Li Hsing
Born(1930-05-20)20 May 1930
Shanghai, China
Died19 August 2021(2021-08-19) (aged 91)
Taipei, Taiwan
OccupationFilm director
Years active1959–1986

Li Hsing or Lee Hsing (李行) is a Taiwanese film director. He was born Lee Tz-da (李子達) in 1930 in Shanghai and died in 2021. He made one of the early popular Taiwanese films in the late 1959, Wang and Liu Tour Taiwan (王哥柳哥遊台灣), though he did not speak Taiwanese. He was also the key director in the promotion of Healthy Realist film (健康寫實片) and Literary Romantic film (愛情文藝片). He was awarded the best director at Golden Horse Awards three times and had seven films awarded the best feature film: Beautiful Duckling (養鴨人家; 1965), The Road (路; 1967), Execution in Autumn (秋決; 1972), Land of the Undaunted, (吾土吾民; 1975), He Never Gives Up (汪洋中的一條船; 1978), The Story of a Small Town (小城故事; 1979), and Good Morning, Taipei (早安台北; 1979). After he made his last film The Heroic Pioneers (唐山過台灣; 1986), he vowed to be the lifetime volunteer for the promotion of development of Taiwan cinema. In 2009 he established the Cross-Strait Films Exchange Committee, which has been the main, if not only, organization promoting the interaction and cooperation of Taiwanese and Chinese filmmakers.[1] Lee Hsing is often referred to as the “godfather of Taiwan cinema” for his great contribution to Taiwan cinema.[2]

Career

Li Hsing graduated from Taiwan Provincial Normal College (台灣省立師範學院; now National Taiwan Normal University) in 1952.[2] After military service he got a teaching position in the high school of his alma mater and was interested in theater performance. He tried to apply to become an actor in Central Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC; 中央電影公司) but was rejected.[1] He was married to his college classmate Wang Wei-jin (王為瑾) in 1955.[3] He acted in many films and often also served as the assistant director between 1955 and 1958, such as The Assault (血戰; 1958).

In 1958 Li Hsing directed his first film, a Taiwanese-language comic film Wang and Liu Tour Taiwan (王哥柳哥遊台灣) though he did not speak the language. The film features a similar pair of characters like Laurel and Hardy and was released as two installments. They were so popular that it spun many more with the same pair of actors with similar titles, directed by Li Hsing and others.

In 1963 Li Hsing began to make his first mandarine film Our Neighbor (街頭巷尾). He was hired by CMPC and co-directed the first color feature film Oyster Girl (蚵女), which together with Beautiful Duckling become the representative films of the “Healthy Realism” (健康寫實主義) promoted by CMPC.[4] Li Hsing then began to adopt short stories by Qiong Yao (瓊瑤) and made Wan Chun (婉君表妹; 1965) and The Silent Wife (啞女情深; 1965).[3]

Li Hsing formed his own film production company Ta Chung Motion Picture Co., Ltd. (大眾電影公司) with Pai Jing-rui (白景瑞), Lai Cheng-ying (賴成英), and several other film colleagues and friends.[3] Among other films, he directed three extremely popular films adapted from Qiong Yao's novels in 1973 and 1974 and started the wave of Literary Romantic genre: The Young Ones (彩雲飛; 1973), The Heart with a Million Knots (心有千千結; 1973), and Where the Sea Gull Flies (海鷗飛處; 1974), all starring Chen Chen (甄珍). He later made two more films adapted from Qiong Yao's novel, Posterity and Perplexity (碧雲天; 1976) and Painted Waves of Love (浪花; 1976), before breaking up with her for good.

Li Hsing's other representative films include: He Never Gives Up, a film about the inspiring life of a handicapped man, The Story of a Small Town, about a love story in the small town Sanyi in central Taiwan, Good Morning, Taipei, about how a car accident changed the life of a young college student, and My Native Land (原鄉人; 1980), about the life of writer Chung Li-he (鍾理和). The last film he made is The Heroic Pioneers, released in 1986.[1]

