The name Zhu Xijuan may not be familiar to everyone, but when it comes to the movie "Red Detachment of Women", I believe many people know it.
Zhu Xijuan is the actor of "Wu Qionghua" in "Red Women's Army". With this role, in 1962, Zhu Xijuan won the first "Hundred Flowers Award" Best Actress Award.
Zhu Xijuan has acted in many movies and dramas, and is also the first host of Shenzhen TV. His husband, Hou Fengmin, is an art teacher, the two have been married for 58 years, have a son and a daughter, and the couple have a good relationship and deep affection.
Is there any reason for these two people who have successful careers and complete children, but chose to live in a nursing home in their later years?
Selected by Zhao Dan
In 1938, Zhu Xijuan was born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, to an intellectual family. She is the youngest daughter in the family and has been loved by her parents since she was a child.
When Zhu Xijuan was 3 years old, the war spread to her hometown in Jiangxi, and Zhu Xijuan followed her family to live in Sichuan.
Zhu Xijuan's father was the principal of a high-class industrial school at the time. In 1944, Zhu Xijuan was sent by her parents to study in a private primary school in Sichuan.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhu Xijuan and her family moved to Shanghai.
Influenced by her father, Zhu Xijuan has liked reading since she was a child, especially reasoning books. She also enjoys participating in science and technology events organized by the school.
When she was a child, Zhu Xijuan dreamed of becoming a teacher like her father when she grew up.
When Zhu Xijuan was in middle school, a teacher surnamed Zhu came to her class.
Mr. Zhu is very accomplished in literature, and the lectures are lively and interesting, and the students like him very much. He also organized a small "rehearsal troupe" to teach students to perform.
In the "rehearsal group", Zhu Xijuan gradually emerged. Due to her good acting skills, she was also appointed as the captain of the first crew.
In 1952, Changchun Film Studio prepared to make the movie "Blessing for Children", and the director was Zhao Dan.
In order to find suitable actors, Zhao Dan ran all over the country in middle schools, and the beautiful eyebrows of Zhu Xijuan were favored by Zhao Dan.
Although Zhu Xijuan only plays a small role in this movie, this experience opens the door to a new world.
Participated in "Red Detachment of Women"
Zhu Xijuan practiced acting while studying cultural knowledge. After graduating from high school, she was successfully admitted to the Shanghai Theater Academy.
At that time, there were many outstanding masters of the Shanghai Theater Academy, such as Mei Lanfang, Chen Baichen, Huang Zuolin and so on.
Under the guidance of her predecessors, Zhu Xijuan's acting skills improved by leaps and bounds, and she soon became the best in her class, and the teachers called her "the only girl".
In 1959, Xie Jin prepared to put Liang Xin's script "Qiongdao Hero Flower" on the screen and renamed it "Red Women's Army".
The start of filming is getting closer and closer, but the actor of "Wu Qionghua" in the film has not had a suitable candidate. Xie Jin was very anxious and began to look around for actresses.
On this day, Xie Jin came to the Shanghai Theater Academy to look for actors. As he passed by the dressing room, he saw two students, a man and a woman, arguing loudly.
The schoolgirl was very emotional, and her "hot eyes" were full of anger. Xie Jin's eyes lit up: Isn't this the "Wu Qionghua" in the film?
After several twists and turns, Zhu Xijuan entered the crew of "Red Women's Army".
In order to get closer to the heroes of the past, Zhu Xijuan followed the actors to experience military life, and in the barracks, Zhu Xijuan learned a lot of things that were not in the classroom.
The calluses on Zhu Xijuan's hands were worn layer by layer, and in order to act well, she also cut off her beloved long hair.
In 1961, "Red Detachment of Women" was released in major cities across the country.
As soon as the film was broadcast, it caused widespread repercussions throughout the country, and in the 60s without the Internet, "Red Detachment of Women" was viewed as many as 600 million times, which is unique.
Zhu Xijuan also became the first "Hundred Flowers Award" Best Actress winner in New China with the role of "Wu Qionghua".
At the award ceremony, Guo Moruo specially inscribed a poem for her interpretation of "Qionghua":
In and out of the dead into the life and shabby cage, Hainan Island is the east wind.
Poured with heroic blood, a qiong flower is extraordinarily red.
Happy marriage
After that, Zhu Xijuan participated in many dramas and movies, and for her outstanding performance, she was named "22 Chinese Film Stars" by the Ministry of Culture in 1962.
Zhu Xijuan's career is booming, and many people have begun to care about her marital status.
In 1963, Zhu Xijuan met the young painter Hou Fengmin under the introduction of a friend.
Hou Fengmin, a native of Tai'an, Shandong, graduated from Lu Xun Art Institute, he is 3 years older than Zhu Xijuan, and has a certain reputation in the art world.
Although not in the same industry, as artists, their views on art are the same, and the two quickly fell in love.
In 1964, Zhu Xijuan and Hou Fengmin formed a small family, and one year after marriage, Zhu Xijuan gave birth to her daughter Hou Lan.
Unlike most actresses who faded out of the entertainment industry after marriage, Zhu Xijuan did not give up her career after achieving happiness, but continued to stay in the entertainment industry to develop.
After marrying Hou Fengmin, Zhu Xijuan cooperated with director Zhao Dan again and filmed Zhao Dan's self-directed and self-starred movie "Green Mountain Love", which was once again well received by many audiences.
In the following ten years, due to her father's involvement, Zhu Xijuan never made film and television works again, and rarely appeared on the drama stage.
In the endless criticism and review, it was her husband's company and her daughter's smiling face that supported her through that difficult time.
