This version of the text and photos / Cao Kefan

Cao Kefan writes a long essay in memory of Qin Yi

Qin Yi and her husband Jin Yan

Qin Yi is a guest in "Ke Fan Listening"

Editor's note: On May 9, 2022, "People's Artist", "The Most Beautiful Struggle", and famous performance artist Qin Yi passed away in Shanghai East China Hospital at the age of 100. Cao Kefan, a famous host, mourned in his WeChat account: "Mr. Qin Yi, we will miss you forever! Generosity and open-mindedness are the foundation of Mr. Qin Yi's life."
Qin Yi was a guest on "Kefan Listening" three times in 2009, 2011 and 2015, and talked with the host Cao Kefan about her life and artistic journey. In total, the two have known each other for more than 30 years.
Therefore, Mr. Cao Kefan was invited by Beijing Youth Daily to write a commemorative article about Mr. Qin Yi, and he readily agreed. He wrote the manuscript on the same day and recreated Mr. Qin Yi's vivid past on the paper. The precious "exclusive memory" will also be cherished by readers, becoming the best memory for Teacher Qin Yi.
After a whole century of grace and beauty, she quietly traveled...
After a hundred years of hardships and legends, she stepped into the depths of history...
Qin Yi, an inescapable name in Chinese film history, has since turned into an eternal statue.
Looking back on the decades of contact with Mr. Qin Yi, all kinds of past events flashed through my mind like movie footage, bit by bit, unforgettable...
I remember meeting Qin Yi for the first time when I was only ten years old. That day, my parents accompanied me to buy a cream cake at "Boss Chang" at the corner of Huaihai Middle Road and Maoming Road. Suddenly, a beautiful figure flashed out of the gray-black crowd. She was facing the sky, dressed in an ordinary "mao blue cloth". "The blouse, in its simplicity, reveals the beauty and refinement that is out of tune with that era. The mother said softly: "That's Qin Yi, an amazing actor." Teacher Qin Yi's refined beauty will remain in my mind for a long time...
Shortly after I was admitted to the university, my friend took me to the studio to watch the filming of the TV series "Under the Roofs of Shanghai", and experienced Qin Yi, Kang Tai and Yang Zaibao's interpretation of a love-hate relationship up close. I saw Teacher Qin Yi sitting alone in a corner, silent, and with the director's "Mic on", she instantly entered the prescribed situation, and tears fell like rain. During the shooting interval, there was lightning and thunder, and the wind was blowing. Kang Tai stood under the porch of the studio and recited Gorky's "Haiyan" aloud. A serene beauty...
After I became a TV host, I had a chance to go to Wuhan with Teacher Qin Yi to record a program. Teacher Qin Yi recited "Mother Lu's Monologue", and the piano accompaniment was musician Chen Gang. Although the show has been performed countless times before, Teacher Qin Yi still does not dare to be slighted. During the official performance, she walked onto the stage one after another, and when the piano made a thunderous roar, two lines of tears on Teacher Qin's face were already on her face.
In the late 1990s, I went to Beijing to recite the long poem "Hello Xiaoping, with my seniors Qin Yi, Sun Daolin and my colleague Yuan Ming! ". Before leaving, Mr. Daolin called us to rehearse. He puts forward strict requirements on the handling of each person's breath and emotion, and even the pronunciation, tone and pause of each word. Teacher Qin Yi is a native of Shanghai and speaks with a local accent. Teacher Daolin and Teacher Qin Yi are of the same generation, and Teacher Qin Yi debuted even earlier than Teacher Daolin, but Teacher Daolin is still unwilling to let go of any details, and Teacher Qin Yi does not take this as an embarrassment, just like a primary school student The poems are all recorded clearly, reflecting the beauty of their rigor...
"Gossip" with Bondarchuk is ridiculous
As a junior, when I get along with the older generation of artists, I can't help but feel restrained sometimes, especially when I meet people like Bai Yang, Liu Qiong, He Luting, and Tang Yun, I am often at a loss, but meeting with Teacher Qin Yi is like a spring breeze. Peaceful, even a little presumptuous.
Once, I dared to ask about the rumors circulating between her and Bondarchuk, who starred in the movie "Othello", the People's Artist of the former Soviet Union. Qin Yi has always acted in a low-key manner and never wanted to compete with others. However, as an actress, she was still plagued by fame and fortune, and even suffered a ridiculous slander and attack.
Back in the 1950s, a rumor about her and Bondarchuk spread widely, and the truth behind the facts was so absurd and simple.
