Raised in Xinjiang province, in the uppermost north-west corner of China. His high-school education, like many others, was interrupted in 1966 with the start of the Cultural Revolution. He then joined the army as an ordinary soldier. For a while he would work for the Urumqi People's Theatre, from 1974 on. He enrolled to the directors' course at Beijing Film Academy in 1978 and was hence a 'Fifth Generation' Graduate in 1982. Was sent to work at Guangxi Film Studio, where alongside Zhang Yimou, Xiao Feng and He Qun, he set up a 'Youth Film Unit' and made the film The One and the Eight.
After his debut film however, he moved on to making more commercially minded films. He was effectively then the first of the young 'fifth generation' graduates to turn to more commercial box-office oriented filmmaking. His films after The One and the Eight included a football film (Come On, China!), the bandit movie The Lonely Murderer, and a psycho-thriller (Arc Light), none of which gained anywhere near the same critical acclaim or influence. He also made some TV dramas.
References:
Interview with him in Perspectives on Chinese Cinema, 130-3.
Brief profile in Perspectives on Chinese Cinema, 200.
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