A docudrama based on the murder of Wang Lianying the previous year, it follows a young man named Yan Ruisheng who, deeply in debt, kills a courtesan to steal her jewellery.

A collaborative project of the Chinese Cinema Study Society, the film extensively used the resources of the Commercial Press' filmmaking division.

Yan Ruisheng, having wasted his money on gambling, fine food, and prostitutes, decides to rob the courtesan Wang Lianying.

In 1905, Fengtai Photographic Studio produced Dingjun Mountain, a short film depicting Tan Xinpei in a Peking opera.

[4] Though initially tepid,[5] audience interest in this new medium – known under such terms as "electric shadowplay" (電光影戯; 电光影戏) – blossomed, and by 1926 more than a hundred cinemas were attested throughout the region.

[a][6] The case immediately "scandalized and mesmerized the city's chattering classes",[7] as did Yan's confession that the idea for the murder came from American cinema.

[9] The story was quickly adapted to the stage, including as spoken-word civilized dramas,[10] Peking operas, and various local forms of theatre.

[11] Production of Yan Ruisheng was handled by the Chinese Cinema Study Society (CCSS), a recently established group of students that also published an illustrated periodical titled The Motion Picture Review (影戏杂志).

[12] Funds for the production – advertised as tens of thousands of yuan[23] – were borrowed,[13] and equipment and crew were loaned from the filmmaking division of the Commercial Press.

Located on the glass-roofed fourth floor of the company's headquarters, the venue was lit by mercury-vapor lamps that allowed for shooting at night.

[25] Despite the availability of such facilities, advertisements emphasized the extensive use of location shooting, name-dropping the Fuyuli, Huileli, and Juanli brothels as well as the Helinchun Teahouse.

Some scenes were shot at the same locations where the events had occurred,[26] or at venues frequented by those involved,[24] and the car used in the film was the same one in which Yan had driven Wang.

[26] Also featured in the film were the Xuzhou railway station, the Shanghai Garrison Command, and the execution grounds,[16] as well as scenes of horse racing.

[12] The production of Yan Ruishing was announced in the Shen Bao on 6 April 1921, with principal photography having been completed and post-production in progress.

[29] One of the largest cinemas in Shanghai, the Olympic – owned by Spanish entrepreneur Antonio Ramos – was normally used for first-run releases of Hollywood and French imports.

"[h][34] Similarly, in the Chunsheng Daily the drama critic Guan Ji'an questioned the prudence of adapting the case to film, deeming it unsuited for the purpose of "promoting China's inherent civilization and washing away the shame of Europe and the United States".

Two more feature-length films, Dan Duyu's Sea Oath and Guan Haifeng's The Pink Skull, were released by the end of the year.

Starring Yip Fat-Yeuk as Yan Ruisheng and Fa Ying-Yung as Wang Lianying, this version was given the English-title Woe to the Debauched!

[42] The film, in which Jiang starred alongside Ge You and Shu Qi, followed a mafioso in 1920s China who arranged to launder money by staging a beauty pageant.

The loss of early Chinese films has been attributed to various causes, including natural degradation, internal conflict, and warfare;[43] for example, the Japanese bombing of Shanghai on 28 January 1932 resulted in the destruction of numerous works by Mingxing, the Commercial Press, and other studios.