It was not until 1974 that Zhu Xijuan resumed her role as an actor and played a small supporting role in the movie "Ode to the Silver Needle Under the Shadowless Light".
After 1977, Zhu Xijuan's career once again reached a peak. With her excellent acting skills, she has participated in many excellent film and television works and created many classic roles.
For example: "Ah! "Li Nan" in "Cradle", and "Liuli" in "Model Husband"... Zhu Xijuan was impressed.
In 1978, Zhu Xijuan was unexpectedly pregnant with her second child, and she gave birth to her son Hou Liang at the age of 40 despite the opposition of her family.
Her husband's silent support and caring care gave her a lot of courage and strength.
Switched to Shenzhen
However, Zhu Xijuan is no longer young after all, and there are only a few scripts that come to the door, and she gradually has the idea of "changing careers".
In the early 80s of last century, with the progress of reform and opening up, Zhu Xijuan was keenly aware that film and television dramas may affect the status of future films.
In 1983, Shenzhen established a coastal special economic zone to recruit talents from all over the country.
After Zhu Xijuan learned the news, she decided to go to Shenzhen to break in, and the 45-year-old she and her husband brought their son to Shenzhen.
When she first arrived in Shenzhen, this place that was more rural than the countryside made Zhu Xijuan overwhelmed. The car drove farther and farther until it finally drove to a farmland, where a four-story tin house was the office of the TV station.
Two months later, Shenzhen TV officially started broadcasting.
Hong Kong TVB specially sent a reporter to inquire. Seeing the electric fan blowing 24 hours a day in the tin house, the reporter went back and said: "Don't worry, Shenzhen TV will not be able to catch up with us in 20 years." ”
Zhu Xijuan has been valued by the leaders of the station, and she has many positions: deputy director, director, program host, screenwriter, and actor.
Zhu Xijuan took advantage of her popularity to launch a number of film and television works depicting Shenzhen's social phenomena, such as "Male Citizen" and "Charming Young City", and also broadcast some Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas, which resonated with the audience.
In the past 13 years, Zhu Xijuan has achieved one flying award every year, and has directly won 3 awards in one year.
As a workaholic, Zhu Xijuan tends to ignore the feelings of her children and family when working. Fortunately, Hou Fengmin understood her very well and often said to the children: "It's not easy for mom to film, you have to learn to be considerate of mom." ”
Under the guidance of their father, the two children did not feel sad because of their mother's dedication to work, but admired their mother very much.
Settle in the United States
In 1996, Zhu Xijuan led the film crew of Shenzhen Television Art Center to Los Angeles, USA to cooperate with foreign companies to study.
Here, she experienced the charm of Hollywood movies. At this time, her daughter Hou Lan was already working in the United States, and Zhu Xijuan had the idea of living abroad.
In 1998, 60-year-old Zhu Xijuan officially retired, she said goodbye to the city she watched grow up in, Shenzhen, and came to Los Angeles with her husband.
In Los Angeles, Zhu Xijuan and her friends co-founded the "American Qionghua Film and Television Art Company", committed to Sino-US film cultural exchanges.
At the age of 60, she practices English with others; At the age of 65, Zhu Xijuan studied for a driver's license with a friend and went to Hollywood for further study. The gray-haired old man is steady and powerful, becoming a stop-and-see scenery in Hollywood.
Compared with the children's good adaptability, Zhu Xijuan misses her life in China except for acting. She began to return to China to film, running on both sides.
She co-starred with Ge You and Chen Daoming in the costume drama "Kou Lao Xi'er"; He has also starred in "Remarried Family", "The Old Man's Story", "High Women and Low Men", "Destiny" and so on. During this time, she also served as the producer of the movie "Looking for Jackie Chan".
Since 2014, Zhu Xijuan has begun to prepare for the documentary "Eternal Stars" by "22 movie stars of New China". She believes that today's young people should know that there were such good actors with both virtue and art in the past.
After fulfilling this wish, Zhu Xijuan had the idea of returning to her roots.
The leaves fall back to their roots
Her daughter Hou Lan set up her own small family in Los Angeles, and her son Hou Liang also has his own dream in Shenzhen. In 2016, Zhu Xijuan and her husband returned to Shenzhen with confidence.
In 2017, 79-year-old Zhu Xijuan starred in "Snow and Winter Solstice", and won the Golden Rooster Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award for this play.
It was because of this play that Zhu Xijuan noticed the seriousness of China's aging problem, and she began to think about the relationship between the elderly and children, and came up with the idea of wanting to live in a nursing home.
Her husband has always supported her requests unconditionally, and when her daughter and son found out, they hurried over.
Children want to take care of them with their parents. Zhu Xijuan said: "You have your work and career, and at my age, it is my wish not to cause trouble for children." ”
After deliberating with a family of 4, they decided to follow the old man's choice. In 2017, Zhu Xijuan lived with her husband in a nursing home in Shenzhen.
In the nursing home, Zhu Xijuan and her wife play chess and dance with elderly friends around them every day; During the day, I learn music and calligraphy in class, and in the afternoon, I exercise under the guidance of a doctor.
Talk to friends every day about children and memories of the past, and wish Xijuan's life a colorful life. When the children are free, they come to pick them up for reunions.
In the face of reporters' questions, Zhu Xijuan said with a smile: "Our generation's concept of old-age care should be changed, and we can't always think of relying on children." ”
Zhu Xijuan, as an excellent old actor, has almost been smooth sailing along the way, whether it is career or feelings.
Her success, in addition to hard work and management, depends more on her indifferent and casual mentality, which is worth emulating and learning from each of us.