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Run Run Shaw, a legendary name with a British knighthood on his head, has been in business for many years with a net worth of tens of billions, not only can you see the "Shaw Building" donated by him everywhere, but also the "Shaw Star" named after him in the sky, which can be described as infinitely beautiful.
But such a legendary figure, after a hundred years, his four children gave up more than 20 billion inheritance, and refused to die for him, why is this?
Tens of billions of "wealth"
Run Run Shaw's father used to run a pigment business in the Shanghai area, and he was a well-known industrialist, and the Shaw family can be called "a wealthy family".
However, the shopping mall is like a battlefield, because of the failure of investment, the Shao family began to gradually decline, and only a theater called "Laughing Stage" was left to support the family's business.
Although his family was in decline, Shaw was influenced by the bookish atmosphere of his family since he was a child, and his grades were always at the top of his grades in school, and he also met the Bao Yugang brothers, who later became the "King of Ships", and Bao Congxing, a textile giant, and others, who also became his future business partners.
Perhaps because he often played in the theater at home when he was a child, he developed a strong interest in theater and film, and most of the Shaw brothers were engaged in the entertainment industry, and Run Run Shaw himself had already begun to "help" in various film companies of Shao Renjie when he was in middle school, so he "entered" the film industry early.
Shaw was young, loved drama and film, learned Xi things quickly, and once followed his brother to Singapore to tour the countryside, so he has a different view of the audience in the film market, which is one of the important reasons why he has always made movies popular with audiences after joining Shaw Brothers.
Shaw's career was not all smooth sailing, as he was caught in an accident on his way to the United States, narrowly escaped from a sinking ship, and then drifted on the sea with a plank for a day and a night.
Fortunately, he was rescued and sent to the United States, and he successfully bought equipment from the United States that could shoot sound films, thus becoming the first person to bring Chinese films into the "sound age".
Because of the war, the Shaw family's film company moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong, but this did not affect the development of Shaw Brothers films, and soon they established cinemas and amusement parks in Singapore, Malaysia and other Nanyang regions with sound films and wonderful content, and achieved great success with a complete commercial closed loop.
After the end of World War II, Hong Kong's economy has developed rapidly, and people's demand for movies has also soared after intense work, and Shaw Brothers Films has also taken the opportunity to develop rapidly.
Because the Shao family had eight brothers and sisters, and Run Run Shaw ranked sixth, so in Hong Kong's film and television and business circles at that time, people respectfully called him "Uncle Six", and many artists were proud to be able to meet "Uncle Six", which shows the importance of Run Run Shaw in the film and television industry at that time.
In 1980, Run Run Shaw became the majority shareholder of TVB, he began to put his business vision on Chinese mainland, which had just been reformed and opened up, and while distributing a large number of film and television products to the mainland to earn huge profits, he also took out a large part of the funds to donate to education, scientific research and public welfare charities in the mainland, so in many schools in the region there are "Shaw Building" named after Run Run Shaw and special funds.
In recognition of Shaw's outstanding contributions, he was knighted by the Queen of England and the Chinese government named Planet 2899 after him.
More attention has been paid to Shaw's personal life and his two wives than to his legendary life of fame and fortune.
Two beautiful women
Shortly after Run Run Shaw joined the film industry, he and his brother Shaw Yanmei toured the Nanyang with their first film "Pearl Tower", which did not cause a big sensation, but made Singaporean businessman Yu Dongxuan interested in their film and television industry.
When the Shaw brothers were invited to Yu Dongxuan's home to discuss cooperation, they met the fresh and refined Huang Meizhen for the first time, and soon had a topic because they shared the same love for the film industry.
However, Shao Renmei still warned Run Run Shaw at that time, because after all, the two brothers came to cooperate with Yu Dongxuan, and Huang Meizhen was still Yu Dongxuan's girlfriend. Such a relationship did embarrass Shaw, and he involuntarily fell into entanglement and pain.
Shaw didn't expect that when Yu Dongxuan learned about the "situation" of the two from Huang Meizhen, he did not blame the two, but encouraged men and women with a common language to have more contact. It is precisely because of Yu Dongxuan's attitude that the relationship between Run Shaw and Huang Meizhen quickly warmed up, and finally came together.
In 1937, Run Run Shaw and Huang Meizhen officially became husband and wife, and it is said that Yu Dongxuan also made a special trip to bless them and sent them 500,000 congratulatory money.