Cheng Qinyi told her that she had visited the former Soviet Union with a Chinese film delegation, and the translator sent by the other party was a guy who was addicted to alcohol and looked somewhat similar to Bondarchuk. On New Year's Eve, the translator was very drunk, and took advantage of the wine to strengthen his courage, and entangled Qin Yi. Seeing the situation was bad, Qin Yi grabbed the door and fled, but the drunken man was in hot pursuit. When Qin Yi had just entered his house, before it was too late to close the door, the drunk man had already pushed in.
Qin Yi was in a hurry and quickly locked herself in the bathroom to watch the development of the situation. Unexpectedly, the drunk man sat down on the chair and fell asleep. So Qin Yi tiptoed out of the room and asked a fellow director to help remove the drunk. Unexpectedly, rumors spread everywhere the next day. In this way, a translator who looks like Bondarchuk, a drunken farce, combined together, will be interpreted as a "gossip" out of nothing. Carrying the rumors, Qin Yi responded with a smile and took it lightly.
Admiration for Shu Xiuwen and Zhao Dan
Teacher Qin Yi is often hailed as the Ingrid Bergman on the Chinese screen, but she herself admires her contemporaries Shu Xiuwen and Zhao Dan. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Qin Yi was introduced by directors Ying Yunwei and Shi Dongshan. Qin Yi knocked on the door of performing arts in the mountain city of Chongqing, and became an instant hit with Chen Baichen's "Rejuvenation of the Earth", followed by Lao She's "The Problem of Face". Her role as Concubine Zhen in the drama "The Secret History of the Qing Palace" written and directed by Yang Cunbin was even more sensational.
Teacher Qin Yi told me that because she had accumulated a little acting experience, when it came time to play Concubine Zhen, she already knew how to analyze characters. In her opinion, Concubine Zhen was not a mediocre "poor", on the contrary, she was a wise man. , An extraordinary woman with an independent mind. She was willing to risk her life to resist the once-powerful Cixi and try her best to protect Guangxu. Therefore, Concubine Zhen is stronger than Guangxu to a certain extent.
It is precisely because of the success of the drama "The Secret History of the Qing Palace" that Qin Yi is on an equal footing with Bai Yang, Shu Xiuwen and Zhang Ruifang, and is known as the "Four Famous Actors" on the stage of Chongqing drama. However, Qin Yi and Shu Xiuwen are the closest, because they live in the same dormitory, and Shu Xiuwen takes good care of her. In Qin Yi's impression, although Shu Xiuwen is not beautiful, her performance is very tense and natural, and her gestures are all charming. Therefore, Qin Yi admires Shu Xiuwen endlessly.
After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Qin Yi returned to Shanghai from Chongqing. After "House of Loyalty", he and Zhao Dan filmed "Distant Love". Although she has been on the stage for many years, Qin Yi feels stretched and difficult to deal with in the face of Zhao Dan's "dramatic idiot".
Xiao Yuanxi, a university professor played by Zhao Dan in the play, often uses crutches. In Zhao Dan's hands, an ordinary walking stick can change into many different tricks. Qin Yi complained about why Zhao Dan had so many "flower-headed spirits", but Zhao Dan said proudly, "The flower-headed spirits are all extracted from life." However, Qin Yi did not show weakness and replied: "My role as Yu Zhen is just a servant from the countryside. She doesn't know anything about the world of Shanghai, so she doesn't need so many finesse." Zhao Dan probably felt that it was difficult to refute for a while, so he said embarrassingly: "Nong really doesn't need it now. Those 'flower-headed spirits' acted honestly, just like that."
It's a fact that my shoulders are thick, how can I shoot thin?
Teacher Qin Yi has been engaged in art for nearly 80 years, and her works have witnessed the history of Chinese film performance art since the last century. Whether it is Lin Jie, an athlete who has experienced hardships in "Women's Basketball No. 5", Fang Linsao, the only female character in "Railway Guerrilla", or Lin Hong, an intellectual woman with firm belief in "Song of Youth". All of them left a vivid and vivid character image for the audience. However, as everyone knows, most of the roles played by Ms. Qin Yi are supporting roles, not protagonists, so she once named her essay collection "Dragon Tales".
However, no matter how big or small the role is, Teacher Qin Yi treats them equally. For example, in "Railway Guerrilla", Mrs. Fanglin didn't have many scenes, but in order to make the scene of throwing the grenade, Mrs. Qin Yi spent a lot of thought. The director asked Mrs. Fanglin to throw the grenade, which happened to fall on the heel of Gangcun. So Mr. Qin Yi followed behind the statement who played Gangcun every day, and carefully observed his heels, making the statement inexplicable. After a period of preparation, Qin Yi took it to heart and passed it one by one during the official shooting, which made everyone laugh.
