"The male has Bruce Lee, and the female has Zhou Caiqin."
Zhou Caiqin, who deserves such praise, is the "godmother" of all Asian actors and the first Chinese lead actor to appear on the West End stage in London.
At the age of 20, her name sounded throughout Britain and conquered countless audiences;
At the age of 40, he experienced bankruptcy, moving, displacement, and mental abnormality under the heavy blows.
In this life, she went from "Asian light" to "psychopathic maniac", experienced an ill-fated fate, and finally returned to Hollywood.
Even if it was ravaged by the times, it never gave in, slipped out of the fingers of fate again and again, and lived brilliantly.
How did she do it?
She is the child of a "cat", but has the temperament of a "leopard"
Zhou Caiqin's father is the "Peking Opera Master" Zhou Xinfang. During her father's performance, she croaked in the theater box.
Mother Qiu Lilin was originally a young lady of Qianjin, and her ten fingers did not touch the spring water of the yang, but after marriage, in addition to taking care of Zhou Caiqin, she also had to take care of her other 5 children.
When Jolilyn eloped with Zhou Xinfang when she was young, she brought two things from home: a bag of jewelry and a pistol.
jewelry, left for children; Pistol, keep it to yourself.
In that turbulent era, Julilyn was fierce and brave, and whenever her husband's rights and interests were threatened, she did not fear to pull out a gun;
At the same time, he is also sober and rational, and no matter how poor he is, he will not give his husband jewelry, so as to force him to struggle.
Julilyn is a "ruthless character" who has never been tamed in love, rough like a wild animal, and even sends her children abroad to survive savagely.
Zhou Xinfang described her: like a mother cat, she took the kittens away one by one.
Perhaps under the influence of her mother, Zhou Caiqin was not born to be a person who would be tripped up by feelings. Just turned 18 years old, he wore a watch sent by his mother and a book sent by his father to England, becoming the first Chinese to enter the Royal Academy of Drama.
She confided in the biographical film that studying abroad did not go well.
Since she is Chinese, only one meter five, male classmates often talk to her frivolously, and every time she does not flinch, but drops a sentence in a full breath: fuck off (Get out!) ）
The school teacher looked down on her, pointed to her nose and said, "There is no place for you here." She is also undaunted, thinking that sooner or later she will get ahead.
Soon after, the opportunity came: Zhou Caiqin starred in the stage play "Su Si Huang's World" became popular overnight, and women followed her appearance, and for a time the streets were full of "Su Si Huang" wearing cheongsam and long hair.
The most attractive thing about Zhou Caiqin is that compared with the forbearance and repression of traditional Chinese women, she has more flamboyant wildness.
On the screen, she dares to express her strength; In life, she does not let herself suffer; When performing on stage, she will never allow the audience to disturb her.
Once, when a female audience member was chatting during Zhou Caiqin's performance, she immediately stopped the performance and told her: "Please stop talking." ”
Later, the audience's husband came to thank her: "We have been married for more than 20 years, and we have not been able to shut her up, you are the first person who can make her shut up!" ”
Even if she works alone abroad, Zhou Caiqin's self is stretched, and she does not suppress herself because of anyone or anything, which is exactly the same as Qiu Lilin.
Li Shaohong, director of "Dream of the Red Mansion", said: "Zhou Caiqin is a cat when she closes her eyes, and a female leopard when she opens her eyes. ”
The background color of the "mother leopard" makes her go further and further professionally.
But in marriage, such a character was rejected by the husband.
Two marriages ended, and she was swept into a torrent of misery
In her early 20s, Zhou Caiqin entered marriage.
Her husband, a traditional Chinese, was attracted by Zhou Caiqin's unusual temperament, but after marriage, he ordered her: "Don't show your face" stay at home with her husband and godson"...
"Being a good wife and mother, what is the meaning of such a life?" Zhou Caiqin refused to be a "canary", and almost without any hesitation, she chose to divorce.
Her ex-husband left for Singapore, and she left her son alone in the UK.
The life of a single mother is full of problems: the landlord refuses to rent her house, she cannot find a suitable job with her children, she is discriminated against by those around her...
Fortunately, Zhou Caiqin's light was not cut by suffering. In the most difficult moments, she still devoted herself to acting, which fascinated the whole Hollywood for her.
She participated in the 007 series of action films and became the first Chinese "Bond girl";
He also starred in the TV series "Object of Struggle", and was nominated for Best TV Actor in the UK.
Returning to the stage from the family, Zhou Caiqin let everyone see: she is still the "mother leopard", no matter how hard it is, she must run forward.
Zhou Caiqin once said: "To be a good actor, you must understand your own skills and work hard for this moment of acting. ”
However, all glory fell in 1970.
That year, Britain fell into an economic crisis, and all of Zhou Caiqin's deposits went bankrupt because they were mortgaged to the bank, and bankruptcy was cleared.
The house was gone, the money was gone, the house leaked overnight with rain, and my mother died the same year.
