Gu Qing, a soldier from the propaganda department of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Eighth Route Army in CCP-controlled Shaanxi, travels alone from Yan'an to the northern KMT-controlled area of Shaanxi, Shanbei, in the early spring of 1939, with the task of collecting the peasants' folk songs in order to re-write them with communist lyrics in order to boost the morale of the Eighth Route Army soldiers.

According to the academic article Color, Character, and Culture: On "Yellow Earth, Black Cannon Incident", and "Red Sorghum" by H. C. Li,^[4] Yellow Earth begins with a scene depicting a communist soldier walking several miles. He reaches a small village where he is assigned to live with a poor as well as illiterate family with the task of recording local folk songs for use in the propagandized communist cause. The father in the family, an old widower, dislikes Gu's re-telling of social reforms about women receiving education and choosing who they will marry on their own terms within the communist domain in the province's south, but Cui Qiao, his hard-working daughter, happily listens to his tales and is joyful when her younger brother, Hanhan, becomes friends with Gu. Gu learns the hardships of peasant life and especially that of Cui Qiao. The story then focuses on the girl, who at only age 14, is told that she must marry a significantly older man in only a few months' time as her wedding dowry was used to pay for her mother's funeral and brother's engagement. She is even more miserable when Gu informs them that he must return to Yan'an. The next morning, Hanhan accompanies Gu as he leaves and they part ways. However, Cui Qiao is waiting for Gu along the way and she pleads to go along with him. Gu does not know of her forced marriage so he convinces her to go back as she cannot follow without his army's permission, but he will come back for her one day. The wedding day comes and Cui Qiao is taken away in a bridal sedan. On the other hand, Gu has reached Yan'an and is now watching a drum-dance for new recruits fighting for the anti-Japanese war. Cui Qiao informs Hanhan that she wants to run away to join the army and she tells him to take care of their father and give Gu some hand-sewn insoles whenever he comes back. At night, she tries to cross the turbulent Yellow River while singing a song taught by Gu Qing, but whether she makes it across remains unclear.

Fast forward to another summer, Gu returns as he once promised Cui Qiao. But there is no one in the peasant family's home, so he goes into their village and sees countless peasants led by Cui Qiao's father praying and dancing for rain because the land has dried up and peoples' crops have died: "Dragon King of the Sea, let the good rains fall. Send cool wind and gentle rain to save us all!" Hanhan spots Gu and tries to go over to him, but a crowd of peasants obstructs his way. The film ends with the sound of Cui Qiao's song: "The piebald cock flies over the wall. The Communist Party shall save us all!" (96-97)

Xueqi Wang as Gu Qing: A young, hard-working soldier of the CPP Eighth Route Army. He travels to Shaanbei to collect folk songs, living with Cui Qiao and her family during this time.  In Cui Qiao's home, he describes scenes of freedom and equality of the people of Yan'an, which deeply moves Cui Qiao.

Bai Xue as Cui Qiao: A lively, brave, young girl who was the greatest singer in her village. Her mother died when she was young, and she lived with her father and brother (Hanhan). She was touched by Gu Qing's description of female liberty, so she asked Gu Qing to take her away. After she received Gu Qing's rejection, she decided to run away alone.

Tuo Tan as The Father: A kind but ignorant elder. He is the father of Cui Qiao and Hanhan. He views Gu Qing as a part of his family, but does not respect Gu Qing's opinions on liberty. Despite love for his children, he adheres to village tradition and arranges his daughter marriage, despite her protest.

Liu Qiuang as Hanhan: Cui Qiao 's brother. An innocent, kind, yet reckless young man who greatly loves his family

In 1978, Yimou Zhang and Chen Kaige entered the Beijing Film Academy at the same time, possibly due to his father Chen Huaikai, Chen Kaige applied for the directing department, while Zhang Yimou applied for the photography department for his own interests.^[5] After the two graduated in 1982, they went to work at the same film studio, Guangxi Film Studio. While working at the Guangxi Film Studio, Chen Kaige was the director and Zhang Yimou was the cameraman.^[6] The two collaborated on a film called Yellow Earth for artistic pursuits. It is also their only co-production.

Yellow Earth is Chen Kaige's first film, who is an important figure in the Chinese fifth generation cinema history. Together with Zhang Yimou, who is also an icon in the fifth generation, they created a film that "changed the face of filmmaking in the country"^[7]. The chemistry between Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou is well presented in this film because it is marked as a signature work that initiated the fifth generation Chinese cinema. Fifth generation directors create distinctive works because they add political allegories into their films that make them different from conventional and social-realist filmmaking. Unlike other state products, "their films contain sophisticated reflections on the country's history, culture and its evolution".^[7]

The film was produced in 1984 when Chen Kaige was in the Shaanxi film industry. The film illustrated a strong poetic mood. Chen Kaige had said in an interview that he would not be able to make a film like Yellow Earth again. Specifically, he explains, the film is made when Chen Kaige can intimately get in contact with Shaanxi people's life in the particular time point. At the time the film was produced, new knowledge was rushing into the country, and women gained more freedom in the new society. Yet, the battle between the new and the old society is ongoing. The film portrays that people from the old time have already been accustomed to feudal ideologies. Even though they know there are new things coming out in the world, they think they are too poor to change anything. In other words, many people from the old feudal society in Shaanxi have already given up the search for hope and change. Change is luxurious and almost impossible to get under the poor and dry environment in Shaanxi. Cui Qiao is a transitional character between the old feudal society in Shaanxi and the new era of China.^[8]

Yellow Earth is set in 1937, a pivotal year in modern Chinese history marked by both political realignment and the outbreak of war.

