Pao Hsueh-li

Pao Hsueh-li (born 1936) is a Hong Kong cinematographer and director, a native of Jiangsu born in Nanjing. He moved to Taiwan in 1949 and, while still at secondary school, worked part-time in the film-processing laboratory of Taiwan Motion Picture Studio; after graduating he stayed on as an assistant cinematographer for six years and then spent three years shooting Taiwanese-dialect films at Lucky Star. In 1966, when the director Lo Chen went to Taiwan for location work on Too Late for Love (1967), Pao assisted him and won his recognition, and the following year he came to Hong Kong to join Shaw Brothers. He began there as a cinematographer for films by Lo Chen, Griffin Yue Feng and Chang Cheh, among them Chang's Golden Swallow (1968). Encouraged by Chang and Yue, he turned to direction in 1970, making his debut with the horror action film Finger of Doom (released 1972) and then Oath of Death (1971). He directed more than ten features for Shaws, six of them co-directed with Chang Cheh, including The Boxer from Shantung and Man of Iron (both 1972); his tales of valour also include the co-directed The Water Margin and Delightful Forest (1972), The Pirate and Iron Bodyguard (1973), plus The Shadow Boxer (1974), The Imposter (1975) and The Battle Wizard (1977). Leaving Shaws in 1977, he returned to Taiwan to make martial-arts films for several companies. His wife Chin Shu-mei was a Shaw Brothers screenwriter, and the couple later founded Yu Fung Film Company in Taiwan, producing The Heroic One and Night of the Assassins (both 1981).