In the bright starry sky of the entertainment industry, Jinshan is like a unique and dazzling star, exuding its own light. He not only left a strong mark in the field of acting and directing, but also starred in classic films such as "Faint", "Singing in the Night" and "Storm", as well as drama works such as "Qu Yuan", "Paul Kochakin" and "Uncle Vanya", which are still praised and remembered by people today. At the same time, he directed masterpieces such as "On the Songhua River", "Storm", "In a Silent Place", "Fantasy of the Ming Tombs Reservoir", etc., which also showed his outstanding talent and unique artistic vision. In 2005, he was selected as one of the 100 outstanding actors in Chinese film by virtue of his outstanding contribution to his acting career, becoming a monument in the history of Chinese film that cannot be ignored.
However, behind this brilliant acting achievement, Jin Shan's life is full of ups and downs and twists and turns, and his emotional road is like a legendary drama with ups and downs, intertwined with love, marriage, parting and reunion, which makes people moved and sighs at the impermanence of fate.
Jin Shan, formerly known as Zhao Mo, was born on August 9, 1911 in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, to a well-off family. His arrival was supposed to be a happy continuation of the family, but fate ruthlessly dealt a heavy blow to the family when he was only two months old - his father Zhao Jinwen died of a sudden illness. Since then, the fate of the family has changed dramatically. The housekeeper surnamed Zhu, like a greedy wolf, took advantage of the helplessness of orphans and widows to not only seize the property of Jinshan's family, but also did despicable evil deeds, making Jinshan's sister pregnant and giving birth to a child, and then became Jinshan's brother-in-law. As a result of this change, the relationship between Jinshan and this "brother-in-law" deteriorated day by day, and the warmth and tranquility of the family were also gone, leaving only a heart full of pain and resentment at the injustice of fate.
In 1928, at the age of 17, Jin Shan resolutely left Suzhou and went to Shanghai to join his brother with confusion and expectations for the future. At that time, Shanghai was bustling with countless opportunities and challenges. Jin Shan's eldest brother is a patrol officer, and the second brother works as a manager in an entertainment venue, and their presence provides Jin Shan with a touch of warmth and support in this strange city. Jin Shan is tall and burly, handsome and handsome, and eloquent and good at words. Under the recommendation of his brothers, he became acquainted with Du Yuesheng, who was famous on the beach in Shanghai, and was fortunate to get his protection. This coincidence undoubtedly opened a new door for Jin Shan's life and allowed him to find a foothold in this complex society.
In December 1932, Jin Shan made an important decision that changed his life - he secretly joined the party organization and became an underground party member. Since then, his life has been closely linked with the fate of the country, and he has shouldered a heavy and glorious mission. Three years later, in 1935, Jin Shan co-founded the Shanghai Amateur Dramatists Association with like-minded friends such as Zhao Dan, which was dedicated to promoting the development of drama art and building an important platform for the dissemination of progressive ideas. The following year, he co-founded the 40s Drama Club with the famous actress Wang Ying, and further made a name for himself in the entertainment industry, demonstrating his persistent pursuit of art and outstanding organizational leadership.
Wang Ying, a smash hit drama actor and writer in the thirties and forties of the twentieth century, had a heartbreaking childhood. Born in Wuhu, Anhui Province in 1915, her mother died of illness when she was 7 years old, and she was sold to the Tao family for 500 yuan by her ruthless father and stepmother. In 1927, at the age of 12, Wang Ying bravely escaped from the Tao family's cage and sailed to Wuhan to join her aunt, and in 1930 she secretly joined the Chinese Communist Party, embarking on a revolutionary path full of thorns and hopes. In 1933, under the introduction of Xia Yan, Wang Ying joined the star film company in Shanghai, and with her excellent acting skills and unique charm, she starred in many progressive films with profound influence such as "The Cry of Women", "Iron Plate Red Tears", "Same Hatred", etc., and became famous in Shanghai and became an idol and role model in the hearts of countless people.
In the process of performing the drama "Sai Jinhua" together, Jin Shan and Wang Ying, two talented young people, attracted each other, and the spark of love quietly bloomed between them. In 1938, in order to raise funds for the anti-Japanese resistance, Wang Ying and Jin Shan went to Singapore, Malaysia and other places with the China Salvation Theater Troupe to perform dramas. In those difficult and passionate days, they got along day and night and worked hard together for the cause of resistance against Japan. However, as time passed, the differences in their personalities and living habits gradually became apparent, and frequent quarrels began to erode their relationship. In 1940, when they returned to China with the troupe, this once fiery relationship finally came to an end, and the two reluctantly chose to break up. After that, Wang Ying fell in love with Bai Chongxi's secretary Xie Hegeng in 1941, married a year later, and then went to the United States to develop, opening a new chapter in her life.
