Qin Yi

Qin Yi (; 4 February 1922 – 9 May 2022) was a Chinese actress. She gained fame for her stage performances in the war-time capital Chongqing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the war, she became one of China's most popular film actresses throughout the 1950s and the 1960s, and was recognised as one of the country's top four actresses. Premier Zhou Enlai called her the "most beautiful woman in China". Early life and theatre career Qin Yi was born on 4 February 1922 to a wealthy Shanghai family. Her name at birth was Qin Dehe. She was one of the many daughters in the family. She enjoyed watching movies and Ruan Lingyu (1910–1935) was her favourite actress. After the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, Qin fled to Wuhan and became active in anti-Japanese activities. When Wuhan also fell to the Japanese, she fled to the war-time capital Chongqing in 1938, and received actor training at the China Movie Studio. She joined several theatre groups, and acted in dozens of plays, including The Good Earth Huichun, Imperial Minister, and La Traviata. In 1943, the influential playwright Xia Yan first named her with Shu Xiuwen, Zhang Ruifang, and Bai Yang as China's "four great drama actresses". The label became widely known, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the four were officially recognised by the new government as the "Top Four Actresses of China". Film career After the surrender of Japan at the end of the World War II, Qin Yi moved back to Shanghai, and in 1946 acted in The Loyal Family, her first feature film. The next year, she had her first leading role in Chen Liting's Far Away Love opposite Zhao Dan, which made her a famous movie star. She then played the leading role in Tang Xiaodan's Lost Love opposite her husband Jin Yan. The film was shot during the final year of the Chinese Civil War, and was released after the Communists took over Shanghai from the defeated Kuomintang (KMT) in May 1949. Owing to the changing political situation, the film was screened for only a short period. Like other Chinese filmmakers and actors, Qin Yi and Jin Yan had to decide whether to flee to British Hong Kong, join the KMT in its evacuation to Taiwan, or stay in Shanghai and work with the new regime. As Qin Yi was a leftist-leaning actress sympathetic to the Communist cause, the couple decided to stay.