Famed Chinese film director Xie Jin died early on Saturday at 84 in the eastern Zhejiang Province.

A hotel waiter in Shangyu City found Xie in his room at around 7:40 a.m. and discovered he had stopped breathing, according to the publicity department of the city's Communist Party committee.

The cause of death remained unclear.

Born in November 1923, he was a native of Shangyu in Zhejiang. He arrived in the city on Friday evening to attend the 100th anniversary of the founding of his alma mater -- Chunhui Middle School.

Xie, who made his film directing debut in 1957 with the acclaimed "Woman Basketball Player No. 5," went on to create other popular features such as "The Red Detachment of Women," "The Herdsman," "Legend of Tianyun Mountain," "The Opium War" and "Hibiscus Town." He was active in directing until 2001 with his last film "Woman Soccer Player No. 9."

The Herdsman, shown in 1982, registered a record 150 million spectators. Three times his films won the Golden Rooster, a top award in the Chinese film industry.

"Xie Jin is irreplaceable! The Chinese film industry dims with the departure of him," said Prof. Zheng Dongtian of Beijing Film Academy.

Almost every film directed by Xie was iconic during different periods since 1950s, remarked writer Zhang Xianliang

"Xie devoted himself to movie. The most valuable thing to me is that he insisted focusing on human nature and relationships, no matter the changes of time," Zhang said. Xie won respect from his true love for the nation, his career and friends.

Zhang said he took on some taboo subjects, which he became famous for, in early 1980s when China was still recovering from the Cultural Revolution with the support of Xie at that time.

Huang Shuqin, a famous woman director and once worked as Xie's deputy, said film was holy thing for Xie who used it to reflect the character of the nation.

A Communist Party member, Xie once served the country's top political advisory body.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2008)