On February 8, 1961, a memorial service was held in the West Chapel of Santa Monica in Los Angeles, USA. The once-popular and controversial Chinese actress in Hollywood, once regarded as a disgrace by her family, but also benefited by her huang liushuang, is now lying quietly in the midst of the flowers, looking serene and quiet, as if she is just asleep.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Huang Liushuang's grandparents came to the United States with the immigration boom, and her father Huang Shanxing was a second-generation Chinese born in the United States. In his youth, Huang Shanxing followed his father back to China, married a woman from his hometown, Li Shi, and had a son, named Huang Dounan. He soon returned to the United States, but due to the restrictions imposed on the entry of foreign women by U.S. immigration policy at the time, Lee was unable to return to the United States with him.
Huang Shanxing, who returned to the United States, ran a laundromat, and although it was relatively hard, he still had enough money to allow him to marry another wife. So Li Gongtao, the daughter of the owner of the Welfare Cigar Factory, entered his life and became his wife in the United States.
In the second year after marriage, Li Gongtao gave birth to her daughter Huang Liuying. The birth of his daughter made Huang Shanxing very unhappy and did not return home for several days. Although Huang Shanxing was born in the United States, the traditional Chinese idea of son preference has deeply influenced him. Even though he already had a son in China, he still hoped that Li Gongtao could add another male to the Huang family.
To make a difference, he moved his family from Massachusetts Street in Los Angeles to Flower Street, not far from Chinatown. But the day did not go according to people's wishes, after moving to Flower Street, Li Gongtao gave birth to a daughter again, that is, Huang Liushuang. This made Huang Shanxing even more annoyed, and because of this, he did not like this daughter.
In order to make Huang Shanxing happy, Li Gongtao often dressed Huang Liushuang in the clothes of a little boy and dressed like a little prince. But Huang Shanxing will only flash a bright light under her eyes, but it is fleeting, after all, she is not a son.
In the years that followed, Li Gongtao gave birth to four sons (Huang Jingcai, Huang Weiying, Huang Ruiying, Huang Jinying) and two daughters (Huang Liuhuang and Huang Liuchun, four of whom died at the age of two), which allowed Huang Shanxing to untie the knot, but Huang Liushuang was still not so pleasing to his father.
Figure | Yellow willow cream
Because huang liushuang in childhood was often dressed up as a boy by her mother, she also had a naughty, confident and responsible sense of responsibility for boys. When she went on her own in the European film industry in the future, she said that she didn't mind the hard work, as long as it made her look like a little girl who relied on her parents.
She doesn't want to be like a traditional Chinese woman, who will just sit quietly at home and be a female celebrity. She is more like a little boy who likes to run around and play outside. Many times, she would play marbles with a group of friends. Once, having too much fun, forgetting the time, forgetting to go home. When her father found her, he saw her wearing a shawl and rolling dirty, and he was furious on the spot.
At the age of ten, Huang Liushuang was already beautiful, and she was invited by a leather merchant to be a top model. She has a picture of herself wearing a mink blouse and a pair of cropped pants, childlike and feminine. Father Huang Shanxing also liked this photo, so he sent this photo to his son Huang Dounan in China.
Huang Dounan, his half-brother, wrote back: "Liu Shuang is very beautiful, but please send me the watch on the back of the newspaper." After receiving it, she retorted to her brother: "Shooting an advertisement does not make much money." "A little girl who can't make that much money to buy a designer watch. And at that time she had never seen her brother in the physiological sense, let alone close, and she did not want to use the money she earned to buy things for her brother. In this regard, my father also had a slight criticism.
In Huang Liushuang's childhood, the Huang family's main outing activity was to go to the Chinese theater to watch the performance, the family bumped melon seeds, talked to each other from time to time, and looked relaxed to watch the performance on the stage, which was the most relaxed moment for the family. No one would have thought that this simple leisure activity had contributed to Huang Liushuang's lifelong dream - she wanted to become an actress.
On a trip to a guest's clothes, she received a hefty tip, so she sneaked out of school to see a movie at a nearby budget cinema. Later, it became more and more unmanageable, and the movie seemed to have a magical attraction that made her desperately skip school to watch.
In order to save money for movie tickets, she often saved money on lunch money given by her parents. Finally, because she did not eat lunch for a long time, her body was in a condition, and the matter of skipping school could not be covered up. Her parents were angry when they found out, and her father was even more annoyed and picked up a bamboo whip and beat her. The bamboo whip was long, and the father's hand was also very strong, and the whip whipped on the body, and it hurt fiercely. The father shouted as he beat, "You have to go to school!" You can't always skip school. ”
Figure | Yellow Willow Cream dresses fashionably
Hating iron is not steel, which is common to every Chinese parent. Huang Shanxing stubbornly hopes that her daughter can spend her life peacefully on the life track she has set for her. But Huang Liushuang is not a woman who is content with the status quo, she has her own ideas and pursuits. She didn't want to confront her father, but she didn't want to live according to his ideas. She did not heed the advice of her parents and still worked hard for her dream of being an actress.
