# Li Ching (actress)

Li Ching, also spelled Lee Ching (Chinese: 李菁; pinyin: Lǐ Jīng); (8 November 1948 – 22 February 2018), was a prominent Hong Kong actress and producer from the early 1960s to the late 1970s.

## Early life

Li Ching was born in Shanghai as Li Guoying (Chinese: 李國瑛). Her parents moved to British Hong Kong in 1949. She was the youngest in her family, with 5 older brothers and 2 older sisters. From a young age, she was interested in movies. While attending Precious Blood Girls' School, she learned that Shaw Brothers " Southern Experimental Drama Troupe " was openly recruiting for its second group of trainees. Despite her parents' opposition, she was determined to audition. Over 2,000 people applied, but Li Ching's fresh appearance and natural acting talent earned her a spot. She was selected along with Fang Ying, Chiang Ching, Cheng Pei-pei, and Chin Pin, becoming classmates. During this period, she made cameo appearances in The Love Eterne and The Female Prince.

## Career

After graduating from the training class, she signed an 8-year contract with Shaw Brothers. Initially, she was cast in costume roles, playing supporting characters in films such as The Crimson Palm, The Lotus Lamp, and Inside the Forbidden City; but her big break came when she was finally offered her first starring role as the Carp Spirit / Peong in The Mermaid alongside Ivy Ling Po.
In May 1965, Li Ching won Best Actress at the 12th Asian Film Festival for her performance in The Mermaid. Since she was not yet 17 at the time, she was dubbed the “Baby Queen of Asian Cinema”
In 1967, her performance in Susanna, her first modern romantic drama, received critical acclaim which further solidified her reputation. Following that, Shaw Brothers carefully planned her rise to stardom, producing a series of new films for her that consistently broke box office records.
In the early 1970s, Li Ching's film Have Sword, Will Travel - besides the actors Ti Lung and David Chiang - ranked as the 6th highest grossing film of the year; and by 1969, she had appeared in more than 20 films. Except for a 6 month break in 1969 due to a fractured left leg. Li Ching was almost constantly filming, completing numerous Huangmei opera movies. During her time at Shaw Brothers, she appeared in around 50 films, including Chang Cheh’s Dead End, King Eagle, and The New One-Armed Swordsman. She was also considered one of the “ Top 10 Actress in Hong Kong Cinema ”, and became one of the most sought-after actresses in both Hong Kong and Taiwan.
At the end of 1976, Li Ching ended her 13-year relationship with Shaw Brothers and began working as a freelance actress, travelling between Hong Kong and Taiwan. She also co-founded the “Changtian Company” with director Lo Ma and starred in their debut film, The Chase. Li eventually announced her retirement as an actress in 1983, after appearing in more than 60 films.

## Personal life and Death

It is said that at the peak of her career, she was a compassionate soul and quite energetic too! Giving out advice to those who just debuted and invited her friends to her home frequently after a long day of work. But tragedy striked in 1979, her long-time boyfriend, Lui Kok-Wah, the eldest son of the Lui family and an heir to the Kowloon Motor Bus company, passed away after a 10 year relationship. This deeply affected her, leading to a gradual reduction in her film work. Followed by her mother in 1983, who had been by her side for many years, passed away. This impacted Li Ching immensely and completely withdrew herself from the entertainment industry.
It is said that after leaving the film industry, Li Ching began a second career in the stock market. However, not long after, news spread that she had suffered significant investment losses, it may also be her gambling addiction — a way to cope with the 2 significant losses in her life. In the end, she had to liquidate her assets to repay debts, some of these problems ended up leading to court. This took a severe toll on her health both physically and mentally. She supposedly got breast cancer as well on some accounts.
In the 1990s, Li Ching disappeared from the public eye. Even when Shaw Brothers digitally remastered and released their films in 2013, she didn’t make an appearance.
On February 22, 2018, she was found dead at her home. Apparently, her neighbours smelt a rotten stench coming from her apartment, and called the firefighters to investigate. Turns out her body had been decomposing for several of days, she was 69 years old. Fortunately, her co-stars haven’t forgotten her, and paid for her funeral expenses and memorials.