After breaking up with Wang Ying, Jin Shan came to Chongqing because of the needs of work. In a performance of the drama "Qu Yuan", he met actress Zhang Ruifang, and the gears of fate began to turn again. Zhang Ruifang, who was 7 years younger than Jinshan, was born in Baoding, Hebei Province in 1918. Her father died heroically on the battlefield of the Northern Expedition at the age of 42 for the revolutionary cause, and this family background also allowed Zhang Ruifang to develop a strong and independent character since she was a child. After the outbreak of the "July 7 Incident" in 1937, Zhang Ruifang, full of patriotic enthusiasm, went to Chongqing with the Beiping Student Field Mobile Theater Troupe and devoted himself to the literary and artistic propaganda work of resisting Japan and saving the country. With her excellent acting skills, she was known as the "Four Famous Figures of Chinese Drama" along with Bai Yang, Qin Yi, and Shu Xiuwen, and became a bright star on the drama stage at that time.
In 1939, Zhang Ruifang and Yu Keji, an engineer from Chongqing Electric Power Company, entered the palace of marriage. However, this marriage was not happy, Zhang Ruifang was unable to have children due to physical reasons, which became a shadow in their marriage. Coupled with the incompatibility of the two personalities, their lives are full of contradictions and frictions. The appearance of Jinshan was like a gust of wind, breaking Zhang Ruifang's originally calm and depressed life. Jin Shan is a passionate and unrestrained man, who dares to love and hate, and when love comes, he does not care about the fact that Zhang Ruifang is married, and launches a passionate pursuit. At first, Zhang Ruifang tried to hide from Jin Shan's feelings, but in the end he was melted by his fiery love. In 1944, Zhang Ruifang resolutely went through the divorce procedures with Yu Keji, and in October of the same year, she married Jinshan in Chongqing, and Du Yuesheng personally served as their witness.
After marriage, Jin Shan and Zhang Ruifang are like-minded, they have common ideals and pursuits, not only support each other in life, but also cooperate tacitly on the drama stage many times, and jointly perform many classic plays, becoming a recognized loving couple in the eyes of people at that time. In 1946, due to the needs of revolutionary work, Jin Shan and Zhang Ruifang were both transferred to the Northeast Film Studio (later renamed Changchun Film Studio). With his influence in the entertainment industry and his outstanding work ability, Jin Shan served as the first director of Changying Studio, and shouldered the important task of promoting the development of China's film industry. In 1947, Jin Shan wrote and directed the anti-Japanese war film "On the Songhua River", and Zhang Ruifang played the female number one "granddaughter" in the film. After the release of this movie, it caused huge social repercussions, and the interlude "Four Seasons Beauty" sung by Zhang Ruifang for the film was even more popular and became a classic at that time.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Jin Shan was transferred to work at the Youth Theater in Beijing, and Zhang Ruifang was transferred to the Beijing Film Studio as an actor. In 1950, Zhang Ruifang was transferred from Beijing Film to the Youth Art Theater and became colleagues with Jinshan again, which also gave them more opportunities to engage in drama performance together. In the same year, the China Youth Art Theater rehearsed the drama "Paul Kochakin", Jin Shan played the male lead "Paul Kochakin", and Zhang Ruifang played the female lead "Dong Niya". However, the performance of this drama became a turning point in their marriage.
The drama "Paul Kochakin" is directed by the famous female director Sun Weishi. Sun Weishi was born in 1921 in Nanxi County, Yibin City, Sichuan Province, and her father, Sun Bingwen, was a comrade-in-arms of Premier Zhou who was unfortunately killed by Kuomintang reactionaries in 1927. His mother, Ren Rui, joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1925 and went to Yan'an in 1938 to engage in revolutionary work. Sun Weishi's elder brother, Sun Yang, also served as secretary to Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and later as vice president of the Chinese People's University. Sun Weishi, who grew up in such a revolutionary family environment, received a good education and was nurtured by revolutionary ideas from an early age. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, she actively participated in the anti-Japanese salvation drama team, and was later sent to Yan'an Kang University for further study, and went to the Soviet Union to study, and graduated from Moscow Eastern University and the acting department and directing department of the Moscow Drama Academy. In 1946, Sun Weishi returned to China after completing his studies and joined the China Youth Art Theater, where he quickly made a name for himself in the theater industry with his solid professional knowledge and unique artistic insights.
