Yin Mingzhu

Yin Mingzhu (; born Yin Shangxian ; 1904 – 1989), also known as Pearl Ing, was a Chinese actress. Mingzhu was most famous for her role as an actress but was also an investor and production coordinator specifically during her time off camera in the 1930s. She was the mother of beauty contest winner and actress Judy Dan.

Early life and education She was born Yin Shangxian in 1904 in Wujiang, now part of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province of China. She moved to Shanghai at a young age. Mingzhu came from a distinguished family as her father was a well known painter and members of her family from the past three generations had been members of the Hanlin Academy, an academy known for being prestigious within academics and administration. As Mingzhu and Duyu started to establish a work relationship, the pair fell in love, despite Mingzhu being married to a Frenchman.

Career Mingzhu began her career as an actress in the silent film era when she met Duyu. In 1921, Mingzhu joined Duyu's Shanghai Shadow Play Company, where she starred in Duyu's Sea Oath. Reviews for Sea Oath praised Mingzhu for her performance as a first time actress. However, Mingzhu's career was in danger of ending after the publicity Sea Oath as her mother forbid her from making any more films.

Aside from her work as an actress, Mingzhu is also known for her work as an investor and production coordinator. During the three-year period that her mother forbid her from acting, Mingzhu became an investor by investing in the Shanghai Shadow Play Company. When bankruptcy threatened the future of the production company after the failure of Imperial Concubinebine of Yang, Mingzhu invested her own personal savings into the company to save it. In 1932, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Shanghai Shadow Play Company was destroyed. Both Mingzhu and Duyu were out of work until 1934 when Mingzhu invested in and set up the Shanghai Talkie Company for her husband.

In addition to her work as an investor, Mingzhu worked as a production coordinator for films made under both the Shanghai Shadow Play Company and the Shanghai Talkie Company, specifically during her pregnancies when she was not acting. Her knowledge obtained about the film industry from her work as an actress and investor coupled with her English skills helped her in her role of a production coordinator as she was able to connect with various groups and individuals on and off the film set.

Filmography Note: in most early Chinese films, there often were no official English translations, leading to a sometimes confusing lack of consistency in titles. Filmography from