Ruan Lingyu
Encyclopedia
Ruan Lingyu born Ruan Fenggen , was a Chinese
silent film
actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her death at the age of 24 led her to become an icon of Chinese cinema.
in 1910 to a working-class family. Her father, a worker, died when she was young, and her mother brought her up working as a housemaid.
In 1926, to help make ends meet, Ruan signed up for the then prominent Mingxing Film Studio
. She made her first film at the age 16. That film, A Married Couple in Name only (挂名的夫妻) was directed by Bu Wancang
. http://jinian.dqccc.com/Memorial/Brief-100036.html.
In 1928, she signed for Da Zhonghua Baihe Company (大中华百合公司) where she shot six films. http://www.dashiw.com/2009/2-19/426656292398247.html
Ruan's first big break came in Spring Dream of an Old Capital ( or Reminiscences of Beijing, 1930) which was a massive hit in China. It was Ruan's first major work after signing for the newly-formed Lianhua Studio
in 1930. In it, she successfully played a prostitute by the name of Yanyan.
Thereafter Ruan became Lianhua's major film star. Her most memorable works came after 1931, starting with the melodrama Love and Duty
(directed by Bu Wancang
). Ruan had by then gained popularity owing to a string of lead roles and in 1933, Ruan was voted second runner-up in a poll held by Star Daily (明星日报) for China's "movie queen" (Hu Die emerged the winner and Chen Yumei was first runner-up). http://book.sina.com.cn/excerpt/sz/mx/2009-04-16/0936254692.shtml
Beginning with Three Modern Women , Ruan started collaborating with a group of talented leftist Chinese directors. In Little Toys
, a film by Sun Yu
, Ruan played a long-suffering toy-maker. Her next film, The Goddess
( Shennü, 1934; dir: Wu Yonggang
), is often hailed as the pinnacle of Chinese silent cinema; Ruan sympathetically portrayed a prostitute bringing up a child. Later that year, Ruan made her penultimate film, New Women
, directed by Cai Chusheng
, where she played an educated Shanghai
woman forced to death by an unfeeling society.
A final film, National Customs
was released shortly after her death.
tycoon. In 1935, Zhang filed a lawsuit asking for reparations from Ruan. The tabloids seized on this opportunity to probe into Ruan's private life and put Ruan under intense pressure. http://yule.sohu.com/2004/06/22/59/article220655901.shtml
Following the completion of New Women, Ruan's life began to unravel. The film opened in Shanghai, February 1935. Cai Chusheng was under massive pressure from tabloid reporters, who was extremely hostile owing a scathing depiction of the Shanghai tabloids in the movie. Cai was forced to make extensive cuts to the film. Even after that, Ruan's private life was mercilessly seized upon by tabloids and her lawsuit with her first husband, Zhang Damin, became a source of vindictive coverage.
Faced with these public issues as well as with intense private problems, Ruan poisoned herself with an overdose of barbiturate
s in Shanghai on March 8, 1935, at the age of 24. Her released death note apparently contained a line which says "Gossip is a fearful thing" (人言可畏), although recent researchers have doubted the note's authenticity (it appeared to be forged by Tang Jishan). http://yule.sohu.com/2004/06/22/59/article220655901.shtml Even China's preeminent intellectual Lu Xun
was appalled at the details surrounding Ruan's death and wrote an essay, entitled "Gossip is a Fearful Thing", denouncing the tabloids.
Recent researchers believe her deteriorating relationship with Tang Jishan may have contributed to Ruan's suicide. Tang is believed to have physically abused her on the night of her suicide. http://yule.sohu.com/2004/06/22/59/article220655901.shtml
Her funeral procession was reportedly 3 miles (4.8 km) long, with three women committing suicide during the event.
director Stanley Kwan
made a movie about her life, Centre Stage
, starring Maggie Cheung
as Ruan Lingyu. Cheung won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress for this role.
