Li Zuyong
Lee Cho-yung was a Shanghai–Hong Kong film producer and entrepreneur.[1]
Biography
His ancestral home was Xiaogang, Zhenhai County, Zhejiang, and he was a fourth-generation member of the Xiaogang Lee family. He was born on December 20, 1903, in Shanghai. His father, Lee Xieqing, was a financial magnate in Tianjin and served as Inspector of the Mint.[2] He graduated from Nankai University, where he was known as a “rich Ningbo young master” for his affluent lifestyle. He studied abroad in the United States and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (formerly translated as Amhurst or Amorherst University). After returning to Shanghai, he taught at Kwang Hua University and took over Daye Printing Factory as its director and manager, undertaking banknote printing for the Central Bank.[2] He also founded the Lun Shun Real Estate Company to engage in property development. He invested in the construction of the Yung Yip Building on Middle Huaihai Road and “New World” on Nanjing Road in Shanghai.[2]
In 1946, he relocated to Hong Kong and resided in Deep Water Bay. In 1947, he founded Yung Hwa Film Company in Hong Kong and began film production in August of the same year. It became the largest film studio and film enterprise in Hong Kong at the time.[3] By 1948, business began to decline. In early 1949, the company recorded its first financial loss. By 1949, he had produced 11 Chinese-language films. From 1950 to 1951, the studio underwent a production halt and reorganization.[3] Between 1951 and 1953, nine more films were produced. In 1954, operations again fell into difficulty. In 1956, the company was taken over by Cathay Organisation. In 1957, Lee Cho-yung produced his final film and retired from the industry. He passed away from a stroke on December 23, 1959, in Hong Kong.[3]
Family
He had three sons:
- Eldest son: Lee Ming Lun, an entrepreneur in Hong Kong and the United States, married a Japanese wife.[4]
- Second son: Lee Ming Shin, a Chinese-American architect.
- Third son: Lee Ming Yi, a Chinese-American architect.[5]
Representative Works
- Sea Vow
- Raging Tide
- Tears of the Mountains and Rivers
- Life and Death
- Spring Wind and Autumn Rain
- Cremation – won an award at the Panama International Film Festival, marking the first time a Chinese-language film won an international award. It was also screened in France, becoming the first Chinese film shown in Europe.[1]
- Secret History of the Qing Court – selected for the Locarno International Film Festival. It was screened in Europe, the United States, and over ten Middle Eastern countries, making it the most internationally distributed Chinese-language film at the time. It was also briefly banned.[1]
- Tsui Tsui
- People Who Worship Money
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E7%A5%96%E6%B0%B8#cite_ref-lizuyong_1-0
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E7%A5%96%E6%B0%B8#cite_ref-li_family_2-0
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E7%A5%96%E6%B0%B8#cite_ref-yonghua_3-0
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E7%A5%96%E6%B0%B8#cite_ref-4
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E7%A5%96%E6%B0%B8#cite_ref-5