Zhou Caiqin lost her spiritual pillar and became a penniless poor bastard, impulsively swallowed medicine to commit suicide, and after her friend saved her life, she was sent to a mental hospital.
There, everyone wanted her to be tame and obedient. But even if it fell here, the rough, powerful, and wild power in Zhou Caiqin's heart did not disappear.
She actively looked for a way out, returned to the motherland where she had been absent for many years, and went to work in her brother's restaurant, but his brother asked her to "do everything with my permission."
Zhou Caiqin does not like to be arranged by others, and she does not like to bow to reality. She worked steadily in the kitchen full of oil and smoke, but she thought about what her mother said:
"Although the trunk is cut, the big tree cannot die."
So she returned to Boston and looked for an opportunity to return to the stage—the tree in her heart.
"Not to be tamed" is the key to her destiny
At this time, Zhou Caiqin was nearly 40 years old, and wrinkles and poverty made her no longer beautiful.
Wearing a three-dollar coat and a half plastic boots, she was a dusty servant and made a living as a typist and librarian.
The peak of her career is gone, and the golden age of actress is over, so it stands to reason that she should accept her fate.
However, Zhou Caiqin's desire to return to the stage became stronger and stronger, and the more she couldn't find a way out, the more she had to learn things desperately.
She saved up the money she earned from her part-time job to attend Tufts University's graduate school in drama, and after graduation worked as an acting in a drama club. The crew is poor, but she won a full house with her acting skills.
A certain time to perform in prison, facing a group of murderers, she is not humble, arrogant, full of strength, conquered this group of prisoners, and also created a small peak in her acting career.
After surviving the trough and returning to the stage, Zhou Caiqin had the idea of returning to her roots.
In the first half of her life, she lived tenaciously in order to survive roughly, and now she is beginning to envision a softer way of living - she wants to be a teacher.
In 1981, Zhou Caiqin returned to China, and the domestic environment was more friendly to her than abroad.
She entered Chinese opera and became one of the first "overseas experts" to return to China to teach. So, we see a scene like this:
Wearing jeans and a red coat, Zhou Caiqin was not afraid of being pointed out by others, and sat calmly on the ground to lecture the students.
Chinese students have never seen such a casual teacher, but she has pioneered a new way of speaking, filling the gap in Chinese opera and Western drama methods, and is deeply loved by students.
For the next generation, Zhou Caiqin has taught her everything, but she is still "running".
In 1993, Zhou Caiqin, who was more than half a hundred years old, returned to Hollywood and starred in the first movie starring Asians in Hollywood history "The Joy Luck Club".
She plays a powerful Chinese woman in the play, subverting foreigners' perceptions of Chinese women. So far, this movie is a masterpiece in the eyes of the Chinese.
Later, she starred in "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Grey's Anatomy", "Shocking Bandits"...
Some people say: Zhou Caiqin has "made a comeback".
But those who know her well will know that Zhou Caiqin has never declined. Whether it is the peak, the trough or the recovery, she always adheres to her original intention: even if she is ravaged by life, she will never stop growing.
It is precisely because of this that she has managed a wonderful life.
Today, Zhou Caiqin, who is nearly 90 years old, is still active on the big screen. Fading the sharpness and sharpness of her youth, the years have given her wisdom and calmness in life.
"Life is just a walking shadow, a man who points his fingers on the stage, and disappears silently and smelllessly for a moment on the stage." This is a line from Shakespeare that Zhou Caiqin likes very much.
In the past, her "wildness" was defense and self-defense; Now, she has experienced the impermanence and shortness of life, and this "wildness" has become a sense of awe and self-blooming.
I wonder if you found it? Many times, we are influenced by secular culture, listen to the judgment of others, and live in our minds and rules.
Grow up on time, get married on time, have children on time, be a good wife and mother, dare not overstep a little, but often ignore their real needs.
Freud once divided the structure of personality into three parts: id, ego and superego. The ego follows the principle of happiness and is always waiting to release the original motivation of the body.
Psychologist Winnicott believes that the primordial wildness of the id is the most precious part of the living individual.
It is our fangs to protect ourselves in the face of danger, and it is also the capital to retreat when we encounter a trough, and it has a strong upward force.
Zhou Caiqin, who always puts "self" first, is a "rebel" in the eyes of the world,
But it is precisely because of this bravery that she has firmly grasped every piece of driftwood that saved her in the ocean of ups and downs of life, and lived a wonderful life.
Principal Zhang Guimei once inspired the students of the girls' school:
"I was born a mountain and not a stream, and I want to look down on the mediocre ravines from the top of the peaks; I was born a hero rather than a straw, and I stand on the shoulders of great men and despise lowly cowards. ”
Please never be tamed by suffering or temptation, when you fully believe in yourself, love yourself, and have the power not to be tamed, even if the future is full of green mountains and oceans, you sway your boat and enjoy the scenery of life.
*This article is co-created by the author and Zhang Defen Space Chief Writing Group, if you need to reprint, please contact the authorization.
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