Li Bingbing's Latest Magazine Shoot Accused Of "Insulting" China

Chinese actress Li Bingbing has found herself in the crosshairs of Chinese netizens after pictures of her latest shoot for Marie Claire China were released online.

In the pictures, Bingbing poses with a dragon motif projected on the wall behind her.

According to reports, the dragon motif was directly lifted from the 1931 American film, Daughter of the Dragon.

The film stared Asian-American actress Anna May Wong as the “villainous Dragon Lady . The role was a common trope for Asian actors in Hollywood at that time, where they were often reduced to playing racist caricatures.

Netizens were furious with the inclusion of the motif, which they viewed as a reminder of how Hollywood “insulted China”.

Netizens called the work insulting and ignorant and accused the mag of not possessing any knowledge of the cultural implications of such shoots .

The editor of Marie Claire China, as well as the photographer have since apologised, with the latter saying sorry for not fully researching the origins of the dragon motif in question.

The magazine also announced that they will not be using the photo in their print edition.

While Bingbing has not addressed the controversy, her fans have rallied behind her and said the blame should be on the magazine instead.

Anna May Wong is largely regarded as Hollywood’s first Asian-American movie star, appearing in 50 films both domestically and abroad from 1919 to 1960. She was also the first Chinese American lead in an American TV series with 1951's The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong.

Anna May was a staunch advocate for the rights of Chinese-American citizens. Throughout her career, she was repeatedly passed over for lead roles in favour of white actresses even when the character was Asian.

She died from a heart attack on February 3, 1961.

Photos: Sinchew Daily, Marie Claire/Weibo, Li Bingbing/Weibo