Film director Zhang Yimou was born on November 14, 1951, in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.

After being sent down to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, he worked as a farmer for three years and then in a factory for seven years. After graduating from the cinematography department of the Beijing Film Academy in 1982, he joined the Guangxi Film Production Company. When "Yellow Earth," for which he served as cinematographer, was released in 1984, it won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Cinematography. In 1987, he played the lead role in "The Old Well," directed by the director of the academy, Wu Tianming, and won the Best Actor Award at the 2nd Tokyo International Film Festival.

Zhang's breakthrough film, "Red Sorghum," released in 1987, was highly acclaimed both at home and abroad, and its vibrant, beautifully colored images, dominated by red, received high praise both at home and abroad, winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Along with his subsequent films, Dream of Red and Shanghai Rouge, these films were known as the "Red Trilogy," and quickly made Chan's name known throughout the film industry. His 1992 film, The Tale of Qiu Ju, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The leading role of Qiu Ju was played by Gong Li, who had starred in Chan's films since the Red Sorghum era, and she won the festival's Best Actress award. However, the couple's close relationship, both public and private, ended in 1995. He continued to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994 for The One Who Lives, and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1999 for Searching for the Child. In 2000, he directed the opera Turandot. Around this time, Chan also began to film martial arts films, and in 2002, he won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin Film Festival for Hero. In 2005, he starred in Solo: A Thousand Miles. ' was released, and Takakura Ken starred in the lead role, which became a big topic in Japan as well.

He was appointed chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2014, he announced that he would be moving into Hollywood, and is scheduled to start filming the sci-fi mystery 'The Great Wall'.

In his personal life, he has been married twice and has three children with his current wife. However, this was deemed to be in violation of the one-child policy, and he was ordered to pay a fine of over 100 million yen.