In January 1937, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) relocated its Central Committee to Yan'an, establishing it as the Party's headquarters and the administrative center of the Shaanxi–Gansu–Ningxia Border Region. Yan'an became a key base for political and military planning during the Second Sino-Japanese War.^[9]

On February 21, 1937, the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang (KMT) Central Committee approved a resolution to form a united front with the CCP. This agreement effectively suspended the ongoing Chinese Civil War and formalized a joint resistance effort against Japanese expansion, known as the Second United Front.^[9]

Later that year, on July 7, 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident) occurred near Beijing, when a clash between Japanese and Chinese troops escalated into full-scale conflict. This event is widely regarded as the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The film showed a series of the feudal customs in Shaanxi, such as praying for the rain,^[10] and Cui Qiao's arranged marriage, emblematic of women's "feudalist victimization" during this period.^[11]

The music in Yellow Earth, composed by Zhao Jiping, reflects the regional characteristics of northern China and plays a role in defining character and atmosphere. Zhao created distinct theme pieces for the four main characters. Drawing from field research and local folk music traditions, the compositions were intended to match the personalities and social roles of the characters.^[12]

According to cinematographer Zhang Yimou, Yellow Earth features minimal camera movement and emphasizes static compositions, which he described as "almost like a 'dumb photo' shooting."^[13] The extensive use of long and static shots conveys a sense of "stillness", in alignment with the film’s themes.^[13]

The film prominently features earthy yellow tones, evoking the northern Chinese landscape. Other key colors—black (cotton jackets), white (headscarves), and red (wedding garments)—are used symbolically. For example, red has been interpreted as referencing both traditional marriage customs and aspirations for personal freedom. Zhang Yimou has described color as a key narrative element and has been noted for his distinctive use of visual color symbolism.^[13]

The screenplay for Yellow Earth is based on a novel by Ke Lan, "Echoes in the Deep Valley" (Shengu huiyin). The inspiration of the protagonist's, Gu Qing's, portrayal comes from Ke Lan himself, who was once a young cultural worker from Yan'an on a folksong collection mission. The original novel, cited from an journal, "reads more like a piece of  adolescent fantasy, is about an unlikely but probable romance between Gu Qing and Cui Qiao, who committed suicide to defy an arranged marriage." However, in the cinematic remake of the novel, there is hardly any inkling of romantic aspiration. The author claims that "Chen Kaige managed to de-sexualize Ke Lan's original text by casting Gu Qing in his thirties and Cui Qiao as a fourteen-year-old teenager". Furthermore, Chen Kaige also gives a more positive ending to Cui Qiao, who has managed to defy her fate and escape from the constraints of feudalism.^[14]

As a pioneering modernist work, the film inspired Fifth Generation filmmakers and international scholars. It was dubbed "experimental cinema" and sparked discussions at prestigious events like the Golden Rooster film awards regarding the audience for art films.^[15] Director Tian Zhuangzhuang stated it sparked debates about film aesthetics, representing "the future of Chinese cinema."^[16] Mary Farquhar observed its Daoist aesthetics differentiated it from communist-era productions,^[16] while Stephanie Donald argued the landscape "rewrites history" by reasserting China's meaning across revolutionary eras.^[17] Director Chen Kaige noted that the film aimed to explore China's national character and convey the poverty and slow pace of the land through its cinematography, dubbed an "ethnographic narrative" by scholar Timothy Kendall.^[18][19] Other films identified as "ethnographic narratives" that followed a similar path include Tian Zhuangzhuang's On the Hunting Ground (1985) and Horse Thief (1986), and Zhang Nuanxin's Sacrificed Youth (1985).^[18]

Initial reception within China was mixed to negative. Censors criticized the films "indulgence with poverty and backwardness", and while the film avoided a complete ban,^[11] it was "under constant attack since its first screenings".^[15] Domestic critics described the film as "opaque and flat" due to its subversion of tropes common to Chinese melodrama at the time of release.^[20]

The film was one of the first Chinese art films to attract international attention.^[21], being more widely seen and more positively received outside China.^[15] Richard James Havis stated it "proved a sensation" and spotlighted the Fifth Generation movement.^[3], where during its premiere at the 1985 Hong Kong International Festival, it was touted as "an outstanding breakthrough" ^[3] and won a total of four international festival prizes in 1985.^[22]

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