Text | Kind beauty
Edit | GuaQiqi
The surname "Xiang" gave Xiang Huaqiang the reputation of "Three Ancestors", and also set a lot of shackles on his life.
01
In Hong Kong in the 1940s and 1950s, Kowloon Tong and Kowloon City, which were only a word apart, were the difference between heaven and hell.
Even in the "Earth Emperor City" where the "former National D officer" moved forward, the difference still exists-
The other layers are full of food and clothing, and the children are constantly getting new clothes, new books, and new toys.
Only the layer where Xiang Huaqiang and his mother lived was still struggling for food and clothing.
Many years later, some people always use the titles of "Three Ancestors" and "Three Generations of Officials" to describe Xiang Huaqiang, but they do not know that he has occupied the reputation, but the benefits have hardly been occupied.
forward
Xiang Huaqiang's father married a total of 4 wives, and Xiang Huaqiang's mother was the third room, and it was also the least favored one.
The other wives either have their own skills or have the ability at home, in short, they have firmly grasped their husbands and money.
And Xiang Huaqiang's mother was not born tall, and her temperament was weak and kind, so she became the best bully in this mansion.
Mrs. 4 has given birth to more than ten children for Qianfeng, and Qianqian often can't even remember his name, let alone take care of it with his heart.
To make matters worse, in 1953, Qiang qiang was deported by the British government of Hong Kong.
At that time, He took all the cash he could bring with him, and all the antique vases and other items he left behind were handed over to the big room.
Even the gang new Yi'an, which was created at that time, was handed over to xiang Huayan, the second son who had just graduated from high school.
There are still some bits and pieces that the big rooms can't see, and they are also quickly snatched away by the other two rooms.
Xiang Huaqiang's room was almost occupied.
Therefore, Xiang Huaqiang in his childhood has almost no memory of his father, and what fills his mind is how to eat well.
But in such a stretched situation, they also have to raise an uncle who is drunk and unconscious all day in this room, and a blind grandmother who suffers from depression and often makes trouble.
At that time, Xiang Huaqiang hated gentle and cowardly women the most, and correspondingly, he admired those strong women who were independent and full of personality.
This is also an important reason why he later fell in love with Tai Chen Lan and loved her alone throughout his life.
Xiang Tai Chen Lan
02
In 1973, legendary actor Bruce Lee filmed the movie "Dragon Fights Tiger Fight", and achieved impressive results in the United States.
This movie not only beat many Hollywood blockbusters that were released at the same time, but also promoted the birth of new Hollywood kung fu movies.
However, just as Bruce Lee was preparing to make a big show, he was suddenly announced to have died in Hong Kong at the age of 32.
Regarding the cause of his death, it is still a fog, which makes many fans regret it.
Still in 1973, Xiang Huaqiang tossed some catering deals in Hong Kong.
However, the economy was sluggish at that time, so he set his sights on Taiwan, where his father was, and went with his brother Xiang Huasheng, hoping to find a new livelihood that could make a fortune.
One day, Xiang Huaqiang and Xiang Huasheng went to the tea house to eat snacks, because of their white appearance and handsome temperament, they were a bit like Bruce Lee, and Xiang Huaqiang was actually picked up by a star scout and invited him to shoot a movie.
But Xiang Huaqiang was completely uninterested in making movies at that time.
But the younger brother Xiang Huasheng found it very interesting and wanted to go to the set to find out.
In this way, the Xiangjia brothers inadvertently opened a movie road.
From the actor to the producer, this period must have experienced a lot of twists and turns, and we will not mention it here.
Let's first talk about a woman that Xiang Huaqiang can't avoid in his life--Xiang Taichenlan.
In 1980, Xiang Huaqiang, who was still a poor boy, was invited to a party.
At the party, Xiang Huaqiang only wants to make money and is not interested in this.
But when a young girl with bright eyes and extraordinary temperament walked past him, he felt that his heart was being tugged.
This girl is Chen Lan, who is just 21 years old and is known as "Taiwan's first beautiful model".
Between the staggered eyebrows, Chen Lan also noticed Xiang Huaqiang.
And this beautiful lady who is always surrounded by rich men and stupid children is also fascinated by Xiang Huaqiang at first sight.
In this way, they naturally walked together as written in the script.
03
After being with Chen Lan, Xiang Huaqiang began to formally raise his filmmaking dream.
Many people say that Xiang Huaqiang founded Yongsheng Film with a family background, but in fact, it did not.
At that time, he and Chen Lan did not have the "first bucket of gold", and Chen Lan started a clothing trade business in order to support her husband to start a business.
