Yip Yut-fong, born Ye Xinqing, had roots in Ningbo and moved to Shanghai as a child, where he developed an early passion for writing. From 1929 he worked in newspaper and magazine editorial offices, meeting people in the film industry, and began writing film criticism under the pen name Yip Yut-fong. At nineteen he joined Yihua Film Company in a publicity role. After the war with Japan broke out he left, served in an eastern-front support corps, and later joined the China Film Studio. He moved to Hong Kong in 1938, returned briefly to Shanghai and rejoined Yihua, beginning his screenwriting career with The Assassination of the King of Qin (1940), followed by works such as A Witty Match (1940) and The Red Butterfly (1941). Refusing to serve the Japanese-run China United studio, he left film and ran a small business. After the war he returned to publicity, then founded New Era Film Company, whose Where the Orioles Sing (1947) was a hit, and later Wuhua Film Company. Barred by political persecution, he was allowed to move to Hong Kong in 1956 and joined Feng Huang in 1958 at Zhu Shilin's invitation, also serving as publicity chief at Great Wall and writing under the pen name Yi Fang. He moved to Shaw Brothers in 1967, writing until 1973, covering martial-arts, comedy and romance films. He also directed and wrote lyrics, his song for a 1948 spy film becoming a well-known number sung by Bai Guang. He settled in Thailand with his son and died in August 2002.
Bridging the Shanghai and Hong Kong phases of Chinese cinema, Yip Yut-fong wrote scripts and lyrics and excelled in publicity and production, one of the few talents fluent across creation and distribution. The lyric he wrote for a 1948 spy film became a signature number for Bai Guang. After the 1950s he carried Shanghai screenwriting experience to Hong Kong, supplying Feng Huang, Great Wall and Shaw Brothers and sustaining the exchange between northern and southern filmmakers.
Achievements
- 1940 · Began his screenwriting career with The Assassination of the King of Qin (1940), followed by A Witty Match and other scripts.
- 1947 · Founded New Era Film Company and produced the hit Where the Orioles Sing (1947).
- 1958 · Joined Feng Huang Motion Picture Co. in 1958 at Zhu Shilin's invitation, co-writing such films as The Precious Little Moon, while heading publicity at Great Wall.