## Filmography
### Films

* 1964 Between Tears and Smiles
* 1964 The Dancing Millionairess (Wan hua ying chun) as Chorus girl
* 1964 The Last Woman of Shang (Da ji)
* 1964 The Story of Sue San [fr]
* 1964 The Crimson Palm (Xie shou yin)
* 1964 The Female Prince as Chun Lan
* 1965 Inside the Forbidden City as Ghost of Kou Zhu
* 1965 The Mermaid as Chin Mu-tan/Pipo fairy
* 1965 The Lotus Lamp (Bai lian deng) as Lingzhi
* 1965 The West Chamber (Xi xiang ji) as Hongniang
* 1966 Sweet and Wild (Ye gu niang) as Jin Xiao-fang
* 1966 The Knight Of Knights [fr] (Wen Suchen) as Sister Yu Chin-erh
* 1967 Sweet is Revenge (Da xia fu chou ji)
* 1967 Nu xun an as Huo Ting-chin
* 1967 Jing jing as Ching-ching
* 1967 The King with My Face as Princess Hui Hsi
* 1967 Swan Song
* 1967 Susanna as Lin Shan-Shan
* 1967 Rape of the Sword (Dao jian) as Zhong Jiao Long
* 1967 Lady Jade Locket as Lien Suo/Lien Wei
* 1968 Hong Kong Rhapsody as Chang Hsiao-Ping
* 1968 The Sword of Swords as Pai Feng
* 1969 Hao xia zhuan (Killers Five)
* 1969 The Invincible Fist as Kuei Ku
* 1969 Dead End as Wen You
* 1969 The Three Smiles (San xiao) as Chiu Hsiang
* 1969 Have Sword, Will Travel as Yun Piau Piau
* 1970 Nu xiao chun se as Helen Li Hai-lun
* 1970 A Place to Call Home (Yu nu qin qing)
* 1970 E lang gu
* 1971 King Eagle as 7th Chief Yuk Lin/8th Chief An Bing Er
* 1971 The New One-Armed Swordsman as Pa Hsiao
* 1971 Vengeance of a Snow Girl [fr] as Shen Ping Hung
* 1971 The Long Chase as Wang Hsueh Niang
* 1972 The Human Goddess
* 1972 Wa wa fu ren
* 1972 The 14 Amazons as Yang Pa Mei
* 1972 Wang ming tu
* 1973 A Woman with Half Soul
* 1973 Niu gui she shen
* 1973 Ambush (1973 film) as Fan Hsiu-hsiu
* 1973 Sexy Girls of Denmark (Dan Ma jiao wa)
* 1973 Dang nu ji hang
* 1974 Gui ma xiao tian shi
* 1974 Yan nu huan hun as Sung Lien-hua
* 1974 Heung gong chat sup sam
* 1974 Sorrow of the Gentry as Sun Shu-cheng
* 1975 That's Adultery
* 1975 Jin mao shi wang as Wen Fang
* 1975 Shuang xing ban yue
* 1975 Xi xiao nu ma
* 1975 Evil Seducers (Guest star)
* 1975 My Bewitched Wife as Fox Fairy Hu Hsiao-hsin
* 1975 Qing suo
* 1975 Lover's Destiny
* 1976 Tiger Cliff
* 1976 Wedding Nights as Chan Hsien-hsien
* 1976 Hu tian hu di as Fox Fairy Hu Hsiao-hsin
* 1976 Mr. Funnybone as Miss Chen
* 1977 Clans of Intrigue as Black Pearl Hei Chen-chu
* 1977 Heroes of the Eastern Skies
* 1978 Xin hong lou meng as Hsieh Bao-Chai
* 1978 Zhui