Cai Chusheng
Director Cai Chusheng and scriptwriter Sun Shiyi based the plot of "New Women" on the life and death of actress Ai Xia. While Wei Ming, played by Ruan Lingyu was a teacher, Ai Xia was an actress that committed suicide in 1934 at the age of 21 after starring in a movie that she wrote herself called "A "Modern Woman"". Ai Xia was condemned by the popular press when they found out about a single act of prostitution to raise money in order to afford medicine for her sick daughter. Cai Chusheng was thought to have been affiliated with Ai Xia in some way and made "New Women" for personal reasons. Ai Xia's suicide and legacy in the film industry in China made her become a symbol for the Chinese women's emancipation. Ai Xia was one of the new-style women emerging in early 20th century China. During these times, female suicide was not an uncommon occurrence with Confucian and patriarchal pressures for women to be mothers and wives while not expressing their true selves. Ai Xia represented this ideology of new women being a young intellectual woman that reflected the need for modernity of fashion, customs and emancipation from men. Ruan Lingyu ended up playing a role that was relatable to her own life. Ruan Lingyu committed suicide on International Women's Day (March 8, 1935) by overdosing on sleeping pills. Her suicide note apparently contained a line which says "gossip is a fearful thing" (人言可畏), although recent researchers have doubted the note's authenticity as it appeared to have been forged by Tang Jishan. Even China's preeminent intellectual Lu Xun was appalled at the details surrounding Ruan's death and wrote an essay entitled "Gossip is a Fearful Thing", denouncing the tabloids. Her funeral procession was three miles long, three women committed suicide during it and the New York Times ran a front page story, calling it “the most spectacular funeral of the century.”