The two sides of a legend

Passion

Born in 1922, four years earlier than Marilyn Monroe, Qin is the second daughter in a traditional Chinese family in Shanghai. Her uncle, the alpha male of the clan who Qin, her parents and siblings resided with, had married nine wives. Because of the uncle's conservative parenting methods, Qin was not allowed to wear short-sleeved or sleeveless attire and she always had her socks on even during unbearably hot days.

In 1938, she dropped out of nursing school and fled to Chongqing alone when the war against Japan took place in Shanghai. She explained in an interview with a Chinese newspaper that the reason she ran away from home was to escape from her family rather than the war.

In Chongqing, Qin was discovered by two directors who put her on stage to perform for Chinese soldiers and members of the public.

"I have always wanted to be a part (of the fighting force)," said Qin at the salon, recalling how she had volunteered to help wounded soldiers at the frontline in Shanghai during her days at nursing school.

"I was so passionate and naive that I stood in front of a window at a warehouse as bullets flew right past me. A veteran then pulled me away."