When filming "Mo Ya Dai", she fought with the three directors for the Dai costume with exposed shoulders. Because Qin Yi loved sports since childhood, she was proficient in basketball, horizontal bars, and parallel bars, so her arms were relatively thick and strong. There is a risk of not being beautiful. The director couldn't stand Qin Yi's stubbornness, so he reluctantly agreed to change to a waistcoat. However, the problem of "thick shoulders" has not been really resolved. During the film review, experts criticized the photographer for taking Qin Yi's shoulders too thick. The photographer complained secretly, while Mr. Qin Yi snickered secretly: "It's a fact that my shoulders are thick, how can I take pictures fine?" In the past years, Teacher Qin Yi always smiled innocently like a child.
Marrying Jin Yan, the witness Guo Moruo inscribed "The Double Wings of the Silver Altar"
Just like the dazzling role that Teacher Qin Yi played on the screen, as a woman, she also has to take on different roles in life. Daughter, wife, mother, these roles have made her experience hardships and ups and downs. Fortunately, Qin Yi has independent opinions since childhood and knows how to make the right choice at the crossroads of life.
In order to escape from her first husband Chen Tianguo, with the secret help of Xia Yan, Wu Zuguang and Tang Yu, Qin Yi took a boat from Chongqing to Leshan alone. Then, I went to Yichang to find Ying Yunwei to find a way. After hiding for a period of time, he and Ding Cong took a dilapidated car to Xikang, and finally saved the day.
Later, Qin Yi and the "movie emperor" Jin Yan were matched by Liu Qiong and fell in love with each other at first sight. Not long after, Jin Yan accompanied Qin Yi to the filming of the movie "Boundless Sea" in Hong Kong. Friends Wu Zuguang and Lu En and his wife arranged the wedding for them. Cultural figures living in Hong Kong such as Mao Dun, Guo Moruo and Jian Bozan attended the ceremony. The witness Guo Moruo wrote " "Silver Altar Double Wings" four characters.
At the wedding, when the wine was in full swing, Mr. Jian Bozan, a historian who has always been prudent and mature, pulled the bride's clothes and shouted loudly, "I want to be Qin Yi's little tail!" Ding Cong, who Qin Yi had expressed his love for, immediately pulled the corner of Jian Bozan's shirt and said, "I want to be Qin Yi's little tail too." Qin Yi was so frightened that she had to go back and pull Jian Bozan's shirt. The clothes said: "I want to be your little tail!" The wedding atmosphere reached a boiling point.
However, love is love, and marriage is marriage. Because Jin Yan's personality is old-fashioned and dull, it is far less romantic than people think. Therefore, Qin Yi spends a lot of energy on her marriage life. She remembered that the two went to the Daguang Cinema to watch the movie "Under the Gaslight" while they were in love. Qin Yi was 5 minutes late because of a supplementary shot. Jin Yan went into the theater alone in a fit of anger, but asked Liu Qiong to wait for her lover outside the theater. When Qin Yi entered the theater in the dark, she quickly explained to him, but the "movie emperor" was still angry. After watching the movie, the two separated, and it was not until a few days later that they were reconciled.
In the 1950s, when Jin Yan went to East Germany to film, he suffered a sudden stomach hemorrhage, so he had to remove most of his stomach. He had to be bedridden for many years, unable to continue working. But Teacher Qin Yi always bears it silently. In her opinion, her husband always maintains a gentleman's style, never speaks badly, treats people politely, and is also good at cooking. The kimchi and fried chicken he makes have unique tastes, and even tailor-made clothes and make micro-carvings. It's so versatile...
If you think about it, you won't be afraid of anything
In the old age of Teacher Qin Yi, the relatives around her—the husband who had been in bed for 20 years, the only son who suffered from mental illness, and the sister who depended on each other for life, all passed away one after another. In the face of a series of blows, she has never been knocked down, and she still faces the impact of fate with a calm attitude. Farewell to her son will undoubtedly deeply hurt her weak heart as a mother. But after the storm passed, she still showed her great love as always: "It's hard for my son to die. But I also think of other unhealthy children in the society. A person's life will inevitably encounter many unsatisfactory things, I always Say, if you want to open up. If you want to open up, you will not be afraid of anything. As long as people have ideals and pursuits, they are happy.”