There have always been many controversies and speculations about the relationship between Jin Shan and Sun Weishi. Many sources and articles claim that Jin Shan fell in love with Sun Weishi when he was rehearsing "Paul Kochakin", and even accused Sun Weishi of interfering in Jin Shan's marriage. However, Ms. Zhang Ying, a good friend of Sun Weishi and the editor of "Drama Daily", made it clear when recalling her relationship with Sun Weishi and Jin Shan that Sun Weishi fell in love with him after Jin Shan and Zhang Ruifang divorced. Sun Weishi, as the adopted daughter of Premier Zhou, has a strict family education, and it is impossible to do anything to destroy other people's marriages. Moreover, with the personality and character of Premier Zhou and Deng Yingchao, if he knew that Sun Weishi had done something wrong, he would definitely not forgive her. Zhang Ying's reminiscences, published in the 4th issue of Zongheng magazine in 2007, provide a more objective perspective on this period of history.
In June 1950, Jin Shan and Zhang Ruifang went through divorce procedures. On October 14 of the same year, Jin Shan and Sun Weishi remarried in Beijing. Sun Weishi was unable to have children due to physical reasons, but deep down she was full of love and desire for children. In order to fulfill his wife's dream of being a mother, Jin Shan and Sun Weishi adopted a baby girl named Sun Xiaolan. At that time, Sun Xiaolan was just 21 months old, and was taken home by the Jinshan couple, and since then she has become a part of the family. Although Sun Xiaolan is not related to the Jinshan couple, under their careful care and love, a deep bond has been established between the two generations. After Sun Xiaolan went to elementary school, although she found her biological parents, she still chose to live with Jinshan and Sun Weishi, and this family bond was touching.
However, fate does not seem to intend to spare Jin Shan and Sun Weishi. Accompanied by their adopted daughter Sun Xiaolan, their originally peaceful life was broken again. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Period, Jin Shan went to the front line to give a condolence performance, where he met a Korean female secretary and fell into emotional entanglements. When Sun Weishi learned of this, he suffered great pain and torment in his heart. Although Jin Shan eventually broke up with the female secretary, his actions were punished. At this difficult time, many people persuaded Sun Weishi to choose divorce, but she loved Jinshan deeply, and after inner struggle and painful choices, she finally chose to forgive. Under the nourishment of Sun Xiaolan, Jin Shan also deeply realized his mistakes and worked hard to repair the emotional rift between him and Sun Weishi, and the husband and wife gradually reconciled as before, and the family regained the warmth and happiness of the past.
If it weren't for the arrival of a special era, maybe Jin Shan and Sun Weishi would have been able to grow old together and continue to write their love legend. However, the torrent of history swept inexorably and completely changed their fate. In 1967, Sun Weishi's elder brother Sun Yang was brutally persecuted for his participation in the writing of "The Biography of Zhu De". The book was beaten into a poisonous weed, and Sun Yang was imprisoned in the dark, damp basement of the Chinese People's University, where he eventually died tragically in September of the same year. One late night in the winter of the same year, a group of people suddenly broke into Jinshan's home and forcibly took him away, and since then he has lost his freedom and his whereabouts are unknown.
The sudden disappearance of her husband made Sun Weishi anxious, and she asked people everywhere to inquire about Jinshan's news, but she never found anything. It turned out that Jin Shan was being held in a prison on the outskirts of Beijing, a cramped cell measuring only 6 square meters. There was no bed inside, and in winter, Jin Shan could only sleep on cold straw mats. There was no sunlight in the cell all day long, and he was not allowed to turn over when he slept, so he could only lie on his side facing the door, and the living conditions were extremely harsh, causing him great physical and mental damage.
In the middle of the night on March 1, 1968, Sun Weishi could not escape his fate and was taken away. Some people tried to frame Premier Zhou and forced Sun Weishi to write about Premier Zhou's black materials, but Sun Weishi adhered to his principles and bottom line and waged a-for-tat struggle with the other party. However, she was beaten and tortured even more brutally as a result. Sun Weishi was originally in good health and had never been sick, but under the double torture of mental and physical torture, her body gradually collapsed. On October 14, 1968, this talented, strong and courageous woman died tragically in prison at the age of 47. Sadly, until after her death, the handcuffs were still tightly handcuffed on her hands, and her body was covered with bruises, as if telling the darkness and cruelty of that era.
