text: chen liting chen liting ( chinese : ; pinyin : chén ; 20 october 1910 – 27 august 2013 ) was a chinese playwright , drama and film director , screenwriter , and film theorist . he was one of the most prominent film directors and screenwriters in pre - communist china , together with shi dongshan , cai chusheng , and zheng junli . his most famous film was women side by side ( 1949 ) . chen was abandoned as an infant , and then lost his both foster parents during early childhood . before becoming a film director , chen worked mainly in drama . his patriotic play put down your whip was highly influential and performed countless times during the japanese invasion of china . during the war he also made a famous staging of the play qu yuan , and wrote one of the first chinese books on film theory . after the early 1950s , chen 's attempts at filmmaking were repeatedly thwarted by the prc government for political reasons . he worked as general manager of tianma film studio before being imprisoned during the cultural revolution . after his rehabilitation at the end of the period , he spent three years on the historical film da feng ge , but retired after that film was also cancelled due to politics . early life born in shanghai in 1910 , chen liting was abandoned as an infant and adopted by foster parents . however , he lost his adoptive father at the age of four , and three years later his adoptive mother also died . chen was brought up by his uncle , the brother of his adoptive father . he attended a boarding school in jiangyin at the age of 12 , and in 1924 entered middle school in shanghai . as a high school student at , chen was influenced by the post - may fourth surge of modern drama . in 1928 , he entered daxia university ( a predecessor of east china normal university ) in shanghai , where he translated , directed , and acted in the rising of the moon , a play by the irish dramatist lady gregory . it was the first chinese production of the play . put down your whip after university , chen worked as a primary school teacher in rural county outside of shanghai . in late 1931 , he wrote the patriotic play put down your whip ( also translated as lay down your whip ) , inspired by , an earlier play by tian han . it became extremely influential and was staged countless times throughout china during the anti - japanese war . the play was staged both by amateur performers as well as famous actors . the actress wang ying even performed an english version of the play in the white house for president roosevelt and his wife . the future madame mao , then known as li , was also among its many performers . the play has been described in chinese media as a " spiritual atomic bomb " against the japanese invaders . it also inspired famous paintings by artists xu and situ qiao . sino - japanese war chen returned to shanghai in 1932 , where he wrote film reviews and translated soviet books on filmmaking into chinese . after the japanese invaded china in 1937 , chen joined the resistance movement , serving as the leader of the fourth brigade of the shanghai salvation drama troupe , which performed numerous patriotic street plays including put down your whip . the troupe fled shanghai before it fell to the japanese , traveling and performing for the next three years under harsh conditions through central and southwest china . in 1941 , chen arrived in chongqing , china 's wartime capital , where he joined the china film studio and the central cinematography studio run by the nationalist government . however , he mainly worked in theatre , directing plays written by wu zuguang , xia yan , and chen baichen . his most impressive wartime contribution was the staging of qu yuan , a famous 1942 play by guo moruo . in 1942 , he also published rules of cinema , which is considered the first comprehensive chinese book on film theory . between wwii and 1949 after the japanese surrender in 1945 , chen returned to shanghai . he joined the china film no. 2 studio that was newly established by the nationalist government . he wrote and directed the film far away love , whose premiere in shanghai 's theatre on 18 january 1947 was considered a landmark event in postwar chinese cinema . the film starred prominent actors and actresses such as zhao dan , qin yi , and wu yin , and the ministry of defence put uniformed soldiers under chen 's command for the filming . it was the first in a series of controversial epics on the social turmoil caused by the war . in late 1947 , he made another film rhapsody of happiness , written by chen baichen . after moving to the kunlun film company , a new private studio , chen directed women side by side ( also translated as three women or female fighters ) in early 1949 . chen and the famous playwright tian han cowrote the screenplay . the film is his most famous and it is considered his masterpiece . people 's republic of china after the founding the people 's republic of china in 1949 , chen directed two more films : inescapable ( 1950 ) and work is beautiful ( 1951 ) . but he worked mostly in administrative positions , serving as a member of the national people 's congress , and general manager of tianma film studio from 1957 until 1966 . in the 1950s chen was appointed director for the upcoming film li shizhen . however , due to his insistence that the director , rather than government administrators , have artistic control , he was dismissed and the film was directed by his friend shen fu . in the early 1960s , chen spent three years preparing to make a film about the life of lu xun , starring zhao dan , yu lan , and sun , but the film was cancelled by the shanghai 's communist party chief ke for political reasons . like many other intellectuals , chen was imprisoned during the cultural revolution ( 1966 – 76 ) . after being rehabilitated at the end of the period , chen returned to work for the shanghai film studio , where he was responsible for artistic quality . he and chen baichen worked together for three years to make the historical film da feng ge , based on the han dynasty palace intrigues of empress lü zhi after the death of emperor gaozu . however , the film was again cancelled by high - ranking politicians , as it was reminiscent of the political struggles after the death of chairman mao zedong . chen baichen had a heart attack on hearing news of the cancellation , while chen liting , then almost 70 years old , retired from filmmaking . in 2008 , chen liting 's biography by xia yu ( ) , titled far away love after his film , was published by china film publishing house ( isbn ) . he was awarded a prize by chinese president hu jintao for making " exceptional contributions to the art of drama " . on the morning of 27 august 2013 , chen liting died at hospital in shanghai at the age of 102 . family chen liting married mao ( ) during the great leap forward . after nearly 40 years of marriage , she died on 18 september 1998 . the couple had one child , a daughter named chen ( ) , who emigrated to the united states .