A funeral for Xie Jin, a well-known Chinese director whose movies have won
popularity among generations, was held yesterday afternoon in Shanghai.
More than 10,000 people, including film stars and ordinary citizens from
across the country, came to the Longhua Funeral Hometo mourn for the filmmaker
who died on October 18 in Shangyu, easternZhejiang Province.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and other top Chinese leaders also expressed
their mourning for Xie in different ways.
Xie, born in 1923, died of an illness in the early hours on Oct. 18 in his
hotel room in Shangyu. He was there attending the 100th anniversary of his
middle school.
Xie, who made his film directing debut in 1957 with the acclaimed "Woman
Basketball Player No. 5," went on to create other popular features such as "The
Red Detachment of Women," "The Herdsman," "Legend of Tianyun Mountain," "The
Opium War" and "Hibiscus Town." He was active in directing until 2001 with his
last film "Woman Soccer Player No. 9."
The Herdsman, shown in 1982, registered a record 150 million spectators.
Three times his films won the Golden Rooster, a top award in the Chinese film
industry.
"Xie Jin is irreplaceable! The Chinese film industry dims with the departure
of him," said Professor Zheng Dongtian of Beijing Film Academy.