Writer Bi Shumin once said: "I like women who are deeply grateful and travel alone, know their parents, but never blindly follow." "Maybe it's a portrayal of yellow willow frost." She is also grateful to her parents, but she will not give up her dreams because of their wishes.
She had to travel alone, even if the road ahead was full of wind and rain.
Through unremitting efforts, Huang Liushuang finally had the opportunity to be an extra in the movie "Red Lantern" in 1919, and then starred in several films. Although they are all small roles, her acting talent has been recognized by many people.
During a school tennis match, she suddenly fainted and was suspended from school for several months due to illness. Originally uninterested in schooling, she decided to drop out of school and devote herself to her acting career.
This move of hers angered her father again, and Huang Shanxing made it clear that he opposed her new profession with a very firm attitude. And decided to marry her out as soon as possible, so that she can feel at ease with her husband and godson, away from the entertainment circle of right and wrong. As a result, her relationship with her family has become increasingly strained.
The rebellion of adolescence and the pressure of the family made Huang Liushuang confused for a while. She does not give up acting, but also longs for the warmth of home. This entanglement of difficult choices made her almost collapse emotionally, and eventually she suffered from depression, which followed her throughout her life. She tried to be graceful, but at some point she was furious uncontrollably.
However, all this did not stop her dream of being an actor, and she still signed a contract with Selig Roque Film and Television on her own initiative. After going to San Francisco to shoot the movie "Little Ding", she received a lot of remuneration. Seeing the large check she got back, her family finally gave her approval of her choice.
This little recognition made her very happy. She said in her diary: "She felt joy falling from heaven, like an exotic flower, which could only grow in a white garden, and could only bloom in the sun, but elsewhere, it was a southern orange and a northern orange." ”
In her heart, home is the eternal harbor, even if there is wind and rain in the harbor, she still hopes to return here when she is tired.
Just when the family began to accept Huang Liushuang's actor status, huang Dounan, an older brother who studied at Waseda University in Japan, had a little alarm. He wrote to Huang Liushuang's mother, Li Gongtao, hoping that she would take her sister out of the film and television circle. Perhaps it was the strange induction of blood relations, Huang Dounan sniffed out the danger. But unfortunately, the American family is still immersed in the joy of huangliushuang's high income and does not care.
If you follow Huang Dounan's advice, maybe Huang Liushuang's life will be rewritten, and like most Chinese-American women, find a Chinese man to marry and spend her life peacefully and ordinary. But there are no assumptions in life, and so is Huang Liushuang.
It wasn't long before the almost naked costume of the Mongolian slave girl in the movie "The Bandits of Baghdad" once again pushed her to the cusp of the storm.
The film became a hit around the world as soon as it was broadcast, becoming the top box office winner in the United States that year, being released in Europe for several months, and attracting thousands of fans in Hong Kong and Shanghai, making Huang Liushuang a household name.
However, a film critic in the Shanghai Film Magazine criticized Huang Liushuang by name for "disappointing Chinese audiences", saying that her performance was "self-deprecating" and even that she was just a "puppet who was manipulated". Coupled with her naked attire, all this made the Huang family feel extremely humiliated.
Father Huang felt that his daughter had humiliated him and humiliated the family. He once again issued a voice of opposition, saying that Huang Liushuang insulted her and could not tolerate her anymore, and must find her a family with the right door to marry, so that she could leave the chaotic film and television circle and live a normal life. His attitude this time was more resolute than ever.
In order not to confront his father, Huang Liushuang had no choice but to move out of the family and use his own remuneration to buy a small two-story Western-style building in North Tower Mile. Of course, she moved out not only because of the pressure of her family, but also because she saw that her brothers had grown up and that the original home was already crowded, and she left to make room for them.
Huang Liushuang, who had been groping in society, was no longer the childish little girl, she began to think, for herself, for her family. Therefore, she paid for the family to travel to Mexico, and the beautiful scenery of Mexico brought the family closer and eased the contradictions with the family. At the same time, through this trip abroad, it is also necessary to establish a file for everyone in the family to obtain identity proof to avoid some legal problems that may arise in the future.
The young Yellow Willow Cream was actually mature enough to support the future of the whole family, but everyone failed to notice and enjoyed everything she brought to them with peace of mind, but did not give her corresponding respect and return.
As Huang Liushuang's film contracts increased, so did the film remuneration, although she did not explicitly indicate that she could sponsor her half-brother Huang Dounan. But she gave Huang Shanxing more and more money, enough for him to send more money to his home in China, which can be said to indirectly fund the brother who has not yet met.