In 2005, Jacklyn Wu Chien-lien
played Ruan in a 30-episode Mainland TV serial on Ruan's life.http://news.xinhuanet.com/ent/2005-11/29/content_3851049.htm. That same year a biography, "Ruan Ling-Yu: The goddess of Shanghai" by Richard J. Meyer was released by the University Press of Hong Kong.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her death at the age of 24 led her to become an icon of Chinese cinema.
Career
Ruan was born in ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
in 1910 to a working-class family. Her father, a worker, died when she was young, and her mother brought her up working as a housemaid.
In 1926, to help make ends meet, Ruan signed up for the then prominent Mingxing Film Studio
Mingxing Film Company
Mingxing Film Company was one of the largest Chinese production companies during the 1920s, and 1930s in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company lasted from 1922 until 1937 when it was closed permanently by the Second Sino-Japanese War.-History:...
. She made her first film at the age 16. That film, A Married Couple in Name only (挂名的夫妻) was directed by Bu Wancang
Bu Wancang
Bu Wancang was a prolific Chinese film director and screenwriter active between the 1920s and the 1960s. He is also known by his Cantonese name, Baak Maan Chong, and his English name, Richard Poh. He was born in Anhui.-Career:...
. http://jinian.dqccc.com/Memorial/Brief-100036.html.
In 1928, she signed for Da Zhonghua Baihe Company (大中华百合公司) where she shot six films. http://www.dashiw.com/2009/2-19/426656292398247.html
Ruan's first big break came in Spring Dream of an Old Capital ( or Reminiscences of Beijing, 1930) which was a massive hit in China. It was Ruan's first major work after signing for the newly-formed Lianhua Studio
Lianhua Film Company
The Lianhua Film Company was one of two major production companies based in Shanghai, China during the 1930s, the other being the Mingxing Film Company.-Names:...
in 1930. In it, she successfully played a prostitute by the name of Yanyan.
Thereafter Ruan became Lianhua's major film star. Her most memorable works came after 1931, starting with the melodrama Love and Duty
Love and Duty
Love and Duty is a 1931 silent film from China directed by Bu Wancang and starring Ruan Lingyu and Jin Yan.-Production history:Based on a novel by a Polish expatriate, S...
(directed by Bu Wancang
Bu Wancang
Bu Wancang was a prolific Chinese film director and screenwriter active between the 1920s and the 1960s. He is also known by his Cantonese name, Baak Maan Chong, and his English name, Richard Poh. He was born in Anhui.-Career:...
). Ruan had by then gained popularity owing to a string of lead roles and in 1933, Ruan was voted second runner-up in a poll held by Star Daily (明星日报) for China's "movie queen" (Hu Die emerged the winner and Chen Yumei was first runner-up). http://book.sina.com.cn/excerpt/sz/mx/2009-04-16/0936254692.shtml
Beginning with Three Modern Women , Ruan started collaborating with a group of talented leftist Chinese directors. In Little Toys
Little Toys
Little Toys is a 1933 silent film directed by filmmaker Sun Yu. It is one of two films Sun Yu directed in 1933...
, a film by Sun Yu
Sun Yu (director)
Sun Yu was a major leftist film director active in the 1930s in Shanghai. One of the core directors of the Lianhua Film Company, Sun Yu made a name for himself with a series of socially conscious dramas in the early to mid 1930s...
, Ruan played a long-suffering toy-maker. Her next film, The Goddess
The Goddess (1934 film)
The Goddess is a 1934 Chinese silent film released by the United Photoplay Service. It starred Ruan Lingyu in one of her final roles, and was directed by Wu Yonggang....
( Shennü, 1934; dir: Wu Yonggang
Wu Yonggang
Wu Yonggang was a prominent Chinese film director during the 1930s. Today Wu is best known for his directorial debut, The Goddess. Wu had a long career with the Lianhua Film Company in the 1930s, in Chongqing during the war, and in the mainland after the 1949 communist revolution...
