Chiung Yao facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chiung Yao
Native name	瓊瑤
Born	Chen Che (1938-04-20)20 April 1938 Chengdu, Sichuan, Republic of China
Died	4 December 2024(2024-12-04) (aged 86) Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Occupation	novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and producer
Language	Chinese
Nationality	Republic of China
Education	Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School
Period	1962–2024
Subject	Romance
Notable work	Outside the Window Fire and Rain (1964 novel) My Fair Princess (1998–99 TV series)
Spouse	Ma Senqing ​ ​ (m. 1959; div. 1964)​ Ping Hsin-tao ​ ​ (m. 1979; his death 2019)​
Children	1 son, 3 stepchildren
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	瓊瑤
Simplified Chinese	琼瑶
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qióng Yáo Wade–Giles Ch'iung2 Yao2
Chen Che
Traditional Chinese	陳喆
Simplified Chinese	陈喆
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chén Zhé Wade–Giles Ch'ên2 Chê2

Chiung Yao or Qiong Yao (Chinese: 瓊瑤; 20 April 1938 - 4 December 2024) was the pen name of Chen Che (陳喆), a Taiwanese writer and producer who was often regarded as the most popular romance novelist in the Chinese-speaking world. Her novels have been adapted into more than 100 films and TV dramas.

Early life

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 (陳致平) and mother Yuan Xingshu (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 (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 escaped death several times.

In 1949, her family moved to Taiwan, where Chen attended the Affiliated Experimental Elementary School of University of Taipei (臺北師範學校附屬小學, now 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.

Career

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.

Chiung Yao's novels were first serialized in the Crown Magazine owned by Ping Hsin-tao (平鑫濤) 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. 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 and long-winded dialogues. Chiung Yao's readership and viewership are predominantly female, owing to her emphasis on the feelings of young women.

Personal life

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.

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.

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. Ping died on 23 May 2019, at the age of 92.

Death

Chiung Yao died on 4 December 2024 at her residence in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. She was 86.

List of works