Li Ling-Ai

Li Ling-Ai (李靈愛, also Gladys) (May 19, 1908 – October 2003) was a noted Chinese-American film producer, born in Hawaii, the sixth of nine children. Both her parents were first-generation Chinese immigrants who became doctors in Hawaii. Father Li Khai-Fai was a physiologist. Her mother Kong Tai Heong was an obstetrician.

Li Ling-Ai at the Honolulu airport June 7, 1950

She attended Punahou School and graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1930.[1]

Life in China and return to the United States

Prior to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, she lived in China, studying Chinese music and directing theatre productions at the Beijing Institute of Fine Arts. Forced to leave China during the war, she returned to the United States and created theatre productions for the American Bureau of Medical Aid to China Fund Raising Program. She joined the board of directors of the Sun Chung Kwock Bo newspaper. Relocating to New York, she was a member of the Nationalities Program of the National Federation of Republican Women.[2]

Kukan

She was a co-producer and sponsor of the documentary Kukan (1941), an account of how China's people endured the Second Sino-Japanese War.[3] The documentary credits her as "technical advisor".[4] The meaning of kukan (苦幹), according to Li, is "heroic courage under bitter suffering," a feeling that reflects the sentiment of "persevering against all odds," a sense of sticking to something in hardship to overcoming the hardship. In addition to her producing work, Ling-Ai was a confidante for Ripley's Believe It Or Not, a dancer, a relief worker, and a theater director.[1][4]

The documentary Finding Kukan (2016) is about her.[5][6] In this documentary Kelly Hu voices Ling-Ai as a young woman.[7]

References
  1. "'Lost' movie Kukan brings home horror of Japanese occupation - Chinadaily.com.cn". Wap.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  2. Xian Liu, Miles (2002). Asian American Playwrights: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 185–188. ISBN 0-313-31455-1.
  3. "Li Ling Ai". Images of Old Hawaiʻi. 12 November 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  4. Allison Griner. "Finding Kukan and a piece of Chinese-American history | China". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  5. "Local Documentary Reveals Story of Lost Oscar-Winning Film in "Finding Kukan" - Honolulu Magazine - November 2016 - Hawaii". Honolulu Magazine. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  6. "Community Works to Fill Wikipedia's Asian-American, Pacific Islander Gaps". Nbcnews.com. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  7. "Chinese resistance film rediscovered - USA - Chinadaily.com.cn". Usa.chinadaily.com.cn. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
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