Hsiao Yen-Chiu

Hsiao Yen-Chiu (Chinese: 小艷秋, born 19 August 1933) is a Taiwanese theater and film actress. She began her career at age 17 with Riyue Yuan Theater Troupe and later worked in the film industry. Her first film, Lady Peach Blossom Crosses the River, was released in 1956. In 1957, she appeared in the Taiwanese film The Mad Woman's 18 Years, her performance earning her Silver in the audience's choice award for the top ten film stars at that year's Taiwanese-dialect film festival.^[1]

Hsiao retired from acting in 1959 after her marriage to Dr. Zhu Bao-Lou.^[1]

Hsiao Yen-Chiu was born on 19 August 1933, in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. She was adopted as a newborn by the Jian family and named Jian Xiuchou.^[1]

At 17 years old, Hsiao joined the Riyue Yuan Theatre Troupe. She studied under director Cheng Cheng-Hsiung. Before long, she became a Leading Lady and was later promoted to principal artist of the theatre troupe. Around this time, she adopted her stage name Hsiao Yen-Chiu.^[1]

Her stage name was gifted by an admirer, inspired by the Peking opera star Cheng Yanqiu. In her autobiography, she reflected:

"I wear stage makeup like armor, confronting life while burying that pitiful adopted girl beneath countless roles. Jian Xiu-Chou’s fate was never hers to choose—but now, I am Hsiao Yen-Chiu, the leading lady of Sun and Moon Garden!"

In 1956, director Guo Bailin cast Hsiao Yen-Chiu in Lady Peach Blossom Crosses the River, marking her transition from theater to film. This was followed by roles in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong productions, including Amoy films.

Before moving to Hong Kong, Hsiao Yen-Chiu was cast in Bai Ke's The Mad Woman's 18 Years, produced by Du Yun-Zhi. The film was based on a China Times report about a woman with a mental illness who had been confined in a temple for 18 years.^[2]

In 1957, Hsiao Yen-Chiu went to Hong Kong and signed a contract with Minsheng Film Company. She co-starred with actress Jiang Fan in Two Sisters in a Turbulent World and director Chen Huanwen's Xue Mei Si Jun. Before Ling Bo became well-known, she played Hsiao Yen-Chiu's son in the latter film. After returning from Hong Kong, Hsiao Yen-Chiu starred in two Taiwanese films that year: Strange Story of Crematory, directed by Liang Zhe-Fu, and Seaside Breeze, directed by Tian Chen.

In 1957, Hsiao Yen-Chiu won the fan-voted "Top Ten Silver Star Award" at the inaugural Taiyu Pian Film Festival for her performance in Mad Woman. The same year, she was voted the most popular actress in a Cinema Weekly readers' poll.

The following year (1958), she starred alongside Shih Chun in Alan, directed by Iwasawa Yotoku. She then made her Mandarin-language film debut in He Huan Shan Shan under director Pan Lei. Afterwards, she returned to Hong Kong to work with the Hong Kong Overseas Chinese Film Industry Company, where she appeared in three Amoy-dialect films: Love and Money, Love's Temptation, and The Love Between a Human and a Ghost.

Upon returning to Taiwan, she took on a leading role in the country’s first martial arts film, Luo Xiao-Hu and Yu Jia-Long, directed by Liang Zhe-Fu.

Hsiao Yen-Chiu met her husband, Dr. Zhu Bao-Luo, while filming in Taichung in 1959.^[3] Following their marriage, she retired from acting. Her autobiography, Hsiao Yen-Chiu’s Memoirs: The Top Female Lead of Taiwanese Cinema, was published in 2021. It covers her career, personal life, and Christian faith.^[4]