Ying Ruocheng (; June 21, 1929 - December 27, 2003) was a Chinese actor, director, playwright and vice

minister of culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...

from 1986 to 1990. He first came to the attention of Western audiences for his portrayal of Kublai Khan in the 1982 miniseries '' Marco Polo''. He is best known for playing the part of the governor of the detention camp in the

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

's film ''

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' ( it, L'ultimo imperatore) is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the final Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted ...

'', and the role of the Tibetan Buddhist Lama Norbu in ''

Little Buddha ''Little Buddha'' is a 1993 drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and Mark Peploe, and produced by usual Bertolucci collaborator Jeremy Thomas. An international co-production of Italy, France, and the United Kingdom ...

''. He also worked as a theater translator, director, and actor for the Beijing People's Art Theatre, particularly for his role as Pockmark Liu in Lao She's ''Teahouse'' and as Willy Loman in ''Death of a Salesman'' in 1983, directed by Arthur Miller (Ying also translated the script).

Biography

Ying was born 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 ...

into a Manchu family. He studied in a church school in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

in his early years, and later graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

. He was forced into the provinces to perform manual labor 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 goa ...

. Ying is the author of a memoir, co-authored by Claire Conceison, "Voices Carry: Behind Bars and Backstage During China's Revolution and Reform" (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009). Ying died on December 27, 2003, at the age of 74.

Personal life

His wife, Wu Shiliang (1928-1987), was a translator, and his son,

Ying Da Ying Da (; born July 7, 1960) is a Chinese actor and director, best known in film for portraying Louie Wang in ''Big Shot's Funeral'' (2001), Ni Zhengyu in '' The Tokyo Trial'' (2006) and Jin Shenghuo in '' The Message'' (2009), and has received c ...

, is also a noted actor. His grandson Ying Rudi is a noted ice hockey player.

Ancestry

His father Ying Qianli (; 1900–1969) was a professor at National Taiwan University and Fu Jen Catholic University. His mother Cai Baozhen () was president of Beijing Children's Library. His grandfather Ying Lianzhi (英敛之; 1867–1926) was the founder of '' Takungpao'' and Fu Jen Catholic University. His grandmother Aisin Gioro Shuzhong () was a member of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

royal family and therefore related to

Puyi Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...

the last Emperor of China. His maternal grandfather Cai Rukai (蔡儒楷; 1867–1923) was president of National Beiyang University.

Autobiography

* *

Filmography

References

External links

* *Patricia Mirrlees (2004-01-12)
"Obituary: Ying Ruocheng - Chinese actor and politician"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. People's Republic of China politicians from Beijing 1929 births 2003 deaths Male actors from Beijing Tsinghua University alumni Chinese male stage actors Victims of the Cultural Revolution Manchu male actors Chinese male film actors Chinese male television actors {{China-actor-stub