingxing shot its first work – a newsreel documenting the arrival of French general Joseph Joffre in Shanghai – on 8 March 1923, with screening handled by a local YMCA branch in April.

These short slapstick comedies, one following a visit by Charlie Chaplin and the other telling of a hapless carpenter in love with a doctor's daughter, were released as a double feature at the Olympic Theatre on 5 October 1922.

[18] Advertising material emphasized verisimilitude, and viewer Cheng Bugao later recalled that the film had disgusted audiences with its close-up shots of the autopsy and the removal of organs.

[23] Making its debut on 21 December 1923, Orphan Rescues Grandfather was an enormous success, running for a hundred days in Shanghai; its Southeast Asian distribution rights were purchased for 8,000 yuan.

New crew were hired, including a professional cinematographer and make-up artist, while a surge in interest resulted in the film school accepting numerous students free of charge.

To facilitate distribution, Mingxing also purchased the former Shenjiang Stage, a site of Peking opera and civilized drama performances, transforming it into a cinema and opening it to the public on 24 April 1925.

[29] To attract investors, Ren Jinping drew from his contacts through the Ningbo birthplace association, obtaining funding from prominent merchants such as Fang Jiaobo, Lao Jingxiu, and Yuan Ludeng [zh].

[31] Several, including Jade Pear Spirit and The Poor Children (both 1924), starred Wang Hanlun, who had risen to stardom with Orphan Rescues Grandfather; she left the company soon after, following a salary dispute.

[22] With her departure, Mingxing relied on several actresses, including Xuan Jinglin, Yang Naimei, and Zhang Zhiyun, to draw audiences;[32] mostly, these artists were popular only briefly.

[42] By the end of 1926, Mingxing had four production units – respectively headed by Zhang Shichuan, Zheng Zhengqiu, Hong Shen, and Bu Wancang – and although efforts to interest further investors failed the company was generally profitable.

[34] A martial arts drama about four travellers who uncover a conspiracy of evil monks,[44] The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple featured Hu Die – a Tianyi artist recently signed by Mingxing – in her breakthrough role.

The technological challenges required larger crews, including language coaches to help actors with their spoken Mandarin,[51] as well as the rental of Pathé's recording studios in Shanghai.

Negotiations, which included court arguments as well as protection from the gangsters Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng, resulted in Mingxing being allowed to screen its adaptation.

[57] Gaining permission to screen Fate in Tears and Laughter cost Mingxing another 100,000 yuan, used for protection money and to reimburse the potential losses incurred by Dahua.

Meanwhile, the Japanese incursion into Shanghai had destroyed numerous cinemas and parts of Mingxing's studios, the occupation of Manchuria had reduced available markets, and the ongoing war had created a recession.

[61] Meanwhile, Zhou Jianyun – through his friend Qian Xingcun – brought in leftist writers such as Xia Yan and Zheng Baiqi;[62] this was intended, in part, to stave off the perception that the studio was unable to produce serious works.

[31] The success of Twin Sisters in 1934, a drama starring Hu Die and Xuan Jinglin that earned 200,000 yuan through domestic and international distribution, improved Mingxing's stability.

These were compounded by the death of Zheng Zhengqiu in July 1935; the loss of his mediating role brought the personal issues of Mingxing's creative and financial directors, Zhang Shichuan and Zhou Jianyun respectively, to the forefront.

[5] Early film production houses in China were generally smaller affairs, with Yan Ruisheng having been made by a group of students;[74] others were divisions of established enterprises such as the Commercial Press.

[r][79] In the People's Republic of China, official histories of cinema have identified the arrival of leftist writers such as Qian Xingcun and Xia Yan in 1933 as marking the conversion of Mingxing into a "hub of left-wing film production".

Zheng Zhengqiu advocated for an understanding of film as a means of promoting social reform, while Zhang Shichuan emphasized the commercial and entertainment value of the medium.

Hong Shen, who had studied under George Pierce Baker in the United States, promoted the realist stylings of Eugene O'Neill and Henrik Ibsen.

[87] Mingxing adapted numerous films from novels, including Lonely Orchid (1926) and its 1935 remake, as well as Fallen Plum Blossoms (1927) and Fate in Tears and Laughter (1932).

[89] Where works were not adapted from novels, the involvement of famed writers such as Cheng Xiaoqing, Tian Han, Xu Banmei, and Chen Lengxue were highlighted.

[93] The King of Comedy looked outward, with Charlie Chaplin – played by impersonator Richard Bell[94] – visiting Shanghai and becoming involved in such gags as becoming trapped in a sedan chair or encountering a baby driving an oxcart.

[104] After the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1931, Mingxing – as with other Chinese production houses – produced a series of nationalistic films, including Iron Youth (1931) and Resurrecting the National Spirit (1932).

[59] For example, Wild Torrent – directed by Cheng Bugao from a script by Xia Yan – dealt with the flooding of the Yangtze and conflicts emerging from the disaster.

[109] With An Amorous History of the Silver Screen (1931), which has been described as semi-biographical in its following of the Xuan Jinglin–played protagonist rise from prostitution to film stardom, the company itself as a "magic workshop of virtual reality" that used modern lighting, extravagant set-pieces and innovative special effects.