Jiang Wenli

Jiang Wenli is an eminent actress and director from China. She was born on 20th June 1969 in Bengbu, China. Her mother and father worked as railroad telephone operator and railroad engineer respectively. She is the youngest of three daughters. At the age of 5, she went to learn gymnastics, but her build did not match that of a standard gymnast, so she was taken as an informal member. She joined Water Conservation Secondary School at the age of 17. In 1986, she got graduated and started to work with Bengbu City Water Corporation. Being dissatisfied with her life, she moved to Beijing in 1988 and joined the Beijing Film Academy. She graduated in 1992. During the course, she was offered some roles by many film companies. She debuted with ‘Lily on Cliff’ TV series where she played the role of a nursery school teacher. The show won Feitian TV Award that year. She was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ award. She debuted into the film industry with ‘Li Li Yuan Shang Cao’ as Shuixiu. The movie won accolade at the French Film Festival. She moved to America after college. After some time, she moved back to China and continued her acting career. She acted in Miaomiao Liu’s Who You Think You Are. She played a notable role of the mother of Chengyi in the film ‘Farewell My Concubine’, the ‘Best Movie Award’ winner at Cannes Film Festival in 1993.

She won the highest honours of Chinese TV, ‘Best Actress’ from Golden Eagle Awards & Feitian TV Awards for the series Lead By The Hand, in 1999. She won the Best Actress Award at Huabiao Film Awards for the movie Team Spirit in 2000. Her role in the film The Treatment (2001) was very much appreciated. She began acting in ‘When Happiness Knocks’ TV series which became hugely popular. She acted in several TV series. In ‘Xing Fu Lai Qiao Men’ (2011), she was seen as ‘Jiang Lu’. In Jin Hun (2007), she was seen as ‘Wen Li’. In Yu Qing Shao (2005), she played the title role of Yu Qing Shao. In Emergency Line (2000), she was seen as ‘Li Jing’. In Da Di Zi Zi (1994), she played the role of ‘Jiang Yue Mei’. In ‘Shen He Yuan’ (1993), she was seen as Mei Li. In ‘Xuan Ya Bai He’ (1989), she played the role of ‘Teacher Su Shan’. Her movies include The Left Ear (2015), Lost Indulgence (2008), A Mysterious Couple (1991). In the film And the Spring Comes (2008), Jiang played the role of ‘Wang Cai Ling’. It had a premier at 2007 Rome Film Festival, and she won the Best Actress Award. In The Gua Sha Treatment (2000), the film about the cultural conflicts experienced by a Chinese family in the USA, Jiang played the role of ‘Jian Ning’. In Mr. Zhao (1997), she played the role of ‘Lin Cao’. In Cat's Eye (1997), a Japanese film directed by Kaizo Hayashi, she played the role of a ‘Chinese Princess’.

In 1997, she won Flying Sky Television Award for Best Actress (Qian Shou). She won twice, Huabiao Film Award for Outstanding Actress (Nu Shuai Nan Bing - 1999 & Taiwan Story - 2004). In 2007, she won Best Actress (And The Spring Comes) at Rome International Film Festival. In 2008, she won Golden Eagle Award for Best Actress (Golden Marriage). In 2009, she won Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress (And the Spring Comes). She also won Best Actress Awards at 28th Flying Sky Television Award & Spring Internet TV Festival for ‘Xing Fu Lai Qiao Men’ in 2011. She made her directorial debut with the award-winning movie ‘Let’s meet in the Heaven’ which comprises of her own experiences with her grandfather. It is soulful and touching tribute to him. Talking about her love for her grandfather, she said, “Grandfather and me, one ninety, one seven to eight years old. At the end of the 1970s, he took care of me, I was at his side during his last days. Life sprouted like a little tree. The old man kept cutting off the excessive branches so that she stands sturdily. She married the well-known director and cinematographer Gu Changwei in 1993. She has a son and a daughter.