Shaw and Huang Meizhen's marriage can be regarded as very happy, not only did they encourage each other in their careers and enjoy the same happiness, but also when Shaw was arrested and beaten for filming anti-Japanese movies, Huang Meizhen has always been outside to find a way to rescue her, and truly shared hardship.
The two had two sons and two daughters, and lived together for 50 years until Huang Meizhen died of illness in the United States in 1987.
Shaw's second marriage began in 1997, a decade after Wong's death, but his relationship with his second wife, Fong Yat-wah, was much deeper.
Fang Yihua and Run Run Shaw are both Shanghainese who came to Hong Kong to develop, her mother was once a smash hit "dance star" Fang Wenxia in Shanghai, and she herself is quite famous in the Southeast Asian music scene with her beautiful singing voice.
In 1952, after Run Run Shaw heard Fang Yihua's singing in his theater, he had a "year-old friendship" with this 28-year-old fellow.
Under the guidance of Run Run Shaw, Fang Yihua gave up her singing career and chose to join Shaw Brothers, but she is not a vase, but a "talented woman" who started from the grassroots level and has played a great role in many key nodes of Shaw's film career.
It can be said that Run Run Shaw's success is inseparable from Huang Meizhen's mutual support, and it is also inseparable from Fang Yihua's efforts.
Although they were married ten years after Wong's death, the 28-year-old age difference between them has been widely discussed, with Shaw's four children having great opposition.
Family, legacy
Although Run Run Shaw has four children, the relationship between them is not very harmonious, or to be precise, the children are not harmonious with him and Fang Yihua.
Although Run Run Shaw lives in the entertainment industry like "Ten Thousand Flowers", there are not many scandals on him, and he himself says that he is "not indecent", and he really "loves only two people", but in the eyes of his children, this father is not very "competent".
At the beginning, Shaw brought Fong Yat-wah to Shaw Brothers and took care of him, although they did not find anything between them, but Shaw's children were still against it.
Run Run Shaw's eldest son, Shao Weiming, is only 4 years younger than Fang Yihua, so when the rumors from outside spread into the house, he was the first to stand up against it, but he was suppressed by Huang Meizhen, so it did not cause a storm.
From this point of view, the relationship between Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua has reached the point where it has become semi-public.
In 1957, when Run Run Shaw rushed to Singapore to deal with the company's affairs, he only took Fang Yihua with him, while his wife, son and daughter were placed in Hong Kong, which also made the group of children have no good impression of this "Aunt Fang", who was only a few years older than them.
One of the things that made the children in the family feel quite complaining about their father was that Shao Weiming was kidnapped in Singapore when he was 26 years old.
When Run Run Shaw, who was watching the movie trial, did not panic when he learned the news, but after watching the movie, he told Cai Lan next to him that "the kidnappers are just asking for money", and he paid the ransom after the 11th day.
Although Shao Weiming's life was not in danger, Shaw was "too calm" about this matter, and his children chose to leave in the future.
Since 1981, when the strong Fang Yihua joined the board of directors of Shaw Brothers, Shao Weiming and his younger brother Shao Weizhong inevitably had a conflict of interest, and the brothers chose to quit business management one after another, and went to Singapore to help their uncle manage the business, until 25 years later, they returned to Hong Kong to receive the "Lifetime Achievement Award" issued by their father at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
Run Run Shaw is not indifferent to his children, he has set up a number of trust funds when Huang Meizhen died, and he himself once said: "I can't spend all the money in this life, and my children can't spend it either." ”
Although Shaw always wants to use his own money to save the feelings of his children, his children have never been as he wishes, although Shaw Weiming once replied in an interview with the media that "the relationship with Aunt Fang is very harmonious", but in fact it was Shaw's old age in the hospital bed, and the children were not able to die in bed.
In 2014, 107-year-old Run Run Shaw passed away, and according to his will, he left an inheritance of more than 20 billion yuan to his children, but these are no longer able to bridge the gap between father and son, which is probably the last thing Shaw wants to see in his life.
epilogue
Run Run Shaw is a landmark figure in the Hong Kong film industry, and he has also donated more than HK$4.7 billion and thousands of education and medical projects to the public welfare philanthropist.
However, how can life be as good as it gets, perhaps the choice between career and love, between the lover's family and children is also a rare helplessness in his life.
Perhaps this is the real state of life and family.
This article was originally written by "On History and the Present", and has been opened for the whole network to protect rights, and may not be reproduced without authorization, and infringement must be investigated.