Sun Weishi
| Sun Weishi | |
|---|---|
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| Native name | 孙维世 |
| Born | 1921 Nanxi County, Sichuan |
| Died | 15 October 1968 (aged 47) Beijing |
| Cause of death | Unlawful imprisonment (executed by Jiang Qing) |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Other names | Li Lin 李琳 |
| Alma mater | Moscow Sun Yat-sen University |
| Occupation | Writer, director, actor |
| Notable work | How Steel is Made; The Inspector General; Little Rabbit; Uncle Vanya; Joys and Sorrows; Peach Flower Fan; Portrait of One Hundred Clowns; The Hatred of Black Slaves; The Rising Sun |
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Jin Shan |
| Parent(s) | (1885-1927) Ren Rui |
| Relatives | Sun Yang (brother) Sun Mingshi (brother) Sun Xingshi (sister) Zhou Enlai (adopted father) Deng Yingchao (adopted mother) |
| Sun Weishi | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 孫維世 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 孙维世 | ||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Sūn Wéishì |
Sun Weishi (1921 – October 15, 1968) was the first female director of modern spoken drama (Huaju) in Chinese history. 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. During World War II, Sun lived in Moscow, studying theatre. 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 theatre. 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 Theatre, and married one of the most famous actors then in China the same year. Over the next several years Sun staged a number of 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 Theatre, and staged a number of critically well-received plays over the next decade.
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 while visiting Zhou Enlai in Beijing in 1968. 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. 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. After studying abroad in the Soviet Union, Sun Bingwen returned to China in 1924 and joined the faculty of Whampoa Academy. Sun Bingwen was executed when the relationship between the KMT and CCP deteriorated in 1927, during the White Terror.
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