He Ping (director)

He Ping (7 May 1957 – 10 January 2023) was a Chinese film director, screenwriter, and producer born in Shanxi whose main filmography consists of a hybrid genre of Western-wuxia movies. He made three movies along this genre - Swordsmen in Double Flag Town (1991), Sun Valley (1995) and Warriors of Heaven and Earth (2004).

Personal life and background
He Ping's mother, Yuan Yuehua (袁月华), was an accomplished director and the female lead in Bridge (1949), the first feature film produced after the founding of the People's Republic of China. He Ping's father, He Wenjin (何文今), was the deputy director of Beijing Film Studio and the director of Beijing Science and Educational Film Studio. He was an ethnic Manchu whose ancestors were members of the Blue Banners.

He Ping died in Beijing, China on 10 January 2023, at the age of 65.

Biography
He Ping began his directorial career in the 1980s, directing stage productions and documentary films. By the late 1980s, He transferred to the Xi'an Film Studio, where he began directing fiction films, including We Are the World and Kawashima Yoshiko a film based on the story of the Manchurian-Japanese princess, Kawashima Yoshiko. In the 1990s, He directed two major Chinese Westerns, Swordsmen in Double Flag Town and Sun Valley, and the historical drama Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker. Swordsmen in Double Flag Town went on to win the Grand Prize at the 3rd Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in February 1992. Sun Valley was entered into the 46th Berlin International Film Festival where it won an Honourable Mention.

In the 2000s, He Ping struck success with his 2004 adventure film Warriors of Heaven and Earth, starring Jiang Wen. He Ping followed this with another historical action film, Wheat, starring Fan Bingbing, which was released in 2009. In 2015, he directed the film The Promised Land, which received an honorable mention from the Platform jury at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

In addition to being a director, He Ping produced numerous feature films such as The Dream Factory, Big Shot's Funeral, and Kekexili: Mountain Patrol. He also was one of the founding members and the Secretary-general of the China Film Directors' Guild.