Biography

He was a Chinese playwright, drama and film director, screenwriter, and film theorist.

Chen was abandoned as an infant, and then lost both foster parents during early childhood.

Before becoming a film director, Chen worked mainly in drama. His patriotic play Put Down Your Whip was highly influential and performed countless times during the Japanese invasion of China.

In 2008, Chen Liting's biography by Xia Yu, titled Far Away Love after his film, was published by China Film Publishing House (ISBN 9787106029890). He was awarded a prize by Chinese President Hu Jintao for making "exceptional contributions to the art of drama".

In late 1931, he wrote the patriotic play Put Down Your Whip (also translated as Lay Down Your Whip), inspired by Meiniang, an earlier play by Tian Han. It became extremely influential and was staged countless times throughout China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The play was staged both by amateur performers as well as famous actors. The actress Wang Ying even performed an English version of the play in the White House for President Roosevelt and his wife. The future Madame Mao, then known as Li Yunhe, was also among its many performers. The play has been described in Chinese media as a "spiritual atomic bomb" against Japanese invaders. It also inspired famous paintings by artists Xu Beihong and Situ Qiao.