The actress universally recognized as the great tragedienne of China's silent film era is the legendary Ruan Lingyu. But before Ruan came to prominence at the end of the 1920s, the actress most noted for her tragic roles was Ding Ziming丁子明. During a surprisingly brief movie career, only 7 years, Ding Ziming made 18 motion pictures, usually with top billing. She was very popular with Chinese filmgoers, ranking in late-1920s box office appeal with Wang Hanlun and Zhang Zhiyun. In spite of this, she retired unexpectedly from the screen in 1931, walking away at the age of 24. Compared with other top Chinese stars of the silent era, remarkably little is known about her personally, and almost nothing about her post-cinematic life. The key to the enigma may be found in her personality: Chinese film fans and the entertainment press loved to nickname their favorites, and Ding Ziming was dubbed the "bei dan" 悲旦, literally meaning a sorrowful or melancholy girl ("dan" referring to female characters in Beijing opera). To quote the old folk song, a "bei dan" could be called a "maid of constant sorrow." The term had a double meaning in this case, applying to both the majority of Ding's film roles as well as her outlook on life.
Ding Ziming was born in 1907 in Wuxing, Zhejiang, and raised in Suzhou. After completing middle school, she moved with her parents to Shanghai. Contemporary descriptions say she was a very bright and taciturn girl, without a trace of pride or arrogance. She apparently had little social life outside the family home, a solitary young person who devoted most of her time to reading and study. However, after the family move to Shanghai she became fascinated by movies, and began attending them regularly. Each time she came home from one, she would spend the rest of the day meditating on what she had just seen, wearing an expression of deep concern.
So when in 1924 the newly-founded Shenzhou Motion Picture Company announced it was recruiting actresses, it stunned her family and friends that this brooding and somewhat reclusive young woman applied, and upon acceptance plunged headlong into the new and romantic industry. Her explanation was she was not seeking fame or gain; rather, she saw film as an art form she might use to express her till-now suppressed resentment about the evils permeating Chinese society. In other words, Ding Ziming was a reformer, her motivation similar to that of writer-director Zheng Zhengqiu.
Her screen debut was the female lead in the Shenzhou studio's first film, 1925's "Unbearable Memories" (Bukan Huishou 不堪回首), a debut not only for Ding but for the studio, the director, and several other cast members. Ding later secured her fame in the Shenzhou studio's "Disaster for Younger Sister," and her popularity grew with "A Beauty of 16" and "Love and Gold."
[left, Ding Ziming early in her career]
But even after Ding Ziming became famous, she remained a solitary figure and ever more reclusive. She had none of the trappings of a "star," no attendance at premieres, never seen at the most popular Shanghai night spots, in fact her contacts with the outside world grew less frequent as her popularity increased. At those times she was not in a scene, she would spend her time by herself in a nearby shed (the equivalent of today's trailer), studying her part. When the day's shooting was completed, she would never hang around, leaving by herself and returning alone the next day. She always dressed neatly but simply, never pursuing the latest fashions as did many of the leading actresses of the day. Contemporary critics praised her acting style as natural and unaffected, but the reason for this may have been that she wasn't acting: her portrayals of tragic heroines may have just reflected her own unhappy personality. [right, Ding Ziming around 1930] 
After retiring from motion pictures, Ding Ziming disappeared almost completely. Following the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, she was listed as working for the Shanghai Artists Association, and in a 1953 movie which cast several retired and semi-retired filmmakers in small roles, she had one of these. Little more is recorded until the announcement of her death in 1997, age 90.
[Update: an earlier version of this article expressed some puzzlement concerning her early retirement from the screen. We recently came across some old Chinese movie magazines, one from 1938 and one from 1942, which may clear up the mystery: apparently, marriage was the reason, but it was not a happy ending. Both articles have been translated and archived in our "Publications--Classic Era" category. Neither article specifies why she did not continue acting after marriage; while actresses who married wealthy businessmen usually retired from the screen, those whose husbands were also in the film industry often continued their own careers. So it was probably her own decision.]
A few observations: while the history of classic Chinese cinema is rife with sad tales of actresses being used and abused by the men in their lives (e.g. Ruan Lingyu, Zhang Zhiyun, Zhou Xuan, etc.), Ding Ziming's is a rare instance of the opposite, the actress who had the means, the strength of character (and, it seems, the family connections) to show him the door. Also, while reading the articles may leave the impression that Ding was rather cold-hearted in her treatment of her husband when he pleaded for a reconciliation, keep in mind that he had actually abandoned his family for fully four years, and may have been involved with another woman during that time. Anyway, the reader can draw his or her own conclusions. One certainty is that Ding Ziming, like her contemporary Wang Hanlun, was a very strong woman, and the fact Ding and Wang both had considerably longer lives than their exploited sisters may well have been related to that strength.
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Filmography (all as actress):
1925:
Unbearable Memories ... He Suyun
There's a Full Moon Tonight (aka Conjugal Bliss) ... Zhang Suzhen
1926:
Pearl Tower ... Caiping
Disaster for Younger Sister ... He Ailian
Those Horrible Days ... Zeng Shuzhen
Wedding Day ...
A Moral Obligation ... Wang Shuhui)
Love and Gold ... Chen Lianzhen
1927:
Tablet of Blood and Tears ... Liang Sizhen
Bachelor Secretary [aka Miss Wei's Profession] ... Wei Shuzhen
A Beauty of 16 ... Laibao
1928:
Kick [aka Classmates Romance] ... Wu Ke
Swordswoman Rescues a Lady ... Bu Keren
Swordswoman in Black ... Liu Meihua
Luoyang Bridge ... Guan Shiyin
1929:
Done With one Heart ...
1931:
Heartaches ... Lin's wife
Striving ...
1953:
Textile Song ... Mrs. Ma
