Ying Ruocheng

b. 21 June 1929, Beijing

Spoken-drama actor, director, translator, administrator

Born into a family of Catholic Manchu intellectuals (his grandfather founded Furen University), Ying Ruocheng is the best-known Chinese actor of the later twentieth century. Raised in English-speaking missionary schools and a graduate of Qinghua University, Ying married Wu Shiliang (d. 1987) in 1950 and became an actor at the Beijing People’s Art Theatre upon graduation. Imprisoned from 1968 to 1971, Ying became a translator for China Reconstructs after the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, and returned to the theatre in 1979. In 1983, Ying served as translator for, and played the part of Willy Loman in, Arthur Miller’s famed direction of Death of a Salesman at the Beijing People’s Art Theatre. Ying was appointed China’s Vice Minister of Culture in 1986 and resigned in 1990.

As Vice Minister, he promoted artistic collaborations with Western nations and travelled to the USA in 1982, 1984 and 1993 to direct university and repertory theatre productions of modern Chinese plays in English translation. Ying has translated dozens of Chinese and foreign classics, eight of which were published by the China Translation Publishing Corp. in 1999. Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci cast Ying in his films The Last Emperor (1987) and Little Buddha (1994). Ying was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 1990. His son, Ying Da, is a prominent actor and television director/producer.

Further reading

Miller, A. (1983). Salesman in Beijing. New York: Viking.

CLAIRE CONCEISON