Xuan Jinglin (; 1907 – January 22, 1992), also romanised as Sie King-ling, was a

Republican era Republican Era can refer to: * Minguo calendar, the official era of the Republic of China It may also refer to any era in a country's history when it was governed as a republic or by a Republican Party. In particular, it may refer to: * Roman Re ...

Chinese actress. She was bought out of a brothel and became a successful actress.

Life

Xuan was born in

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 ...

in 1907 when her name was Tian Jinlin. She was brought up in a family that was so poor that her mother sold her to a brothel in order that her elder siblings might eat. She had little education and was described as barely literate. Xuan Jinglin 2

She was discovered by

Zhang Shichuan Zhang Shichuan (; 1889–1953 or 1890–1954), also credited as S. C. Chang, was a Chinese entrepreneur, film director, and film producer, who is considered a founding father of Chinese cinema. He and Zheng Zhengqiu made the first Chinese feature ...

. He had seen her as a child in an amusement park where he was the manager. He later re-found her and offered her a small part in a now lost film. He liked her acting and bought her out of the brothel so that she could act in films by the

Mingxing Film Company Mingxing Film Company (), also known as the Star Motion Picture Company, was one of the largest production companies during the 1920s, and 1930s in the Republican era. Founded in Shanghai, the company lasted from 1922 until 1937 when it was close ...

. This was then a small company that he was a director of, and from May 1925 she had parts in Mingxing films as both her, and the company's, fortunes improved. Her stage name was devised by

Zheng Zhengqiu Zheng Zhengqiu (; January 25, 1889 – July 16, 1935) was a Chinese filmmaker often considered a "founding father" of Chinese cinema.Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei (1998). "Zheng Zhengqiu" in ''Encyclopedia of Chinese Film''. Taylor & Francis, pp ...

who based it on the name she had adopted in the brothel and a transliteration of

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

into

Shanghainese The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the Districts of Shanghai, central districts of the Shanghai, City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as ...

.Zhang Zhen, ''An Amorous History of the Silver Screen : Shanghai Cinema, 1896-1937'', The University of Chicago Press, 2006, , , cited in Jennifer M. Bean and Diane Negra,
A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema
' (Duke University Press, , pages 510-526. Her second film, ''A Woman in Shanghai'', was devised for her and echoed her own Cinderella story. She played a prostitute who is rescued by a millionaire. She was not typecast, and she played a female gangster, an innocent country girl, a dancer and a poor widow in 1920s Mingxing films. In 1930 Mingxing Films invested its profits from the epic (27 hour)

martial arts films Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple ''The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple'' () is a lost Chinese silent film serial directed by Zhang Shichuan, widely considered to be the founding father of Chinese cinema. The film is adapted from the novel ''The Tale of the Extraordinary Swordsm ...

'' in a new studio. This new technology is featured in their 1930/1931 film "An Amorous History of the Silver Screen" which features Xuan. The film has been described as "self-referential docudrama" as it tells the story of a prostitute who becomes an actress. The film is also seen as showing a new relationship with technology as the early romance is superseded by the technology. Xuan plays again a prostitute in a film with the film and she strikes back at her attacker. This act within the film is seen, by Zhang Zhen, as emblematic of a change in the film's story and the actress's life. In 1931 she made her first film outside Mingxing films. She appeared in

Tianyi Film Company Tianyi Film Company (), also called Unique Film Productions, was one of the "big three" film production companies in pre-Second World War Republic of China. Founded in Shanghai in 1925 by the Shaw (Shao) brothers led by Runje Shaw (Shao Zuiweng) ...

's film "Pleasures of the Dance Hall" which was very popular. The backstage plot featured sound from a disc and was a musical with drama interspersed with songs.

Invasion

On 18 September 1931 the Japanese engineered the

Mukden Incident The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. On September 18, 1931, L ...

as a pretext to launch an invasion of Manchuria. The war stopped filming when they invaded Shanghai on January 28, 1932. Xuan formed the Xuan Jinglin Road Company and toured China giving musical performances.Xuan Jongli
Biography, Chinese Mirror, Retrieved 5 November 2016 Xuan died in

in 1992. Because of her important role in early Chinese cinema she has been included with Yang Naimei, Wang Hanlun and Zhang Zhiyun in China's "Four Famous Actresses".China's first Movie Queen – Zhang Zhiyun's tragic life
9 Nov 2006, WomenOfChina, Retrieved 5 November 2016

Films

*The Last Conscience (1925) *Little Friend (1925) *A Pitiful Girl (1925) *He Wants a Baby (1926) *Nameless Hero (1926) *A Good Man (1926) *The Rich Man's Daughter (1926) *A Lovelorn Actress (1926) *Suspicious Couple (1926) *Real and False Daughters (1927) *Fallen Plum Blossoms (1927) *The Young Mistress's Fan (1928) *A Dissolute Woman (1930) *Virtuous Mother From a Brothel (1930) *Last Love (1931) *Shanghai Woman (1931) *Farewell to Yuren (1931) *A Couple in Life and Death (1931) *Pleasures of the Dance Hall (1931) *Shadow on the Window (1931) *A Married Woman (1932) * Twin Sisters (1933 or 4) *Two Against One (1933) *The Future (1933) *Mother and Son (1933) *Homesick (1934) *A Brief Life (1934) *The Doctrine of Women (1934) *Sisters Reborn (1934) *A Big Family (1935) *Tears of Blood in the Dance Hall (1936) *Family (1956) *Beside the Sanba River (1958) *Fragrance in the Air (1959) *The Underground War (1959) *Family Problems (1964)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xuan, Jinglin 1907 births 1992 deaths Actresses from Shanghai 20th-century Chinese actresses Chinese film actresses Chinese silent film actresses Chinese prostitutes