Wang Ping (
simplified Chinese
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Mathematics
Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example
* Simplification of algebraic expressions ...
: 王苹;
traditional Chinese
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...
: 王蘋;
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...
: ''Wáng Píng''; September 2, 1916 – December 1, 1990) was a Chinese film director and actress. She is considered to be the first female director in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...
.
Biography
Wang Ping was born and grew up in Nanjing, China.
She moved to
Taiyuan
Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province ...
in 1935.
Wang moved again in 1937 following the outbreak of the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...
, which motivated her to engage in leftist activism. She toured the country performing in politically oriented plays that supported Chinese resistance
before settling 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 flowin ...
after the war ended in 1945.
Leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soc ...
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
became a major influence for Wang early in her life and she was a long time supporter of the
communist revolution
A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution often, but not necessarily, inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, socialism can be used as an intermediate stag ...
. She worked closely with the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
both leading up to the revolution and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Career
Wang first became interested in the theatre and acting while working as a teacher in her hometown of Nanjing.
Her first prominent role as an actress came in 1935 when she took on the leading role in a Chinese adaption of the play ''
A Doll’s House'' by
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...
. Wang's involvement in the play was controversial as the play's major themes clashed with the conservative values of the
New Life Movement The New Life Movement () was a government-led civic campaign in the 1930s Republic of China to promote cultural reform and Neo-Confucian social morality and to ultimately unite China under a centralised ideology following the emergence of ideologica ...
, which had been launched a year earlier. The New Life Movement, which was created in support by the
Chinese Nationalist Party
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
, advocated for the renewal of ''li'', ''I'', ''Lien'', and ''Chih'', the ancient Chinese virtues that guided regular life. The movement rejected individualism, liberalism, socialism and communism. ''A Doll’s House,'' which ultimately ends with the lead woman leaving her husband and children to find herself, was considered to be antagonistic to the virtues that the New Life Movement was promoting. Wang was subsequently fired from teaching in 1935 by the Education Bureau of Nanjing Municipal Government and was banned from teaching anywhere in Nanjing.
In 1935 she moved to Taiyuan where she briefly worked for the Northeast Film Company as an actress
before joining the Shanghai Amateur Dramatists Association, a leftist theatre group, in 1937. Wang toured the country with the Association, performing in politically oriented plays that supported the Chinese resistance during the Second Sino-Japanese War. She would continue to act in patriotic plays across the country up until the end of the war in 1945. After the war she found work as a supporting actress with the
Kunlun Film Company
The Kunlun Mountains ( zh, s=昆仑山, t=崑崙山, p=Kūnlún Shān, ; ug, كۇئېنلۇن تاغ تىزمىسى / قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى ) constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the b ...
, a Shanghai-based company which produced several important leftists films in the late 40s.
As an actress Wang became well known as a leftist and communist advocate. She was a strong supporter of the Communist Party and operated as an underground worker for the Party while living in Shanghai before the communist revolution and establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
Her support and work for the communist cause was rewarded in 1951 when the August First Film Studio appointed her as a film director. Despite having no previous directorial experience, her appointment was widely supported and she became a successful mainstream socialist filmmaker. It was not unusual in the years following the revolution to appoint novice film directors, partly because there were few professional directors working at that time, and partly because the new
Communist government
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...
significantly financed the film industry. The film industry was seen as an art form that could reach the masses and could be used to effectively spread the party's political message. Accordingly, Wang's work fit into the mainstream socialist cinema and had an explicit pro-communist message. Her work was not particularly associated with
women's film. Although some of her films featured leading women, the narrative focused on class struggle and the communist revolution. When gender struggles were depicted, it was often to reinforce communism as a solution.
Her work was financially supported by the state, which provided her with significant access to filmic resources, allowing her to learn the techniques of filmmaking through practice and experiment with film form.
She became a respected and influential director.
Wang is considered to be the first female director since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, however she was not the only woman working as a filmmaker in the early communist era. Because
gender equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
was a significant part of the Communist Party's plan for economic reform, the following two decades would see a rise in the number of female directors in China, although the industry would continue to be overrepresented by men. Wang made her directorial debut in 1952 with an instructional film for the army. Her first feature film, ''Darkness Before Dawn'', was released in 1956. In 1963,
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
, the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, appointed Wang to co-direct the film adaption of the popular play ''Sentinels under the Neon Lights''.
She remained active until 1985, during her career she directed feature films, musical stage plays, and military instructional videos. She died at the age of 74 on December 2, 1990.
Filmography
As an actress
As a director
Awards
In 1963, Wang Ping won the award for Best Director for her film, ''Locust Tree Village,'' at the 2nd Hundred Flowers Awards. In 1968, Wang was presented with a Special Award at the 6th Golden Rooster Awards for her film, ''The Song of the Chinese Revolution''.
See also
*
Cinema of China
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 Mount ...
*
Women's cinema
References
External links
Memorial page and slideshowfor Wang Ping
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Ping
1916 births
1990 deaths
Chinese women film directors
Actresses from Nanjing