), is often hailed as the pinnacle of Chinese silent cinema; Ruan sympathetically portrayed a prostitute bringing up a child. Later that year, Ruan made her penultimate film, New Women
New Women
New Women was a silent Chinese film released in early 1935 in Shanghai by the Lianhua Film Company. It is sometimes translated as New Woman. The film starred Ruan Lingyu and was directed by Cai Chusheng....
, directed by Cai Chusheng
Cai Chusheng
Resting Place= Babaoshan Revoluntionary CemeteryCai Chusheng was a Chinese film director of the pre-Communist era. Known best for his progressive output in the 1930s, Cai Chusheng later became a victim to the persecutions of the Cultural Revolution.- Early career :Born in Shanghai to Cantonese...
, where she played an educated Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
woman forced to death by an unfeeling society.
A final film, National Customs
National Customs
National Customs is a 1935 Chinese film directed by Luo Mingyou and Zhu Shilin. The film was silent film star Ruan Lingyu's last before her death by suicide in 1935.- Cast :*Lam Cho-cho as Zhang Tao*Li Li-li as Zhang Jie*Luo Peng as Bo Yang...
was released shortly after her death.
Private Life and Death
At the age of 16 Ruan became acquainted with Zhang Damin (张达民/張達民), whose family her mother was working for. Zhang was later driven out of his wealthy family due to his spendthrift ways and became a chronic gambler, supported by Ruan's salary. Unable to tolerate Zhang's gambling ways, Ruan split with him in 1933. http://gb.cri.cn/9223/2006/11/15/1266@1304245.htm Ruan began co-habiting with Tang Jishan, a teaTea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
tycoon. In 1935, Zhang filed a lawsuit asking for reparations from Ruan. The tabloids seized on this opportunity to probe into Ruan's private life and put Ruan under intense pressure. http://yule.sohu.com/2004/06/22/59/article220655901.shtml
Following the completion of New Women, Ruan's life began to unravel. The film opened in Shanghai, February 1935. Cai Chusheng was under massive pressure from tabloid reporters, who was extremely hostile owing a scathing depiction of the Shanghai tabloids in the movie. Cai was forced to make extensive cuts to the film. Even after that, Ruan's private life was mercilessly seized upon by tabloids and her lawsuit with her first husband, Zhang Damin, became a source of vindictive coverage.
Faced with these public issues as well as with intense private problems, Ruan poisoned herself with an overdose of barbiturate
Barbiturate
Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, and can therefore produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia. They are also effective as anxiolytics, as hypnotics, and as anticonvulsants...
s in Shanghai on March 8, 1935, at the age of 24. Her released death note apparently contained a line which says "Gossip is a fearful thing" (人言可畏), although recent researchers have doubted the note's authenticity (it appeared to be forged by Tang Jishan). http://yule.sohu.com/2004/06/22/59/article220655901.shtml Even China's preeminent intellectual Lu Xun
Lu Xun
Lu Xun or Lu Hsün , was the pen name of Zhou Shuren , one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. Considered by many to be the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in baihua as well as classical Chinese...
was appalled at the details surrounding Ruan's death and wrote an essay, entitled "Gossip is a Fearful Thing", denouncing the tabloids.
Recent researchers believe her deteriorating relationship with Tang Jishan may have contributed to Ruan's suicide. Tang is believed to have physically abused her on the night of her suicide. http://yule.sohu.com/2004/06/22/59/article220655901.shtml
Her funeral procession was reportedly 3 miles (4.8 km) long, with three women committing suicide during the event.
Legacy
In 1992, Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
director Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan is a Hong Kong Second Wave film director and producer.Kwan landed a job at the TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist College...
made a movie about her life, Centre Stage
Centre Stage
Centre Stage , also known as Actress and Yuen Ling-yuk, is a 1992 Hong Kong film, directed by Stanley Kwan.The film is based on a true story: the tragic life of China's first prima donna of the silver screen, Ruan Lingyu. This movie chronicles her rise to fame as a movie actress in Shanghai during...