Therefore, Ms. Qin Yi loves acting and extends her life through roles. At the age of 93, she wrote, acted and raised funds to shoot the film "Qinghai Lakeside", and regardless of her old age, she climbed to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to shoot; two years later, she played the role of an old palace maid in the film "The Legend of the Demon Cat" directed by Chen Kaige, only a few. In the minute's play, Mr. Qin Yi did not slack at all, but repeatedly tried to figure out the role and strive for perfection. She also wants to regard the few years left as the second half of her life and study English well in order to communicate with her foreign counterparts.
The last time I talked to Mr. Qin Yi was on February 11, 2020. On that day, I suddenly received a call from Mr. Qin's daughter, Sister Feifei. It turned out that she was watching TV with Mr. Qin Yi and happened to see "Kefan Listening". At that time, Mrs. Qin Yi's memory had been extremely weakened, and many people and things had long since been forgotten, but she looked at the screen and blurted out: "This is Cao Kefan!" Sister Feifei was surprised when she heard it, so she quickly called me to inform me, so I Greeting her old man's New Year's greetings on the phone, she also slowly replied six words - "Happy New Year to you!"
For Ms. Qin Yi, perseverance and patience are her life-long creeds; tolerance and open-mindedness are the foundation of her life.
At this moment, I just want to say to Teacher Qin Yi, "I wish you a good journey!"
May 9, 2022 3:50 pm
Qin Yi can survive the pain of life because of her cheerful personality
On November 15, 2009, Qin Yi ushered in the 70th anniversary of her career in art. On this day, Qin Yi was a guest on "Kefan Listening" and told her artistic life and emotional story.
Cao Kefan: Before becoming an actor, do you think your character is suitable for being an actor?
Qin Yi: I have a more cheerful personality. I have any ideas, I say them all, and I express them. I think it's okay to be an actor, but I haven't considered this issue. Being an actor is because I have to eat, and I have no choice.
Originally, I missed studying, but a woman in the same room said that there was a director or deputy director of the Education Bureau, and she was always a member of the Kuomintang. He had seen me, he was going to England, he wanted to take me with him and send me to a university in England. I'm still pretty smart. I don't know or have seen this man. Why should he bring me to the UK to send me to university? It would cost him a lot of money. There must be a problem. I thought to myself, this is impossible. I went to the UK with him. I said I don't want it, no matter how good the opportunity is, I don't want it.
The opportunity is gone, the opportunity to study is gone, there is nothing left. I just watched the drama with others, I waited for my friend to come out from the bathroom in the hallway, and went back together. Two directors, Ying Yunwei and Shi Dongshan, came out of the backstage. Ying Yunwei said to me, "Little girl, I ask you, where are you now?" "Then you don't work or study?" I said that I was alone in Chongqing, and there was nothing I could do. "Oh, it's like this, why don't you come to our factory?" I said, your factory is What factory? "We are directors, we act in drama, do you like it? Didn't you just watch the drama?" I said, I like it when I watch it, but I don't like it when I act.
Cao Kefan: You made many films in the 1950s and 1960s, two of which are more classics, namely "Women's Basketball No. 5" and "Railway Guerrilla". Why did you star in "Women's Basketball No. 5"?
Qin Yi: I was going to play Zhang Ruifang, but she can't play football, so she can't, so she has to find me, and I will also play penalty kicks. I was a basketball captain in school.
Cao Kefan: In "Railway Guerrilla", did you play a love story between Mrs. Fanglin and Liu Hong?
Qin Yi: There are some, some are very delicate. Later, I cut off a little bit and left a little bit. Such a feeling that we have developed in the revolutionary friendship is very precious. Saying nothing at all, it seems wrong, to what extent? At that time, it was impossible for us to kiss or something. At that time, the audience had not reached that level. It was filmed in 1957. People would feel uncomfortable watching it, but hugging is okay.
Cao Kefan: In 1947, when you said goodbye to the unfortunate experience of your first marriage, you and the then "movie emperor" Jin Yan tied the knot. People at that time admired the combination of the golden boy and the jade girl. Isn't it very good for him to propose to you? What about romance?
Qin Yi: It's not romantic at all, and he never proposed to me, because he had a free time in Hong Kong, so he went with me. After I went, I was arranged by the company, and he had no place to arrange it. I said where do you live? He thought about it for a while and said, then I will live with you. But we don't have that kind of shit, you know. I said if you want to live, you can live, and Wu Zuguang was blindly excited, "You two, if you live together, you don't get married. What do you mean?"
Cao Kefan: Everyone knows that as a wife and mother, it is not easy for you to take care of so many patients at home. What do you think has supported you over the years?
Qin Yi: My personality is more cheerful, I think so.