Ruan Lingyu
Silent film star whose tragic death made her an icon of Chinese cinema.
Ruan died by suicide in 1935 at age 24, and her funeral procession was reportedly 3 miles long.[1][2] At age 16, she made her first film and later became a leading star for Lianhua.[3][4]
Quick Facts
- Other names
- Lily Yuen
- Birth name
- Ruan Fenggen (阮鳳根)
- Born
- 26 April 1910
- Birthplace
- Shanghai, Qing China
- Died
- 8 March 1935
- Place of death
- Shanghai, Republic of China
- Cause of death
- Suicide by barbiturate overdose
- Occupation
- Actress
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
In 1926, she signed with the Mingxing Film Company to help support her family.[3] After moving to Da Zhonghua Baihe Company, her breakthrough came with Spring Dream of an Old Capital in 1930.[5] Ruan was voted second runner-up in a 1933 "movie queen" poll by Star Daily.[4] She collaborated with leftist directors beginning with Three Modern Women in 1932.[4]
Her role in The Goddess (1934) is often considered the peak of Chinese silent cinema.[6] At age 16, Ruan became involved with Zhang Damin, a gambler whom she left in 1933.[7] She then lived with tea tycoon Tang Jishan, and Zhang filed a lawsuit against her in 1935.[8] Bu Wancang directed her debut film, A Married Couple in Name Only.[3]
The story of actress Ai Xia, who died by suicide, inspired the plot of Ruan's second-to-last film, New Women.[6]
What the cited sources add
A 2011 Columbia University Press book, Chinese Women's Cinema, discusses Ruan's films Little Toys, The Goddess, and New Women.[9][6] The same source notes that New Women was based on the life of actress Ai Xia.[9][6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Ruan Lingyu" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 搜狐, 22 June 2004; Yu, "Tragic Goddess", China Daily, 2006-04-07 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ruan Lingyu" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cousins, "The Asian aesthetic", Prospect, 2004-11-21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ruan Lingyu" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "阮玲玉纪念馆生平简介-名人纪念馆-网上名人纪念馆-网络名人纪念堂-网上名人馆-地球城纪念网", Jinian.dqccc.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ruan Lingyu" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "胡蝶阮玲玉谁才是真正的电影皇后(图)_文化读书频道_新浪网", 26 July 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ruan Lingyu" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "死于流言：阮玲玉去世73周年 - 大事网" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ruan Lingyu" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wang, "Chinese Women's Cinema: Transnational Contexts", Columbia University Press, 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ruan Lingyu" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: CRI Online, 15 November 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ruan Lingyu" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 搜狐, 22 June 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Open Library record, ISBN 9780231156752 ("Chinese women's cinema"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ruan Lingyu (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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