, starring Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung Man yuk is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Raised in England and Hong Kong, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983...
as Ruan Lingyu. Cheung won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress for this role.
In 2005, Jacklyn Wu Chien-lien
Jacklyn Wu Chien-lien
Jacklyn Wu Chien-lien, sometimes also spelt Jacqueline Wu , is a Taiwanese actress and singer. She is best remembered by Western audiences for her role in Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman , where she played the second of three sisters...
played Ruan in a 30-episode Mainland TV serial on Ruan's life.http://news.xinhuanet.com/ent/2005-11/29/content_3851049.htm. That same year a biography, "Ruan Ling-Yu: The goddess of Shanghai" by Richard J. Meyer was released by the University Press of Hong Kong.
Filmography
- The Couple in Name
- Yang Xiao Zhen
- The Tablet of Blood and Tears
- The Luoyang Bridge
- The White Cloud Pagoda
- Zhen Zhu Guan
- Qing yu bao jian
- Jie hou gu hong
- A Hit to the Nine-Dragon Mountain
- Burning of the Nine-Dragon Mountain
- Flower Screen
- Reminiscence of Peking
- Suicide Contract
- Wild Flowers
- Love and DutyLove and DutyLove and Duty is a 1931 silent film from China directed by Bu Wancang and starring Ruan Lingyu and Jin Yan.-Production history:Based on a novel by a Polish expatriate, S...
- A Spray of Plum BlossomsA Spray of Plum BlossomsA Spray of Plum Blossoms is a 1931 silent Chinese film directed by Bu Wancang and starring Ruan Lingyu, Wang Cilong and Jin Yan. It is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona...
- Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of BloodPeach Blossom Weeps Tears of BloodPeach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood is a 1931 silent film written and directed by Bu Wancang. The cast included some of the major movie stars of the periods including the Korean born actor Jin Yan and the actresses Ruan Lingyu and Zhou Lili...
- Yu Tang Chun
- Another Dream of the Capital
- Three Modern Women
- Night in the CityNight in the City (1933 film)Night in the City was a 1933 Chinese silent film.-Production background:Night in the City was the directorial debut of Fei Mu and starred actress Ruan Lingyu and actor Jin Yan...
- Little ToysLittle ToysLittle Toys is a 1933 silent film directed by filmmaker Sun Yu. It is one of two films Sun Yu directed in 1933...
- Life
- Coming Home
- Goodbye, Shanghai
- A Sea of Fragrant Snow
- The GoddessThe Goddess (1934 film)The Goddess is a 1934 Chinese silent film released by the United Photoplay Service. It starred Ruan Lingyu in one of her final roles, and was directed by Wu Yonggang....
- New WomenNew WomenNew Women was a silent Chinese film released in early 1935 in Shanghai by the Lianhua Film Company. It is sometimes translated as New Woman. The film starred Ruan Lingyu and was directed by Cai Chusheng....
- National CustomsNational CustomsNational Customs is a 1935 Chinese film directed by Luo Mingyou and Zhu Shilin. The film was silent film star Ruan Lingyu's last before her death by suicide in 1935.- Cast :*Lam Cho-cho as Zhang Tao*Li Li-li as Zhang Jie*Luo Peng as Bo Yang...
See also
- Cinema of ChinaCinema of ChinaThe Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...
- Jin YanJin YanJin Yan was a Korean-born actor who gained fame in China during that country's golden age of cinema, based in Shanghai. His acting talents and good looks gained him much popularity in the 1930's. He was dubbed "The Emperor of Cinema" and "The Rudolph Valentino of Shanghai".- Filmography :-...
- Zhou XuanZhou XuanZhou Xuan was a popular Chinese singer and film actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's seven great singing stars. She is probably the most well-known of the seven, as she had a concurrent movie career until 1953.-Biography:...
External links
- Ruan Lingyu at the Chinese Movie Database
- Ruan Lingyu, Queen in Silent Film Period