Chinese Communist Revolution

His films like 'Farewell My Concubine' and 'Yellow Earth' critically examine the Cultural Revolution's impact on individuals and traditional culture.

Works such as 'To Live' and 'Raise the Red Lantern' explore the personal costs of revolutionary upheaval and ideological transformation in modern China.

His films document the social and psychological legacies of the revolution through contemporary China's rapid transformation and displacement of communities.