Li Hsing was the first chairperson of the Association of Film Directors of the Republic of China (中華民國導演協會), which was founded in 1989. He was selected to be the chairperson of Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee (台北金馬國際影展執行委員會) by The Motion Picture Foundation,R.O.C. (中華民國電影事業發展基金會) in 1990. He received the Life Achievement Award at the 32nd Golden Horse Awards in 1995 and vowed to be a volunteer worker for the promotion of Taiwan cinema for the rest of his life.[5] He lost his only son Lee Xian-yi (李顯一), who died in a car accident in 1996.[6] In response to Lee Hsing’s effort to promote the interaction and cooperation between filmmakers of Taiwan and Mainland China, the Motion Picture Foundation established Cross-Strait Films Exchange Committee (兩岸電影交流委員會), of which Li Hsing was the first chairperson.[7] The committee has since then organized the annual Cross-Strait Film Festival (兩岸電影展), which is simultaneously held in Taiwan and Mainland China. Li Hsing passed away on August 19, 2021 at age 91.

Filmography

Year English Title Chinese Title Ref.
1959 Pigsy vs Monkey King 《豬八戒與孫悟空》 [3]
1959 Pigsy Rescues vs Leopard 《豬八戒救美》
1959 Brother Insy and Outsy 《凸哥凹哥》
1959 Wang and Liu Tour Taiwan 1 《王哥柳哥遊台灣 上集》
1959 Wang and Liu Tour Taiwan 2 《王哥柳哥遊台灣 下集》
1961 Wang and Liu Have a Good New Year 《王哥柳哥好過年》
1961 Good Neighbors 《兩相好》
1962 Golden Phoenix and Silver Goose 《金鳳銀鵝》
1962 The Liar Ah Chi 《白賊七》
1962 Five Difficult Traps 《王哥柳哥過五關斬六將》
1963 Our Neighbor 《街頭巷尾》
1963 Oyster Girl 《蚵女》
1965 Wan Chun 《婉君表妹》
1965 The Silent Wife 《啞女情深》
1965 Beautiful Duckling 《養鴨人家》
1966 Fire Bulls 《還我河山》
1966 The Monument of Virtue 《貞節牌坊》
1967 Sun Rise, Sun Set 《日出日落》
1967 The Road 《路》
1970 Stardust 《羣星會》
1970 Four Moods 《喜怒哀樂》
1971 Love Styles XYZ 《愛情一二三》
1971 Life with Mother 《母與女》
1972 Execution in Autumn 《秋決》
1973 The Young Ones 《彩雲飛》
1973 The Heart with a Million Knots 《心有千千結》
1974 The Three Tales 《大三元》
1974 The Marriage 《婚姻大事》
1974 Rhythm of the Wave 《海韻》
1974 Where the Seagull Flies 《海鷗飛處》
1975 Land of the Undaunted 《吾土吾民》
1976 Posterity and Perplexity 《碧雲天》
1976 Painted Waves of Love 《浪花》
1977 Melody from Heaven 《白花飄雪花飄》
1979 Good Morning, Taipei 《早安台北》
1979 The Story of a Small Town 《小城故事》
1979 He Never Gives Up 《汪洋中的一條船》
1980 China, My Native Land 《原鄉人》
1981 Another Spring 《又見春天》
1983 The Wheel of Life 《大輪迴》
1986 The Heroic Pioneers 《唐山過台灣》

Awards and honors

Golden Horse Awards[4]

  • 1965: Best Director for Beautiful Duckling
  • 1972: Best Director for Execution in Autumn
  • 1978: Best Director for He Never Gives Up
  • 1979: Nominated for Best Director for The Story of a Small Town
  • 1986: Nominated for Best Director for The Heroic Pioneers
  • 1995: Special Award for Lifetime Achievement

References

  1. 1 2 3 "導演李行：台灣電影風潮「領航者」 – 新華澳報". www.waou.com.mo. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 王, 心妤 (20 August 2021). "李行病逝享耆壽91歲 台灣電影教父縱橫影壇70年" (in Chinese). Central News Agency. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "製片-李行". TFAI-國家電影及視聽文化中心.
  4. 1 2 "李行". 台灣電影網. 17 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "臺灣電影教父 教育系傑出校友李行享壽91歲". 國立臺灣師範大學. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  6. ↑ 賀, 靜賢 (9 December 2021). "（專訪）何平貼身記錄3年 李行生前卸心防首揭喪子至痛". 自由時報.
  7. ↑ "中華民國電影事業發展基金會". mpfroc.org. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
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