Sun Weishi

Sun Weishi (30 November 1921 – 15 October 1968) was the first female director of modern spoken drama (Huaju) in Chinese history.

After studying abroad in the Soviet Union, Sun Bingwen returned to China in 1924 and joined the faculty of Whampoa Academy.

In 1926, Sun was appointed the General Secretary of the General Political Department of the National Revolutionary Army.

Sun's father was killed by the Kuomintang (KMT) in 1927, and Sun was eventually adopted by Zhou Enlai, who later became the first premier of the People's Republic of China.

While in Yan'an, Sun aroused the enmity of Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, beginning a rivalry between the two that lasted throughout Sun's life until her ultimate death at Jiang's hands.

During World War II, Sun lived in Moscow, studying theater.

After the relationship between the KMT and CCP deteriorated Sun Bingwen was arrested on 16 April 1927 and executed four days later, during the White Terror.

When Sun Bingwen died Sun Weishi was only six years old.

Following her father's death, Sun Weishi's mother, Ren Rui, took the family into exile, raising Sun Weishi and her three siblings alone while participating in CCP underground work.

One of Sun Weishi's brothers, Sun Yang, was imprisoned with his father in 1927, when he was only twelve.

Sun Yang was eventually released, became Zhu De's personal assistant, and became the president of Renmin University after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In 1935, when Sun was only fourteen, Sun's mother entrusted her to a leftist acting troupe based in Shanghai.

In order to hide her identity and keep her safe, Sun's name was changed to "Li Lin" until 1937.

In 1937, when she was only sixteen, Sun traveled to Wuhan to request permission to travel to the CCP revolutionary base area in Yan'an, but was refused due to her youth and lack of political connections.

Sun's father's old friend, Zhou Enlai (who was childless), found Sun crying outside of the Eighth Route Army Liaison Office, and promptly adopted Sun as his daughter.

With Zhou's assistance, Sun was able to travel to Yan'an, and promptly joined the CCP in 1938.

After arriving in Yan'an, Sun was introduced to Mao Zedong and Zhou's wife, Deng Yingchao, and got along well with them both.

Lin Biao was rumored to have developed a romantic interest in Sun while they were both in Yan'an, but Sun did not reciprocate due to Lin's age.

In Yan'an Sun enrolled in the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University with her mother, and became active in theater.

Jiang Qing, when she was single and new to Yan'an, once auditioned for a play with Sun.

Jiang was given a minor role, while Sun was given the lead.

In comparison to Jiang, Sun was compared as being a far superior actress, more attractive, and seven years younger.

Lin Biao was also in Moscow at the time and proposed to Sun before returning to China in 1942, but Sun rejected him.

Lin married another woman, Ye Qun, in 1943.

Ye held a lifelong grudge against Sun for her earlier relationship with Lin.

After the end of World War II, Sun returned to China and became active in acting and directing in Chinese theater.

Ren Rui died on 11 April 1949, reportedly due to illness from overwork.

Sun Weishi had three siblings, one sister and two brothers.

In 1950, shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Sun was invited to become the director of the China Youth Art Theater, and married one of the most famous actors then in China the same year.

Over the next several years Sun staged performances that were critically well-received, some of which became famous across China.

In 1956, Sun became the artistic director and vice-president of the Chinese Experimental Theater.

When the Cultural Revolution occurred in 1966, Zhou Enlai sent Sun and her husband to work in Daqing to protect them from political persecution, but Jiang Qing and Ye Qun conspired to have Sun secretly arrested in 1968 while visiting Zhou Enlai in Beijing.

Sun was sentenced without trial, and was tortured in a secret prison for several months before dying.

After Sun died, Jiang Qing made arrangements for Sun's body to be cremated before an autopsy could be performed, and for her ashes to be disposed of before Zhou or Sun's other relatives could take possession of them.

In 1967 Jiang Qing accused Sun Yang of being a spy for the Soviet Union, the Japanese, and the Kuomintang, and Sun Yang was tortured and killed by Maoist Red Guards in the basement of his own university.

Sun Weishi's other brother, Sun Mingshi, died in combat fighting for the CCP against the KMT.

Sun's sister, Sun Xingshi, taught at the Foreign Languages Department at Peking University.

Sun's husband was not informed of Sun's death until his release, in 1975.

Sun's father, Sun Bingwen, was recruited by Zhou Enlai to join the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Germany, and subsequently became a close friend of both Zhu De and Zhou Enlai.

In 1975, Sun Xingshi married Sun Weishi's widower, Jin Shan, who had been imprisoned throughout the Cultural Revolution for his association with Sun Weishi.