At the same time, she also paid for higher education for her younger siblings in the United States. With her financial support, the eldest brother Huang Jingcai became a professor at the famous St. John's College in Shanghai; the second brother Huang Weiying was engaged in aviation research in the United States, the older sister Lulu also got a job at the Chinese Customs in Hong Kong, the third brother Ruiying and the younger sister Liu Huang stayed in Los Angeles, and Jin Ying's youngest was still studying with his father. Everyone in the family seems to have a good home.
In order to fulfill the star dream of her sister Lulu and her sister Liu Huang, Huang Liushuang also actively created opportunities for them to perform.
When Huang Liushuang starred in "The Daughter of the Dragon", she recommended her sister Huang Liuhuang to the director, let her play a small role in the movie, and received everyone's attention, opening Liu Huang's acting career. When selecting actors in "The Land", she recommended her sister Huang Liuying and sister Liu Huang, and told everyone that Huang Liuying "although not a few years older than us, but just like our mother." It can be seen that her mother died early, and her sister was as kind as her mother in her heart. Although in the end Lulu did not get the role, only her sister Liu Huang got a small role in this film, but her sincerity to her sisters can not be ignored.
Huang Liushuang worked hard to do everything she could for the sake of her family and brothers and sisters, and finally won the recognition and respect of her family.
When she embarked on a journey back to China to find her roots, because the Chinese people did not understand her, many domestic media questioned and insulted her. Huang Jingcai, a younger brother who was teaching in Shanghai at the time, wrote an article defending her sister at the first time, calling on the Chinese and the media to accept her sister, emphasizing that she returned to China with a patriotic heart to find her roots, but also to learn Chinese and visit the scenic spots and monuments of the motherland. He also accompanied his sister to travel to Suzhou, enjoying the picturesque scenery of Suzhou, allowing her to better understand the motherland and get rid of the influence of negative news on her mood.
Later, Huang Liushuang came to her father's hometown of Chang'an Village in Taishan City, and Huang Shanxing's first wife, Li Shi, and son Huang Dounan warmly greeted and entertained her. At that time, his father Huang Shanxing had also returned to his hometown, and the family finally got together harmoniously. She walked side by side with her father on the country roads, looked at the fish ponds and farmlands in her hometown, and chatted with her father about the customs and customs of the country. This is perhaps the most desirable scene in Huang Liushuang's life, plain but warm.
The old father finally let go of all misunderstandings and prejudices, truly accepted his daughter's choice, and was proud of her. He wrote an article for Xinning magazine, a magazine mainly aimed at overseas Taishanese, in which he praised Huang Liushuang as his pride.
Time passed, although Huang Liushuang's face was not stained with vicissitudes, her film contract was also decreasing, so she had more time of her own. Due to the early death of her mother, she took her younger brother Jinying to her side to take care of her to make up for his lack of maternal love. The two sisters and brothers often worked together in the garden, planting some exotic flowers and plants, raising a few kittens and puppies, and gradually there were some human fireworks in the family, and she also became the half mother of the little brother.
After leaving the screen, her younger brother Huang Jinying became her greatest comfort. When her brother Jinying was admitted to the University of Southern California, she wrote to a friend: "Jinying has achieved great success in geometry and engineering. The overflowing joy was like a mother praising her favorite child.
At the same time, her brother also brought her great joy. He taught Huang Liushuang to use new household appliances, and when she returned from filming, he held her most cherished kitten at the door to greet her. That cute little boy made up for her regret of being unmarried and childless all her life, and brought her the warmth and joy of home.
Huang Liushuang not only has excellent acting skills, but also a shrewd businessman, she knows not to sit on the mountain, to take care of the existing assets, so that they can play a greater role. So he bought two plots of land in the most expensive part of Los Angeles and transferred some of the ownership to his sister Huang Liuying and sister Huang Liuhuang at a very low price to ensure that they could also enjoy the property.
Yet all the joy and effort cannot prevent the disease from coming. In 1961, at the age of 56, she finally died of a heart attack. When his younger brother Jinying found out, he was already powerless to return to heaven.
According to her will, except for some of the property bequeathed to her sister, most of it was left to her brother Huang Jinying. Although in the United States, her funeral was carried out at her request, in full accordance with the traditions of the Taishan people in China. Incense burned and paper money sprinkled along the way. Flying paper money and sandalwood in the air accompanied her soul to heaven...
Because she was not married, she could only be buried next to her mother, and there was not a word on the tombstone.
Although there is no name for her on the tombstone, and there is no introduction to her life, she is real and vigorously walking in the earth. She used her strength and love to exchange for the respect and understanding of her family. No matter how many storms there were, in the end, she won!
Text | First brew