Museum celebrates life, times of actress with a 'noble heart'
By Hu Min |
June 25, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
The Art Museum of Qin Yi, a celebration of the life and times of famed Chinese actress Qin Yi, opened recently in the Liyuan Garden of Zhaojialou Old Town in the Minhang District.
Qin, who turns 90 next year, first came to public attention with her stage performances of the 1940s. She went on to have a distinguished career in Chinese cinema, with films such as "Guerrillas on the Railway," released in 1956, "Woman Basketball Player No. 5" in 1957 and "Song of Youth" in 1959.
The museum has assembled costumes, film and assorted props from her long career into a revealing retrospective of the Shanghai-born performer.
The 350-square-meter building also includes many of the daily items used in the 1930s and 1940s, including an abacus and a wallet owned by Qin, and a washbasin and a razor used by Qin's husband Jin Yan, who was once called "the film emperor of China."
A reading room exhibits Qin's favorite books, and a screening room shows her films.
The museum is the first in China dedicated to a living performing artist. Museum Director Tong Ruimin, who had worked with Qin, came up for the idea of the museum and helped coordinate its development.
"Qin is an extraordinary performer and she has a noble heart," he said.
The museum is located in Zhaojialou because the actress is a descendant of Qin Yubo (1295-1373), a well-known Yuan Dynasty civil servant who was born there. Qin Yubo is also worshipped as the god of Shanghai enshrined in the City God Temple in the downtown Yuyuan Garden.
"The museum will host film seminars inviting the participation of younger artists and will stage some dramas as well," Tong said.
Qin made her first film 72 years ago and has starred in more than 30 movies and dramas. "Woman Basketball Player No. 5" was the first sports movie filmed in color after the founding of the People's Republic of China. However, it was the movie "Song of Youth" that cemented her fame.
At 88 years old, she played a role in the movie "Kids in Shanghai," a film that encouraged children of migrant workers to stay upbeat in their pursuit of a better life.
Qin was called "most beautiful woman in China" by late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. But her beauty was more than visceral.
She donated 200,000 yuan – almost all her savings - for victims of the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008.
"She is an elegant actress worthy our respect, and I came to the museum to learn more about her," said Greg Lewis, professor of Asian history from Weber State University in the US state of Utah.
He said he met Qin in 2000 when he was a visiting scholar at Shanghai Normal University and has watched many of her movies.
Qin won the Golden Eagle award (China's main national television awards of Chinese television industry) for best actress in China in 1983 and has won lifetime achievement awards at Golden Rooster (China's top film award) ceremony and Shanghai International Film Festival.
Though her work and kind heart were devoted to spreading happiness, her personal life was marked by sorrow.
Her only son Jin Jie suffered from schizophrenia, and she nursed him for 40 years. He died in 2007 from a pulmonary infection at the age of 59.
There is a story that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie he-man star and former governor of California, paid 200,000 yuan in 2000 for a painting of Jin Jie. When asked why, Schwarzenegger told the media that he respected Qin's artistic talent and was touched by her impressive maternal love.
Admission to the Liyuan garden costs 20 yuan (US$3) but entry into the museum is free.
Qin, who turns 90 next year, first came to public attention with her stage performances of the 1940s. She went on to have a distinguished career in Chinese cinema, with films such as "Guerrillas on the Railway," released in 1956, "Woman Basketball Player No. 5" in 1957 and "Song of Youth" in 1959.
The museum has assembled costumes, film and assorted props from her long career into a revealing retrospective of the Shanghai-born performer.
The 350-square-meter building also includes many of the daily items used in the 1930s and 1940s, including an abacus and a wallet owned by Qin, and a washbasin and a razor used by Qin's husband Jin Yan, who was once called "the film emperor of China."
A reading room exhibits Qin's favorite books, and a screening room shows her films.
The museum is the first in China dedicated to a living performing artist. Museum Director Tong Ruimin, who had worked with Qin, came up for the idea of the museum and helped coordinate its development.
"Qin is an extraordinary performer and she has a noble heart," he said.
The museum is located in Zhaojialou because the actress is a descendant of Qin Yubo (1295-1373), a well-known Yuan Dynasty civil servant who was born there. Qin Yubo is also worshipped as the god of Shanghai enshrined in the City God Temple in the downtown Yuyuan Garden.
"The museum will host film seminars inviting the participation of younger artists and will stage some dramas as well," Tong said.
Qin made her first film 72 years ago and has starred in more than 30 movies and dramas. "Woman Basketball Player No. 5" was the first sports movie filmed in color after the founding of the People's Republic of China. However, it was the movie "Song of Youth" that cemented her fame.
At 88 years old, she played a role in the movie "Kids in Shanghai," a film that encouraged children of migrant workers to stay upbeat in their pursuit of a better life.
Qin was called "most beautiful woman in China" by late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. But her beauty was more than visceral.
She donated 200,000 yuan – almost all her savings - for victims of the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008.
"She is an elegant actress worthy our respect, and I came to the museum to learn more about her," said Greg Lewis, professor of Asian history from Weber State University in the US state of Utah.
He said he met Qin in 2000 when he was a visiting scholar at Shanghai Normal University and has watched many of her movies.
Qin won the Golden Eagle award (China's main national television awards of Chinese television industry) for best actress in China in 1983 and has won lifetime achievement awards at Golden Rooster (China's top film award) ceremony and Shanghai International Film Festival.
Though her work and kind heart were devoted to spreading happiness, her personal life was marked by sorrow.
Her only son Jin Jie suffered from schizophrenia, and she nursed him for 40 years. He died in 2007 from a pulmonary infection at the age of 59.
There is a story that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie he-man star and former governor of California, paid 200,000 yuan in 2000 for a painting of Jin Jie. When asked why, Schwarzenegger told the media that he respected Qin's artistic talent and was touched by her impressive maternal love.
Admission to the Liyuan garden costs 20 yuan (US$3) but entry into the museum is free.
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