Shadow of Floating and Sinking: Liu Qiong's Film and Television Career

Author: Zhao Shihui / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-06-01
Features: Although I am no better than others, at least I am different from them. — Rousseau, Confessions If one were to rank the numerous actors in the contemporary film industry, Liu Qiong could be considered a veteran film actor with years of experience. At the age of 90, Liu Qiong has been participating in performances with the Spring and Autumn Drama Troupe since 1933 and continues to act in films even today. Over his seven-decade-long career, the number of films and dramas he has written, directed, and acted in has exceeded 100. When others discuss his artistic achievements, he often quotes a line from Rousseau as his own sentiment: "I am no better than others, at least I am different from them." The first part reflects Liu Qiong's humility, while the second describes his unique life path and artistic career.
During my youth, I was a film enthusiast and revered Liu Qiong as a "screen idol." Some of the literary films he starred in, such as Madame Butterfly, The Sky of Sorrow, The World of Gold and Silver, Parting in Life and Death, The Night of Wedding Flowers, The Revival of Youth, Unrequited Love, and The Broken Dream of Spring, left an indelible impression on me. I was passionate about collecting his stills, film brochures, and related press materials, which, over the decades, piled up into a thick stack. By chance, I finally got the opportunity to visit his home and, thereafter, visited him repeatedly, enduring countless winters and summers.
Liu Qiong dislikes self-promotion and avoids interviews and media "" (hype), but our conversations often revolved around his past experiences. At first, I felt a bit (awkward) and spoke indirectly, but as we grew familiar, I couldn’t help but dig deeper, much to my surprise, Liu Qiong answered every question. I have suggested multiple times that he write his experiences into a memoir and publish it, but Liu Qiong has always been indifferent, calmly responding, "My experiences are not worth writing." He is such a person who is "different from others."
Not long ago, a letter was sent to him from the Shanghai Film Studio, which turned out to be a feature article titled "A Film Actor Tortured to Death in the Cultural Revolution Storm—Liu Qiong" published in a film magazine on the other side of the strait. The "10,000-word letter" signed "Dai Lang" was filled with all kinds of baseless accusations. For example, it claimed Liu Qiong was from Huangyang, Hunan (Liu Qiong was from Xiangyin, Hunan); that he was born in the fifth year of the Republic of China (1913, the second year of the Republic); that he had only one scene in The Great Road (Liu Qiong played a supporting role in The Great Road, but not just one scene); that during the filming of this "close-up" scene, he was repeatedly told "NG" (no good) and even slapped hard by Jin Yan (which never happened); that he starred in the film Lin Zexu (everyone knows that Lin Zexu was starring by Zhao Dan); that he directed the film Player No. 523 (actually starring in Basketball Five), and then claimed he finally "died in a cowshed" during the Cultural Revolution.
Liu Qiong couldn’t help but laugh and said, "It seems the film circles on both sides of the strait really need communication!" I replied, "Then you should write something to bridge the gap!" Liu Qiong just shook his head. "If you don’t write, I’ll have to!" "If you’re going to write about me, don’t 'package' me or 'elevate' me—just be as you are." "I want to write about how you’re different from others!" "And also about how I’m no better than others!" We both laughed.
### (I) Debuting on Screen
Liu Qiong’s ancestral home was in Xiangyin, Hunan, but he was born in Beijing in 1913. His father had studied at the Japanese Military Academy in his youth and later worked with Huang Xing, becoming one of the "revolutionary elders." When Liu Qiong was 11, his father passed away, and the family fell into poverty. With the help of his father’s friends, he completed his middle school education at Zhizhi High School in Shanghai and then enrolled in the Shanghai Law School to study law.
During his student years, Liu Qiong loved theater and participated in performances with amateur drama groups like the Fagu Drama Troupe and the Spring and Autumn Drama Troupe. As for how he entered the film industry, it began with his acquaintance with Jin Yan. Jin Yan was a leading actor at the Lianhua Film Company. After starring with Ruan Lingyu in films like Wild Grass and Idle Flowers and Love and Duty, his reputation soared, making him a "screen couple" with Ruan Lingyu and even earning him the title of "Emperor of Film." At the time, Jin Yan was living with his aunt in Yao Bishop Road (now Ping Road). Film shootings took place at Lianhua No. 1 Factory on Xifeng Road (now Huaihai West Road), not far away. Liu Qiong, meanwhile, was studying at Shanghai Law School, with its campus on Tianping Road (now the site of Nansuo Middle School), and his dormitory was in the lane of Jin Yan’s aunt’s house.
