Li Han-hsiang

Li Han-hsiang (1926-1996) was a pioneer of Huangmei Opera and period films. He joined Shaw’s in 1954, and in 1957, being inspired by Huangmei Opera of the Mainland, he persuaded Shaw’s to invest in the making of the color period film, Diau Charn (1958), into which Huangmei Opera singing was incorporated. Subsequently, he made The Kingdom and the Beauty (1959) and The Love Eterne (1963). Both films broke the box office record of Hong Kong film history, and therefore pushed the tidal wave of Huangmei Opera movies to its peak. In the early 1970s, Li Han-hsiang moved back to Hong Kong from Taiwan, and made The Warlord (1972), which brought him to another peak of his career. In 1975, he made the period films The Empress Dowager (1975) and The Last Tempest (1976). All in all, he created different waves of films in different eras for Shaw’s.