Zhou Jianyun

Zhou Jianyan
Zhou, c. 1936
Born	Zhou Yafu (周亚父) 1883 Hefei, Anhui, Qing China
Died	1967 (aged 83–84) Shanghai, China
Occupation(s)	Dramatist, entrepreneur
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	周劍雲
Simplified Chinese	周剑云
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōu Jiànyún Wade–Giles Chou1 Chien4yün2 IPA [ʈʂóʊ tɕjɛ̂n.y̌n]

Zhou Jianyun (simplified Chinese: 周剑云; traditional Chinese: 周劍雲; pinyin: Zhōu Jiànyún, 1883–1967) was a Chinese dramatist and film entrepreneur. Born in Hefei, Anhui, he travelled to Shanghai in his youth for school before entering the city's drama community through the Qimin New Drama Society and press through the Emancipation Pictorial. With his fellow dramatists Zhang Shichuan and Zheng Zhengqiu, in 1922 he established the Mingxing Film Company, variously serving as its manager, finance director, and film distributor. He spearheaded the establishment of the Liuhe Film Distribution Company in 1928, and in the early 1930s he hired several Communist screenwriters. Mingxing was closed in 1939 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and although Zhou established several further companies, these were short-lived.