| Chiung Yao | |
| Birth Name: | Chen Che |
| Birth Date: | 20 April 1938 |
| Birth Place: | Chengdu, Sichuan, Republic of China |
| Occupation: | novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and producer |
| Language: | Chinese |
| Nationality: | Taiwanese |
| Subject: | Romance |
| Period: | 1962–present |
| Education: | high school |
| Children: | 1 son, 3 stepchildren |
Chiung Yao or Qiong Yao (; born 20 April 1938) is the pen name of Chen Che, a Taiwanese writer and producer who is often regarded as the most popular romance novelist in the Chinese-speaking world.[1] Her novels have been adapted into more than 100 films and TV dramas.[2]
Chen Che and her twin younger brother were born in 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War in Chengdu, Sichuan, to parents who had fled Beijing which had fallen to Japanese troops in 1937. Both her father Chen Zhiping (Chinese: 陳致平) and mother Yuan Xingshu (Chinese: 袁行恕) were highly educated (Yuan's cousins include Yuan Xiaoyuan, Yuan Jing and Yuan Xingpei). In 1942, the family moved to Chen Zhiping's hometown of Hengyang, Hunan to join Chen Che's grandfather Chen Moxi (Chinese: 陳墨西). In 1944, following the fall of Hengyang, they survived an arduous journey to the wartime capital of Chongqing, during which they narrowly escaping death and rape several times.
In 1949, her family moved to Taiwan, where Chen attended the Affiliated Experimental Elementary School of University of Taipei (Chinese: 臺北師範學校附屬小學, now Chinese: 國立臺北教育大學附設實驗國民小學) and Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School. After failing the university entrance examination three times, she married writer Ma Senqing and became a housewife.[3]
When she was 18, Chiung Yao fell in love with her high school Chinese teacher. This experience became the basis of her debut novel Outside the Window, which became one of her most popular works and launched her career as a writer.[4]
Chiung Yao's novels were first serialized in the Crown Magazine owned by Ping Hsin-tao and then published as monographs by Crown Publishing, also owned by Ping, who later became her second husband. The couple adapted many of her novels into television series and films, often serving as producers or screenwriters themselves. Film adaptations in the 1970s often featured Brigitte Lin, Joan Lin, Charlie Chin and/or Chin Han, who were then collectively known as the "Two Lins and Two Chins".
Her romance novels were very well received in Taiwan, and by the 1990s she was also one of the best-selling authors on mainland China.[5] She has since been enormously popular throughout the Chinese-speaking world. Her biggest sellers are Outside the Window and Deep Is the Courtyard (1969), which have been repeatedly reprinted.
Her novels have been praised for the prose, the poetry which are part of her earlier works, and the literary allusions of their titles. They are often described as "morbid", as some of them feature socially-questionable romantic relationships (e.g. between teacher and student). Her romance novels and their film adaptions have been criticized for their melodramatic plotlines[6] [7] and long-winded dialogues.[8] Chiung Yao's readership and viewership are predominantly female, owing to her emphasis on the feelings of young women.[9]
In 1959, Chiung Yao married Ma Senqing (馬森慶), also a writer. After she became famous and began to outshine her husband, their marriage broke down and ended in divorce in 1964.[10]