Liu Qiong majored in law but enjoyed basketball in his spare time, making him a fan of the sport. Jin Yan, despite being a "film star," was also a fan of basketball. He often saw Liu Qiong playing basketball in the lane, quickly becoming acquainted and frequently joining him on the law school’s basketball court. Later, Liu Qiong’s tuition funds ran out, so he had to drop out of school and seek employment.
Hu Ping, an actress at the Yihua Film Company (who starred in Midnight Song) and a fellow native of Hunan, wanted to introduce Liu Qiong to Yihua as a script clerk. Meanwhile, Jin Yan also recommended Liu Qiong to Sun Yu, a director at Lianhua, who agreed. Thus, Liu Qiong and Jin Yan became colleagues, filming together, playing basketball together, and even living together in Jin Yan’s house, becoming close friends.
The first film Liu Qiong shot after joining Lianhua was The Great Road, where he played a laborer named Liu Chang. In the cast list of The Great Road, Liu Qiong’s name was listed last among 12 actors. In the April 1934 issue of Lianhua Illustrated, only a few short sentences were used to introduce him: "Sun Yu, in every work, does his best to promote new talents. His new film The Great Road will feature a new character, Liu Qiong. Liu possesses masculine beauty and excellent expressions. The Great Road will surely leave a good impression on the audience."
I asked Liu Qiong, "Is The Great Road considered your 'debut'?" Liu Qiong replied, "This question has been asked by at least hundreds of people." "So, what’s the answer?" "It can be considered, but it can also not be. It can be considered because Liu Chang in The Great Road was indeed the first character I created on screen. It can’t be considered because before filming The Great Road, I had acted as a extra in three films." Next, Liu Qiong detailed his three experiences as an extra.
The first was when Yihua Film Company was filming The Fairy of the Human World, directed by Dan Duyu and starring Yuan Meiyun. Hu Ping introduced him, and he played the role of a troupe leader with no dialogue. The second was when Lianhua was filming The Light of Motherhood, which included a concert scene where Chen Yanyan sang The Song of Spring Love on stage, and Liu Qiong played the cello in the orchestra in the audience, recruited on the spot by Nie Er. The third was when Lianhua was filming an outdoor scene of The Queen of Sports at the Jiao Tong University campus, and they needed an extra to play a referee. At the time, Liu Qiong was playing basketball with Jin Yan at Jiao Tong University and was again recruited as an extra, which was still a minor role.
All three of these extra roles were during the first half of 1934. Many stars in the film industry, both in China and abroad, had also had experiences as extras when they first entered the industry, and Liu Qiong was no exception. Liu Qiong believed, "The role of an extra gave me the opportunity to practice. Back then, there were no film schools or training programs for actors, so one could only learn through practice. With the guidance of directors on how to act, I could also learn performance skills from other actors with rich experience and understand many filming procedures on the set. The role of an extra benefited me greatly."
On the occasion of Liu Qiong’s 80th birthday, a friend, Ling Zhihao, presented him with a scroll inscribed with a birthday poem: "An eighty-year-old, as sprightly as a youth of eighteen, sixty years of sparkling performances on screen, a Golden Rooster Award specially presented—wishing you long life and happiness." If one were to speak of elegance, Liu Qiong indeed exuded it in some of the films he starred in during the 1940s, his posture and demeanor rivaling Hollywood stars. However, Liu Qiong’s elegance was hard-earned. He had admired many Hollywood male actors: John Barrymore, Ronald Colman, Edward Robinson, Charles Laughton, and Paul Muni, and had meticulously studied the movements of many big stars: he learned to walk like Gary Cooper, to speak with the tone of Errol Flynn, to be "cool" like Clark Gable, and to have the "charm" of Henry Fonda. He incorporated these into his own style, forming his unique "difference from others."
