Taiwan was able to solidly build and sustain a film industry only after locally-produced Mandarin films secured markets in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s. Though only a small island with a limited population, in its heyday, Taiwan was among the top-10 film producing countries/areas in the world, turning out hundreds of martial arts kung fu films and romantic melodramas annually that were screened in theaters across Southeast Asia and other areas internationally. However, except for one acclaimed film by director King Hu, Taiwan cinema was nearly invisible on the art cinema map until the 1980s, when the films of Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, and other Taiwan New Cinema directors gained recognition at international film festivals, first in Europe, and later, throughout the world. Since then, many other Taiwan directors have also become an important part of cinema history, such as Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-liang. The Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema covers the history of cinema in Taiwan during both the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945) and the Chinese Nationalist period (1945-present). This is accomplished through a chronology highlighting the main events during the long period and an introduction which carefully analyses the progression. The bulk of the information, however, appears in a dictionary section including over a hundred very extensive entries on directors, producers, performers, films, film studios and genres. Photos are also included in the dictionary section. More information can be found through the bibliography. Taiwan cinema is truly unique and this book is a good place to find out more about it, whether you are a student, or teacher, or just a fan.

"The Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema includes a chronology, list of acronyms and abbreviations, introduction, dictionary, and a topical bibliography. The Dictionary offers reliable counts of the country's film history with cross-references of the important directors, producers, performers, films, studios, and genres. The author is an award-winning filmmaker and film scholar as well as associate professor in the Department of Filmmaking and at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan. The films are discussed are analyzed with thoughtful perspectives. This Dictionary offers a good starting point for readers to understand Taiwan's rich motion picture history. This work is recommended for libraries with a collection of East Asia studies." - American Reference Books Annual

"Taiwan cinema has been intertwined historically and politically with that of China, Hong Kong, and Japan for over a century. Academic and film historian Lee (Taipei National Univ. of the Arts in Taiwan) focuses on Taiwan cinema during two divided periods of Taiwan history: Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945) and Nationalist rule (1945-present). This well-researched book features an excellent and informative introductory essay, a reader's note, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a detailed chronology (1895-2011), more than 140 entries, an extensive bibliography, maps, and photographs. In the reader's note, Lee explains the complex Romanization systems used throughout the volume, including Cantonese, English, Pinyin, and Wade-Giles for Chinese names, and modified Hepburn for Japanese names. The main dictionary entries feature prominent directors, producers, actors, studios, organizations, genres, and representatives of the best Taiwanese films. Overall, this is a useful resource for students and scholars in film or East Asian studies. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers." - CHOICE