An earlier article about the 1920s silent film star Ding Ziming 丁子明 indulged in a bit of speculation concerning the possible reasons for her early retirement from the screen.   We recently came across some old Chinese movie magazines, one from 1938 and one from 1942, which may clear up the mystery:  apparently, marriage was the reason, but it was not a happy ending.  Both articles have been translated and archived in our "Publications--Classic Era" category. 
    A few observations:  while the history of classic Chinese cinema is rife with sad tales of actresses being used and abused by powerful men (e.g. Ruan Lingyu, Zhang Zhiyun, Zhou Xuan, etc.), Ding Ziming's is a rare instance of the opposite, the actress who had the means, the strength of character (and, it seems, the family connections) to show him the door.  Also, while reading the articles may leave the impression that Ding was rather cold-hearted in her treatment of her husband when he pleaded for a reconciliation, keep in mind that he had actually abandoned his family for fully four years, and may have been involved with another woman during that time.  Anyway, the reader can draw his or her own conclusions.  One certainty is that Ding Ziming, like her contemporary Wang Hanlun, was a very strong woman, and the fact Ding and Wang both had considerably longer lives than their exploited sisters may well have been related to that strength.