He Ping (; born 1957 in

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

) is a Chinese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

, screenwriter and producer whose main filmography consists of a hybrid genre of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...

movies. He made three movies along this genre - '' Swordsmen in Double Flag Town'' (1991), '' Sun Valley'' (1995) and ''

Warriors of Heaven and Earth ''Warriors of Heaven and Earth'' () is a 2003 Chinese action adventure film directed by He Ping. The film's notable cinematography captures a wide range of landscapes across China's Xinjiang province. It was China's official entry for the Academy ...

'' (2004).

Personal life and background

He Ping's mother was the female lead in Communist China's first feature film ''

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

'' (1949). She was an ethnic

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

whose ancestors were members of the Blue Banners, while He Ping's father was

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

Directorial career

He Ping began his directorial career in the 1980s, directing stage productions and

documentary films A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

.Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei (1998). "He Ping" in ''Encyclopedia of Chinese Film''. Taylor & Francis, p. 183. . By the late 1980s, He transferred to the

Xi'an Film Studio Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqin ...

, where he began directing fiction films, including ''

We Are the World "We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album ''We Are the World''. Wit ...

'' and ''Kawashima Yoshiko'' a film based on the story of the Manchurian-Japanese princess, Kawashima Yoshiko. In the 1990s, He directed two major Chinese Westerns, '' Swordsmen in Double Flag Town'' and '' Sun Valley'', and the historical drama ''

Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker ''Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker'' () is a 1994 film directed by He Ping and starring Ning Jing, Wu Gang, Zhao Xiaorui, Gao Yang, Xu Zhengyun and Zhao Liang. Plot A young woman inherits her father's fireworks factory, as he had no s ...

''. ''Swordsmen in Double Flag Town'' went on to win the Grand Prize at the 3rd

Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival The , also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō. From 1990 to 1999, the festival was known as the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Fil ...

in February 1992. ''Sun Valley'' was entered into the

46th Berlin International Film Festival The 46th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1996. The Golden Bear was awarded to British-American film ''Sense and Sensibility'' directed by Ang Lee. The retrospective dedicated to American film director, p ...

where it won an Honourable Mention. In the 2000s, He struck success with his 2004 adventure film ''

'', starring

Jiang Wen Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese actor, screenwriter, and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred wit ...

. He Ping's followed this with another historical action film, ''

Wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

'', starring

Fan Bingbing Fan Bingbing (, born 16 September 1981) is a Chinese actress. From 2013 to 2017, she was included as the highest-paid celebrity in the ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list after ranking in the top 10 every year since 2006. She appeared on ''Time'' ...

, which was released in 2009. His film '' The Promised Land'' received an honorable mention from the Platform jury at the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naom ...

Filmography

References

External links

*
He Ping
at the Chinese Movie Database {{DEFAULTSORT:He, Ping 1957 births Living people Film directors from Shanxi Manchu people People from Taiyuan