Ai Xia was a Chinese left-wing silent film actress and screenwriter. She was born to a large middle-class family. She attended university. After graduating, she fell in love with her cousin and had a child. Her family disapproved of the relationship, resulting in her lover leaving. In 1928, she was in an arranged marriage but, as a personal protest, left home for Shanghai to pursue a career in film. Ai Xia was one of only two female screenwriters during the "Left-Wing" movement in Chinese film. She committed suicide in 1934, the first Chinese actor to have done so. Her suicide inspired Cai Chu Sheng's classic film New Women starring Ruan Ling Yu, who also killed herself soon after the release of the film.
(Source: Wikipedia)