In 1979, Chiung Yao married her publisher Ping Hsin-tao, who had had three children with his first wife Lin Wan-zhen. In 2018, Lin published a memoir in which she accused Chiung Yao of breaking up her marriage.[11]
After Ping suffered a stroke and lost nearly all ability to communicate, Chiung Yao had a falling out with her step-children over whether to continue his intubation.[12] Ping died on 23 May 2019, at the age of 92.[13]
On 15 April 2014, Chiung Yao accused Chinese screenwriter and producer Yu Zheng of blatant plagiarism, seeking immediate suspension of the broadcast of his TV series , which she alleged to have plagiarized from her 1992 novel (梅花烙). Yu denied the claim. On April 28, Chiung Yao filed a plagiarism lawsuit against Yu.[14] On December 12, 109 Chinese screenwriters published a joint statement supporting Chiung Yao.[15] A day later, an additional 30 Chinese screenwriters made their support of Chiung Yao known.[16]
On 25 December, the court ruled in Chiung Yao's favor, ordering four companies to stop distributing and broadcasting The Palace: The Lost Daughter, also demanding Yu Zheng to publicly apologize and pay Chiung Yao RMB 5 million (around $800,000) in compensation. China Radio International called it a "landmark ruling".[17] [18]
| Year | Chinese Title | English Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 情人谷 | Lover's Dale[19] | Translated into English by Tommy Lee | |
| 1963 | 窗外 | Outside the Window | ||
| 1964 | 煙雨濛濛 | Misty Rain | Translated into English by Mark Wilfer and released as Fire and Rain. Also known as Romance in the Rain. | |
| 菟絲花 | ||||
| 幾度夕陽紅 | ||||
| 潮聲 | ||||
| 1965 | 船 | |||
| 1966 | 六個夢
| Six Dreams
| Six Dreams is an anthology of six short stories. Wan-Chun's Three Loves was initially released as a novellette in 1965, then later collected into Six Dreams. | |
| 紫貝殼 | ||||
| 寒煙翠 | Mist Over Dream Lake | |||
| 月滿西樓 | ||||
| 1967 | 翦翦風 | |||
| 1968 | 彩雲飛 | Flying Rosy Clouds | Released as The Young Ones | |
| 1969 | 庭院深深 | The Deep Garden and Courtyard | Also released as Deep Garden | |
| 星河 | Starry River | |||
| 1971 | 水靈 | |||
| 白狐 | White Fox | |||
| 1972 | 海鷗飛處 | |||
| 心有千千結 | The Heart has a Million Knots | |||
| 1973 | 一簾幽夢 | Dream Curtain | Also known as Dream Link | |
| 浪花 | ||||
| 1974 | 碧雲天 | |||
| 女朋友 | Girlfriend | |||
| 1975 | 在水一方 | One Side of the Water | Also known as The Unforgettable Character | |
| 秋歌 | ||||
| 1976 | 人在天涯 | |||
| 我是一片雲 | ||||
| 月朦朧鳥朦朧 | ||||
| 雁兒在林梢 | The Wild Goose on the Wing | |||
| 1977 | 一顆紅豆 | |||
| 1978 | 彩霞滿天 | |||
| 金盞花 | ||||
| 1979 | 夢的衣裳 | Clothing of Dreams | Released as My Cape of Many Dreams | |
| 聚散兩依依 | ||||
| 1980 | 卻上心頭 | |||
| 問斜陽 | ||||
| 1981 | 燃燒吧！火鳥 | Burning Firebird | ||
| 昨夜之燈 | ||||
| 1982 | 匆匆，太匆匆 | |||
| 1983 | 失火的天堂 | |||
| 1985 | 冰兒 | |||
| 1984 | 不曾失落的日子·童年 | Escape from Heng Yang[20] | Translated into English by Eugene Lo Wei | |
| 1988 | 剪不斷的鄉愁－瓊瑤大陸行 | |||
| 1990 | 雪珂 | Xue Ke (lit. Snow Jade) | ||
| 望夫崖 | Wang Fu Cliff (lit. The "Awaiting Husband" Cliff) | |||
| 1992 | 青青河邊草 | Green Green Grass By The River | ||
| 梅花烙 | ||||
| 1993 | 水雲間 | Between The Water and Cloud | ||
| 鬼丈夫 | Ghost Husband | |||
| 1994 | 新月格格 | Princess Xinyue (lit. Princess New-Moon) | ||
| 煙鎖重樓 | Smoke Amongst The Floor | |||
| 1997 | 還珠格格 | Princess Pearl | Also known as My Fair Princess and Princess Returning Pearl | |
| 1998 | 蒼天有淚 | Tears In Heaven | ||
| 1999 | 還珠格格第二部 | Princess Pearl Part 2 | ||
| 2003 | 還珠格格第三部之天上人間 | Princess Pearl Part 3: Heaven and Earth |