In his approach to art and life, Liu Qiong was also "elegant." He did not declare grand ambitions with passion but simply said, "As long as the role is right, I’ll act; as long as the script is good, I’ll direct." He also said, "I started with extras and am willing to end with extras." As for filming fees, he never cared when his own studio asked him to act, but when overseas producers invited him to film, he stood firm in defending the dignity of the Chinese people.
A film company once arrived with a large sum of cash to sign a contract with Liu Qiong to act in a film. Liu Qiong said, "Let me see the script first before signing." Liu Qiong was not swayed by money. Authorities wanted to record him for posterity, but he declined; a television station invited him as a guest to appear on screen, but he declined; a pharmaceutical company invited him to shoot a commercial, and he asked, "Is your medicine real or fake?"
Once at a gathering, when people were rushing for food at a buffet, he sat on the sofa "not moving," and when the host invited him to eat, he lied, "I’ve already eaten." Another time, he attended a meeting and (in advance) told the host, "When introducing me, don’t call me a performing artist—just say I’m an old actor."
Liu Qiong’s two daughters were not with him; they had left home to explore the world. When his younger daughter, Xiao Yao, went to work in Switzerland, Liu Qiong gave her a scroll: "Humble and detached, unassuming yet profound."
Liu Qiong and his wife, Di Fan, would watch TV together when they had free time, whether Chinese or foreign films, and they watched them attentively. Watching TV was both entertainment and learning for them. Due to his age and frailty, Liu Qiong could no longer play basketball with the "Ancient Flowers Team," but every Tuesday, he would still go to the team to watch.
In his later years, Liu Qiong fell in love with calligraphy. Through diligent practice, he achieved a certain level in writing seal script. In his study, he hung a scroll written in seal script by himself: "Those who stand high need no wind to carry their voice—neither do they rely on the autumn wind." This was another example of his "difference from others."
Mr. Wu Yonggang once rose to prominence in the film industry with his film The Goddess, not only possessing a deep understanding of film art but also being a passionate and spirited young artist. His film The Tide Sweeps the Sand, though not commercially successful, represented his progressive ideas. We remember that after The Wolf Mountain Bloodbath was widely recommended, his film Ambitious as the Clouds followed, filled with rebellion and a fiery spirit. From this, we see that Mr. Wu Yonggang was moving with the times. He refused to fall behind and was unwilling to be left behind by the times, so his works not only contained "truth" but also "rebellion!"
And what about The Sky of Sorrow? After watching the entire film, I felt it was a bit too tragic. This kind of tragic and dark portrayal, at a time when the national anti-war atmosphere was so high, felt too pessimistic and pessimistic. Of course, the story of The Sky of Sorrow, set in a circus, was still a reference, but why didn’t the author make Rose a more positive and brave woman? We heard Rose say after meeting A Bing, "Why was I afraid of him (the troupe leader)? From now on, I will have courage!" But after escaping to A Bing’s house, she still let fate play with her, until her death—such an ending was so tragic! I thought the author could have used the deaths of the abused Xiao Ying and Xiao Hong to strengthen Rose’s transformation against the troupe leader. Xiao Ying died from abuse, and Xiao Hong also died from abuse. Not only did Rose see it clearly, but every audience could see it clearly, yet why did Rose still die under the whip of the troupe leader?
Secondly, speaking of the (accidental nature) of the drama, I thought Liu Qiong’s 15-year sentence and Zhang Zhizhi’s death from falling to the ground were too coincidental. If the author could have strengthened these points a bit more, this forced and stiff feeling would have been resolved. However, we cannot deny that The Sky of Sorrow was a good film—it was moving and tragic; the director’s technique tightly gripped the audience even in light scenes; even tragic scenes like Bai Hong’s death and Wang Renmei’s death were strong. Liu Qiong played a sailor in this film, and his performance showed significant progress compared to his other films—he was indeed constantly improving; Wang Renmei’s tragic scenes were better than the lighter parts; Han Languan and Yin Xiuchen, though playing comedic roles, did not overdo it; Tong Yuejuan’s older sister was steady, and she was indeed a good actress. The rest is omitted.