Abstract:  Film critic Jia Ji’s literary and artistic activities can be divided into three stages: engagement with drama before 1949, film criticism and creations during the “Seventeen Years” (1949-1966) and film criticism and education in the new period starting from 1976. Through long-term revolutionary work, Jia gradually formed the thought of “literature and art serving politics”, which was strengthened by his criticism of the film The Legend of Wu Xun. However, in the new period, Jia abandoned the mindset of film criticism centering on “serving politics”. Rather, he began to rethink the role of film as an artistic expression. Jia’s thought on arts and literature reflects the mainstream value of the times and the spectrum of literary thought. In assessing the status and role of Jia’s thought on arts and literature, we need to adopt a dual historical perspective: considering both the specific context of the times and the responses to the questions at the time. 

Key words: the life of Jia Ji, thoughts on arts and literature, publicity tools, serving the new regime, artistry of film