Ai Xia was born Yan Yinan (Chinese: 严以南) on November 29, 1912 in Tianjin[1] to a large middle-class family.

[3] In 1928, she was in an arranged marriage but, as a personal protest, left home for Shanghai to pursue a career in film.

[4][5] Ai Xia started her career as a stage actor with the South China Theater Society (Nanguo jushe), founded by Tian Han, before joining the Leftists Dramatists League (Zuoyi juzuojia lianmeng).

It stars actress Ruan Lingyu who also committed suicide shortly after the film's release in 1935.

It is speculated that director Cai Chusheng may have been romantically involved with Ai and thus, made the film for personal reasons.