At this time, Jin Shan was locked in prison, completely isolated from the outside world, and he didn't know what happened to his wife Sun Weishi. In 1975, after seven years of incarceration, Jinshan finally stepped out of that high wall. However, at this time, he has long since lost his former demeanor, and he is just in his early 60s, but he looks like an old man in his 70s, old and withered. As a result of sleeping with his face outwards for a long time, his left ear was crushed, and he suffered severe physical and mental damage. When he returned home full of anticipation, only to learn that his wife had been dead for more than 7 years, this cruel reality made his spirit collapse instantly, and he could only sit in front of his wife's portrait every day, silently crying, recalling the bits and pieces of their past, and his heart was full of endless grief and remorse.
At this darkest moment in life, Sun Weishi's sister Sun Xinshi entered the life of Jinshan. Born in Guangzhou in 1926, Sun Xinshi was 15 years younger than Jin Shan, and was raised by her uncle Huang Zhixuan and aunt Ren Fukun. Sun Xinshi studied Soviet literature at Leningrad University in the Soviet Union and married her boyfriend Li Zongchang in the Soviet Union in the 50s. In 1957, after returning to China with her husband, she joined the Russian Department of Peking University as a teacher. The death of her sister Sun Weishi also made Sun Xinshi suffer great grief, she came to visit her brother-in-law Jin Shan many times, and in the process of mutual comfort and support, the relationship between the two gradually changed, and finally fell in love.
In 1976, 65-year-old Jin Shan and 50-year-old Sun Xinshi remarried in Beijing. Perhaps it is the power of love, after marriage, Jin Shan seems to have regained his youthful vitality, and his physical condition and mental state have improved significantly. He and Sun Xinshi cared for each other, respected each other, and understood each other, and spent a peaceful and happy time together. Jinshan's adopted daughter Sun Xiaolan also often comes to visit them, and the family is happy, and the wounds that were once torn by fate seem to be slowly healing.
In 1978, Jin Shan became the President of the Central Academy of Drama and continued to contribute to the cause of drama education in China. In the same year, he directed the drama "In a Silent Place", which caused a huge social repercussion, once again showing his outstanding directing talent. However, the tricks of fate did not stop. At 18:30 on July 6, 1982, Jin Shan came home from work for dinner and suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at the dinner table. Sun Xinshi hurriedly called an ambulance, but due to various reasons, after Jin Shan was sent to the hospital, he was not able to be sent to the ward in time because of the lack of rank. Sun Xinshi was anxious, tearfully looking for a relationship, and the relevant leaders also successively called the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Health and other departments to coordinate, but in the end, because of the delay of more than 3 hours of precious rescue time, Jin Shan died at 4 o'clock in the morning on July 7, 1982, at the age of 71.
The fate of Jinshan's first girlfriend, Wang Ying, is also full of pathos. She was unable to have a child of her own due to physical reasons, and in the special era, she also suffered cruel persecution, was imprisoned, severely damaged physically, and finally paralyzed. On March 3, 1974, Wang Ying passed away unjustly, and her 59th birthday was 5 days away.
Jin Shan's ex-wife Zhang Ruifang, after divorcing Jin Shan, married Yan Li, and the two adopted a son and lived a new life. However, in the special era, Zhang Ruifang was not spared, suffered unfair treatment, was deprived of the right to act, and his acting career fell into a trough. It was not until the end of the special era that Zhang Ruifang ushered in the second spring of his career, starring in films such as "The River Flows", "Spring Dingdong", "Roar, Yellow River", "84.85 Years of T Province", once again showed his style on the screen and made important contributions to the development of the Chinese film industry. On June 28, 2012, at the age of 94, Zhang Ruifang passed away in Shanghai, ending her legendary and bumpy life.
Jin Shan's life and marriage are full of too many ups and downs and twists and turns, his ex-girlfriend Wang Ying, ex-wife Zhang Ruifang, and deceased wife Sun Weishi, their fates are also sad and embarrassing. This is not only a personal tragedy, but also the pain caused by that special era. Their stories let us see the insignificance and fragility of individual destiny in the torrent of history, and also make us cherish today's hard-won peace and happy life even more.