Jia Baoyu
It was common for women to cross dress as male characters in Chinese movies and operas. And Lin is particularly well known for her androgynous roles, her earliest being Jia Baoyu, the male protagonist of the 1977 film adaptation of "Dream of the Red Chamber". In "Peking Opera Blues" (1986), she was a guerrilla revolutionary and in "Royal Tramp II" (1992), she was the leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, both of whom were women characters dressed as men. And in "Ashes of Time" (1994), she played twin brother/sister duo Yin and Yang. However, she is perhaps most well known for her role as Dongfang Bubai in "Swordsman II" (1992). "Swordsman II" marked the peak of her career in terms of box office earnings for which she was listed among the 10 greatest performances in Cinema of all time, by "Time" magazine.