Lee Ya-Ching (; 16 April 1912 – 28 January 1998), also known by her stage name Li Dandan (), was a Chinese film actress, pioneering aviator, and philanthropist. She was the first Chinese woman to be granted a civil aviation license in China, in 1936, and also co-founded its first civilian flying school. As an actress, she starred in ''

Romance of the Western Chamber ''Romance of the Western Chamber'' (), also translated as ''The Story of the Western Wing'', ''The West Chamber'', ''Romance of the Western Bower'' and similar titles, is one of the most famous China, Chinese dramatic works. It was written by the ...

'', and played the lead in an early adaptation of Mulan for the screen. Lee Ya-Ching is an Anglicized version of her Chinese name.

Aviator

At the age of sixteen, Li witnessed an airshow in Paris, which left a strong impression on her. In 1943, looking back on the start of her flying career, she explained that she had been troubled by Japanese aggression towards China and decided that she could best serve her country through flying. Li began training at the Contran École d'Aviation in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where she was the first female student to receive a pilot's license. In 1935, she enrolled in the Boeing School of Aviation in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

for advanced training. Later that year, she returned to China, where she was commissioned by the Chinese government to make a 30,000 mile survey of potential air routes. Li also helped found the Shanghai Municipal Air School and worked there as a flight instructor until civilian flights were grounded.

Filmography

* ''The God of Peace'' () (1926) - Lin Cuiwei * ''Why Not Her'' () (1926) - Kong Qiongxian * ''A Wandering Songstress'' () (1927) - Li Lingxiao * ''

A Poet from the Sea ''A Poet from the Sea'' is a 1927 Chinese silent film written and directed by Hou Yao, starring himself as a quixotic poet who tried to escape from the constraints of modernity. Filmed in Stanley, Hong Kong, it contains one of the earliest footag ...

'' () (1927) - Liu Tsan Ying * ''

'' () (1927) - Hongniang * ''Five Avenging Women'' () (1928) * '' Mulan Joins the Army'' () (1928) - Hua Mulan * '' Don't Change Your Husband'' () (1929) * ''

Disputed Passage ''Disputed Passage'' is a 1939 American drama war film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff, John Howard, Judith Barrett and William Collier Sr. Set in war-torn China, the film was described by ''The New York Ti ...

'' (1939) - Aviatrix (credited as Ya-Ching Lee)

References

External links

China's First Lady of Flight
airspacemag.com. Accessed 31 October 2022.
Li Xiaqing, Aviatrix and Actress
forgottennewsmakers.com (3 May 2010). *
Profile
dianying.com. Accessed 31 October 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ya-Ching 1912 births 1998 deaths Actresses from Guangdong Chinese aviators Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese women aviators 20th-century Chinese actresses Chinese silent film actresses Chinese film actresses People from Haifeng County Chinese women philanthropists 21st-century Chinese philanthropists 20th-century Chinese philanthropists 20th-century women philanthropists

Aviator

Filmography

See also

References

External links