Ching Gang was born on 4 April 1924, with ancestral roots in Shouxian, Anhui. Separated from his family at thirteen and forced to leave school in Primary Three, he worked as a library doorman, joined a touring company staging anti-Japanese plays during the war, entered a Chongqing theatre troupe at eighteen, and later studied art and design in Shanghai. Moving to Hong Kong in 1949, he worked as a screenwriter and directed his first film, 'A Mother's Heart', in 1951. He wrote dozens of scripts for Shaw and Sons and other studios, including films for Li Han-hsiang. In 1967 he joined Shaw Brothers and directed the Mandarin film 'The Sword of Swords' (1968); its commercial success made him one of Shaw's top directors. His 1970 film 'The Twelve Gold Medallions' won Best Feature at the 9th Golden Horse Awards in 1971, and his 1972 epic 'The 14 Amazons', adapted from a Gao Yang novel and filmed over about two years, won both Best Director and an Honourable Mention for Drama at the 11th Golden Horse Awards in 1973. Beyond epics he also worked in crime and gambling pictures, directing the 'Body in the Stove' episode of 'The Criminals' (1976) and a 1974 film based on a notorious kidnapping case. He left Shaw in 1980 and worked in Taiwan as a production planner, mentoring director Kevin Chu; his last directorial work was a gambling picture in 1992. His sons Tony Ching Siu-tung and Ching Siu-lung both work in film.
At Shaw Brothers, Ching Gang specialised in sensational and epic productions; 'The 14 Amazons' deployed a huge cast and set, becoming a landmark of early-1970s large-scale Hong Kong filmmaking. After moving to Taiwan he mentored Kevin Chu, playing a real role in passing on commercial filmmaking between Taiwan and Hong Kong. His son Tony Ching Siu-tung later became one of Hong Kong's foremost action choreographers, so two generations of the family left their mark on local action cinema.
Achievements
- 1951 · Directed his first film, 'A Mother's Heart'
- 1967 · Directed the Mandarin film 'The Sword' at Shaw Brothers, becoming one of its leading directors
- 1971 · 'The Twelve Gold Medallions' won Best Feature at the 9th Golden Horse Awards
- 1973 · Won Best Director at the 11th Golden Horse Awards for 'The 14 Amazons'
- 1980 · Left Shaw Brothers for Taiwan, mentoring director Kevin Chu
- 1992 · Directed his last film, 'Gambling Soul' (1992)