[1] Born in Shanghai in 1889, Zheng Zhengqiu was a young intellectual involved in China's theater scene when he and his friend and colleague, Zhang Shichuan, made the first Chinese feature film, a short film titled, The Difficult Couple in 1913.

While with Mingxing, Zheng served not only as screenwriter and director, but as a studio manager and producer, personally writing and directing 53 films before his early death in 1935.

[1] Like many of his colleagues during the period, Zheng was devoted to leftist causes and social justice, themes that were evident in many of his works.

[2] After his partner, Zhang Shichuan, rescued Xuan Jinglin from a brothel, Zheng Zhengqiu devised her stage name.

He based it on the name she had adopted in the brothel and a transliteration of Lillian Gish into Chinese said in a Shanghai accent.