She was going to run the factory while looking at the storefront, and she had just given birth to her eldest son, Xiang Zuo, and continued to be busy without doing a day.
But the money is not enough to save, because Xiang Huaqiang is very righteous and often lends money to others.
Later, Xiang Huaqiang found his younger brother Xiang Huasheng and took out a loan together, and finally established Yongsheng Film Company.
But the two have no production experience.
In the beginning, the films they made were not as high as the box office of Bruce Lee's films, and they made a loss.
And many actors are reluctant to cooperate with them, because their surname is "Xiang", and they are worried that the film will not be paid after cooperating with them.
Later, xiang Huasheng thought of a way, after filming, first cut a version for people to see, and then observe the audience's reaction, where they laughed and stayed, where they yawned, they deleted the re-cutting.
In addition, they also pay attention to the good actors in the circle and dig up new people, and prove to everyone with their own practical actions -
We really want to make a difference.
In 1989, Yongsheng Film finally produced a blockbuster movie - "God of Gamblers".
Big back, Zhou Runfa, trench coat, toothpick, chocolate, this movie can be said to be the memory of a generation.
Among them, Xiang Huaqiang also starred in the classic role of Dragon Five in the play under the strong invitation of director Wang Jing, which is still talked about.
Two years later, they paid attention to Stephen Chow, who had just emerged with his "nonsense" comedy style.
The Xiang brothers and Chen Lan were very optimistic about Zhou Xingchi, so they cooperated with him in a series of classic movies, such as the "Truant Veyron" series, "Nine Pin Sesame Officer", "The Great Inner Secret Agent Zero Zero Hair", "Tang Bohu Dian Qiu Xiang", "Gambler" and so on.
In addition, Yongsheng has also produced classic movies such as "The Demon Sect Leader of the Dragon Slayer in the Sky", "Gambler vs. Las Vegas", "The Legend of Shushan" and so on.
The fame of Yongsheng and the Xiang brothers was established, and the poor boy Xiang Huaqiang finally realized his dream of making a lot of money.
He finally built his own film empire and became the "godfather of film" respected by everyone in the circle.
04
Xiang Huaqiang thought that he had finally got rid of the shackles left to him by his father, but he did not know that the test of heaven for him did not stop.
At that time, there were rumors circulating that the Xiang brothers and their film company were involved in hei.
All kinds of gossip appear in an endless stream, but they are all under the banner of "said" and "heard".
At first, Xiang Huaqiang and Xiang Taichen Lan did not care, they felt that the Qing people were self-purifying.
But the gossip has spread more and more outrageously, and even news such as "Xianghua qiang J Chile" and "kidnapping J Andy Lau to make movies" have come out.
On that day, Chile's husband Jet Li happened to be a guest at home, and asked the tai if Jet Li was angry?
Jet Li shook his head and said, "Not angry, it's not true anyway."
The rumors are not true, but they really affect Xiang Huaqiang's career-
Xiang Huaqiang's China Star Company wants to list in Hong Kong, but has received many reports and complaints that he has problems with his books, washed Q, and S black.
At that time, Xiang Tai and Xiang Huaqiang thought that the more this was the case, the more they wanted the company to go public.
Because only in this way can their innocence be proved.
Later, Xiang Huaqiang and his company went through an 8-month review and finally went public.
At the moment of approval of the listing, Xiang Huaqiang breathed a sigh of relief, like lifting a heavy shackle.
After 2000, China's film market was sluggish and pirated CDs were rampant, and Xiang Huaqiang's film career was greatly affected.
At that time, he also tried real estate and finance.
But after a brief taste, he felt that his favorite thing was to make movies, so he later returned to the film business.
However, with the rise of mainland filmmakers, hong Kong movies that were once popular are no longer popular.
In 2014, his younger brother Xiang Huasheng died of esophageal cancer.
Losing important relatives and partners, Xiang Huasheng also began to retreat to the second line, and he was more about raising his son and enjoying his old age with his wife Chen Lan.
05
In fact, if Xiang Huaqiang does not rely on the family at all to rely on himself, we do not believe it.
The prestige of his father's generation and the brother's gang still gave Xiang Huaqiang a certain confidence and background.
But these undertones and backgrounds are limited, if you want to rely on these things to "lie and win", there is no Xiang Huaqiang today.
The support of his wife and his own efforts have finally created the success of Xiang Huaqiang and made him a generation of "godfathers of film".
Nowadays, Xiang Huaqiang's figure is rare in the rivers and lakes, but the legend about him is still circulating endlessly...