Movie on Shanxi merchants gives director lesson on family history

Researching and making the epic film Empire of Silver, which depicts a high-stakes tale of power and romance among the renowned Shanxi merchants in the late 19th century, was an eye-opening experience for first-time director Christina Yao in more ways than one.

Loosely based on the best-selling trilogy Valley of Silver by novelist Cheng Yi, the film taught Yao not only about the rich history of the influential merchant class but also of her father, whose upbringing in a wealthy Shanxi merchant family shaped the life he led in both politics and in his personal life.

"Growing up, I didn't fully realize what it meant to be a Shanxi merchant," she says. "They were incredibly powerful. And through researching this book, I realized more about my father. He and his father and grandfather were all monogamous, even though many of their peers had second wives. I thought it was their virtue, but I realized that the Shanxi merchants were truly unique in that in all of China's thousands of years, (they) were the only group that demanded monogamy."