Li Lili (; 2 June 1915 – 7 August 2005) was a Chinese film actress and singer. Her films '' Playthings'', '' The Great Road'' and ''Storm on the Border'' were blockbusters of the 1930s and 1940s.Elaine Duan
Top 10 legendary Chinese women in the 1930s: Li Lili
China.org.cn, 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2012-05-06. She was sometimes called "China's

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

". Her films ''Volcanic Passions'' (1932), ''Playthings'' (''Little Toys'') (1933), ''Daybreak'' (1933), ''Sports Queen'' (1934), and ''The Great Road'' (''The Big Road'') (1934) are available with English subtitles on YouTube.

Biography

Li was born Qian Zhenzhen () in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, 1915. Her father,

Qian Zhuangfei Qian Zhuangfei (; 1895/96 – 1935) was a Chinese doctor, film director and Communist secret agent. After the Kuomintang (KMT) began its suppression of the Communists in 1927, Qian infiltrated the KMT secret service, and in 1931 intercepted a t ...

, was a famed

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

and member of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

. In 1927, she moved to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, where her father encouraged her to join the China Song & Dance Troupe, later renamed

Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe The Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe (Chinese: 明月歌舞团; pinyin: Míngyuè Gēwǔtuán) was a group founded by Li Jinhui from the late 1920s through the 1930s. It is also translated as Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe. Background Du ...

Li Jinhui Li Jinhui (; 5 September 1891 – 15 February 1967 although some sources suggest he died 1968) was a Chinese composer and songwriter born in Xiangtan, Hunan, Qing China. He is often dubbed as the "Father of Chinese popular music".Aigomusic.A ...

, later described as "the Father of Chinese popular music", was the conductor of the troupe and adopted her as his god-daughter, and she changed her name to Li Lili. The troupe were very popular in 1920s Shanghai. Li Lili,

Wang Renmei Wang Renmei (; December 1914 – 2 April 1987) was a famous Chinese actress and singer nicknamed the "Wildcat of Shanghai". She was mainly active during the 1930s, and her most notable film was the 1934 '' Song of the Fishermen'' (available onl ...

, Xue Lingxian () and Hu Jia () were known as Bright Moon's "Four Divas" (). After troupe was merged into the

Lianhua Film Company The United Photoplay Service Company () was one of the three dominant production companies based in Shanghai, China during the 1930s, the other two being the Mingxing Film Company and the Tianyi Film Company, the forerunner of the Hong Kong-based ...

in 1931, Li became an actress. She starred in Sun Yu's 1932 ''Loving Blood of the Volcano'', set in the

South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, is used in several contexts. Most commonly it refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. In 1513, when Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term ''Mar del Sur'', ...

with plenty of dancing, which allowed Li to play to her strengths. She and Wang Renmei then acted together in ''Poetry Written on the Banana Leaf''. Li Lili and Chen Yanyan in 1934's 'The Big Road'

Li Lili and Chen Yanyan in 1934's 'The Big Road'

Sun Yu wrote ''

Queen of Sports ''Sports Queen'' (), also known as ''Queen of Sports'' and ''The Athletic Queen'', is a 1934 Chinese film directed by Sun Yu, starring Li Lili and Zhang Yi. The film revolves around a girl who arrives in Shanghai to devote her talents to athleti ...

'' and ''

The Big Road ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' for her to star in, and she won audiences with her fashionable and energetic image, gaining the nickname "Sweet Big Sister". Sun Yu's ''Daybreak'' (1933) was one of her early star vehicles. Magazines characterized her as being interested in music and books. From 1935 to 1937, she starred in eight more films with the Lianhua Film Company.Top 10 women of old Shanghai: Li Lili
China.org.cn. Retrieved 2012-05-06. Li Lili, together with Wang Renmei and Xu Lai, her former colleagues at the Bright Moon Troupe, were the earliest stars to portray the energetic, wholesome, and sexy "country girl" prototype, which became one of the most popular figures in

Chinese cinema The cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the cinema of Hong Kong and the cinema of Taiwan. Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, '' Dingjun Mountain'' ...

, and later inherited by the

cinema of Hong Kong The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of ...

. After war with Japan broke out in 1937, she joined the China Film Studio in

Chungking Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Counc ...

, China's wartime capital. There she met and married Luo Jingyu, a section head, who became head of the studio. In 1939, she filmed

Cai Chusheng Cai Chusheng (January 12, 1906 – July 15, 1968) was a Cinema of China, Chinese film director of the pre-Communist era, and was the first Chinese director to win an international film award at the Moscow International Film Festival. Best known ...

's ''Orphan Island Paradise'' in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

; it was another hit. Back in Chongqing, she starred in another hit film ''Storm on the Border'', for which she was highly praised. Li travelled to the United States in 1946, studying acting at

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...

in Washington, language and singing in New York, and make-up at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

. She also observed filmmaking in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. She returned to China, and to acting at the

Beijing Film Studio } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. In 1955, she studied at

Beijing Film Academy Beijing Film Academy (BFA; ) is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specializing in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia. The academy h ...

, and later taught in the acting department. Her son, Luo Dan, married the daughter of Marshal

Ye Jianying Ye Jianying (; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary leader and politician, one of the founding Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976 coup that overthrew ...

; Ye became China's head of state in the late 1970s. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, Li and her husband were denounced and tortured on the orders of Mao's wife

Jiang Qing Jiang Qing (19 March 191414 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). She was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman o ...

. Li had acted with her, and outshone her, in films such as ''

Blood on Wolf Mountain ''Blood on Wolf Mountain'', also known as ''The Wolf Hill'', ''Bloodbath in Langshan'', and ''Bloodshed on Wolf Mountain'', is a Chinese film directed by acclaimed Shanghainese film director Fei Mu. Made just prior to the commencement of full-sc ...

''. Li later told her family that she refused to denounce anyone. Luo, however, was killed. In 1991, she was given the "Special Honour Award" by the Chinese Academy of Motion Picture Arts. By the end of her life, Li Lili was the last living Chinese movie star from the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. She died of a heart attack in Xuanwu Hospital, Beijing on August 7, 2005, aged 90.

Filmography

References

External links

Chinese Film Classics - Li Lili
- English-subtitled translations of four of Li's films, video lectures, and other materials
''Volcanic Passions'' (1932)
with English subtitles (Chinese Film Classics website)
''Daybreak'' (1933)
with English subtitles (Chinese Film Classics website)
''Playthings'' (1933)
with English subtitles (Chinese Film Classics website)
''The Great Road'' (1934)
with English subtitles (Chinese Film Classics website)
''Sports Queen'' (1934)
with English subtitles (Chinese Film Classics website) *
Li Lili
at the Chinese Movie Database
Li Lili
at China's Movie Database

at HKMania.com , homage with photographs {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Lili 1915 births 2005 deaths Catholic University of America alumni Singers from Beijing 20th-century Chinese actresses Chinese torture victims Victims of the Cultural Revolution Chinese film actresses Singers from Shanghai Actresses from Shanghai Actresses from Beijing 20th-century Chinese women singers Chinese silent film actresses