Chiung Yao

Chen Che was born in Chengdu, China, on 20 April 1938. She experienced an unstable childhood due to the Second Sino-Japanese War. Her father, , came from a humble background in Hengyang, while her mother, Yuan Hsing-shu, belonged to an upper-class family with roots in Suzhou and Shanghai; her grandfather was the head of the Bank of Communications. Yuan fell in love with Chen Chih-ping, who was her Chinese teacher, and the two defied social norms and married. In 1949, her family relocated to Taipei, Taiwan. Compared to many of her peers who grew up in post-war Taiwan's poverty, Chiung Yao enjoyed a relatively privileged upbringing. At the age of 14, she published a short story under the pen name Lü Gui. In 1954, she adopted the pen name Xin Ru and published another story. The two planned to marry after being admitted to university, but their relationship ended due to opposition from her parents. Ma worked at Taiwan Aluminium Corporation in Kaohsiung, where the couple settled after their wedding. In addition to his day job, Ma was a part-time writer. The couple had one son, Chen Chung-wei. ==Career (1964–2013)==

Novelist In 1962, Chiung Yao published several short and medium-length stories in Crown magazine. She then rewrote her high school teacher-student romance into the novel ''Outside the Window. Initially rejected by multiple publishers due to its length, it was eventually accepted for publication by Ping Hsin-tao's Crown magazine. In July 1963, Chiung Yao's semi-autobiographical love story Outside the Window was serialised in Crown magazine, achieving significant success. It was later released as a standalone book. Writer Chi-chi recalled an incident where she visited Chiung Yao's home, and a servant opened the door to find Chiung Yao coming downstairs with bed linens, claiming they were "poisoned" and announcing her intent to divorce Ma Sen-ching. After 1964, Chiung Yao published six bestsellers, including Fire and Rain, Six Dreams, and Many Enchanting Nights. Chiung Yao's novels and their adaptations sparked a "Chiung Yao fever" in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Four Loves was successful both critically and commercially, while The Silent Wife achieved even greater success, becoming a bestseller in Hong Kong. However, Chiung Yao was occasionally dissatisfied with Li Hsing's adaptations. For example, in The Silent Wife, Chiung Yao envisioned the heroine as a "child bride", but Li Hsing insisted on portraying her as a cousin, deviating from the original narrative. Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong purchased the film rights to her works. Among these, My Dream Boat became the second-highest-grossing Mandarin-language film in Hong Kong that year. After leaving Shaw Brothers, Hong Kong director Li Han-hsiang founded Grand Motion Pictures in Taiwan, where he extensively adapted Chiung Yao's novels for the screen. His film Many Enchanting Nights earned actress Chiang Ching the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress for her role as the protagonist. Brigitte Lin, who had failed her university entrance exams, was discovered by director Sung Tsun-Shou from the Outside the Window production team. This marked her entry into the entertainment industry. However, due to copyright disputes, the film was ultimately unable to be released in Taiwan. Superstar Motion Picture Unsatisfied with Shaw Brothers' adaptation of The Purple Shell, In 1976, Ping Hsin-tao asked his wife Lin Wan-chen for a divorce. That same year, Chiung Yao co-founded Superstar Motion Picture to adapt her novels into films, In 1979, Jiang Ren, the inspiration for the male lead in Outside the Window, died, and Chiung Yao married Ping. Songs were often performed by Fong Fei-fei, with music composed by . The films, set in dining rooms and cafes, were nicknamed "". However, their formulaic nature led to diminishing appeal. Romantic comedies In 1998, My Fair Princess marked a significant departure from Chiung Yao's trademark melodramatic style, introducing a light-hearted and comedic tone. This series is "regarded as one of the most popular Chinese-language drama shows of all time". However, it received mixed reviews, with some viewers labelling it a "cringeworthy drama". Afterward, Chiung Yao gradually withdrew from the entertainment industry. ==Final years (2014–2024)==

Copyright lawsuit 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 Palace 3: The Lost Daughter, which she alleged to have been plagiarized from her 1992 novel '''' (梅花烙). Yu denied the claim. On 28 April, Chiung Yao filed a plagiarism lawsuit against Yu. On 12 December 109 Chinese screenwriters published a joint statement supporting Chiung Yao. A day later, an additional 30 Chinese screenwriters made their support of Chiung Yao known. On 25 December, the court ruled in Chiung Yao's favour, 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". Family disputes In 1959, Chiung Yao married Ma Sen-ching (), also a writer. After she became famous and began to outshine her husband, their marriage broke down and ended in divorce in 1964. In 1979, 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. Thereafter, she became a supporter of voluntary euthanasia, as expressed in her open letter published in March 2017. Ping died on 23 May 2019, at the age of 92. Advocacy for Han Kuo-yu and Chiung Yao at a banquetShe refrained from expressing political opinions until 2018 when Kuomintang candidate Han Kuo-yu won the Kaohsiung mayoral election. Following his victory, Chiung Yao published an open letter praising him and later accepted an invitation to serve as the chief consultant for Kaohsiung's Love Industry Chain project. In 2020, upon learning of Han's presidential campaign, she once again expressed strong support, referring to him as a "hero" in her writings. After Han's defeat in the election, she posted a message stating: "Though the people may shed tears, the hero remains unyielding. After the heart-wrenching pain, may the scars heal". ==Death==

On 4 December 2024, Chiung Yao was found dead at her home in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, after an apparent charcoal-burning suicide, and left behind a note. Her son stated that he had asked her secretary to check on her around midday. Upon entering the house, the secretary discovered that Chiung Yao had no vital signs and immediately called emergency services. When paramedics arrived, they confirmed she had died and did not transport her to the hospital. Local police confirmed that there was no external intervention in her death. She died at the age of 86. In her suicide note, she described her death as "flitting away", and wrote, "I have truly lived, never wasted my life". Later that afternoon, her secretary posted a pre-recorded video and her final written work, When Snowflakes Fall, on Chiung Yao's Facebook page. In her final social media message, she expressed a desire to avoid the pain of "weakness, deterioration, illness, hospital visits, treatment, and lingering suffering". However, she also urged younger generations not to give up on life easily. Many actors who had starred in her works, such as Zhao Wei, expressed their condolences online. Her death also sparked discussions in Taiwan about euthanasia. On 5 December, Chiung Yao's family announced on Facebook that, as per her last will, no public commemorations would be held, in order to avoid using public resources. Chinese dissident Wang Dan expressed disapproval of Chiung Yao's later political stance but urged respect for others' choices to mourn or not mourn her death. He emphasised that "not everything in this world needs to be measured by political correctness". ==Reception==

Chiung Yao's romance novels were very well received in Taiwan, and by the 1990s, she was also one of the best-selling authors in China. 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 that is part of her earlier works, and the literary allusions of their titles. and long-winded dialogues. ==Personal life==

Family Chiung Yao's second husband was Ping Hsin-tao, the head of Crown Publishing, with whom she had an eight-year extramarital affair before their marriage. In her will, she explicitly requested that no religious practices be used to commemorate her - such as setting up a mourning hall, burning joss paper, or holding traditional rituals like the "seven-day rites". Instead, she expressed a preference for an eco-friendly flower burial. She emphasized that death was a deeply personal matter and should not impose a burden on others. ==Publications==