Zhu Xijuan, this name may not be familiar to many young people, but for many audiences of the older generation, she is an indelible impression.
She used to be the first "actress" in New China and one of the 22 top movie stars in Chinese films, she has conquered countless audiences with her acting skills and charm, and has also used her talent and courage to open up countless fields.
With just one "Red Detachment of Women", she has become popular all over the country, and her life is full of legends and twists and turns, and her every choice has aroused attention and controversy.
She chose to retire and settle in the United States at the age of 60, and chose to return to China at the age of 78 but had no one to support her, so she could only live in a nursing home.
So what happened to her to travel to the U.S. and back again?
The road to art. Zhu Xijuan was born on January 17, 1938, originally from Nanchang, Jiangxi, born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, she has liked acting since she was a child, and her family is very happy.
Unlike her sisters, she was like a tomboy since she was a child, very naughty, and even more obsessed with acting, so she embarked on this path.
Due to her continuous practice and the scarcity of talents in that era, she participated in her first movie "Blessing the Children" when she was still in junior high school in 1952, so she became an actor at the age of 14, which made her very addicted.
After that, she became even more obsessed, and she could even skip meals and sleep in order to perform, with such an attitude, and finally in 1957, she was admitted to the Performance Department of Shanghai Theater Academy and became a professional actor.
At that time, the university could be described as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and every teacher is a celebrity now, for example, Zhu Xijuan was once instructed by Mei Lanfang, and director Huang Zuolin also taught her.
In addition, Zhu Xijuan is very passionate about acting, and her acting skills and professional strength are also rubbing forward, and the journey is very smooth.
In this school, she also met her lifelong husband, Hou Fengmin, who was an art teacher at that time, and Zhu Xijuan was just a student.
And at that time, the teacher-student relationship could be severely refuted, so although the two had already been in love, they had to suppress this relationship and have not been able to be together.
An instant hit. In 1960, after graduation, Zhu Xijuan served as an actor in the Experimental Drama Troupe of Shanghai Theater Academy and the Shanghai Youth Drama Troupe.
On the eve of graduation, Zhu Xijuan, who was still an ordinary student at the time, was selected by the great director Xie Jin to shoot the sensational film "Red Detachment of Women".
At that time, Xie Jin was deeply aware of the current situation and situation in New China, and the whole country was promoting a new look and welcoming a new development.
And as a director and an artist, what he can do is to bloom his own flowers in the field of art, so he thought about it and decided to shoot "Red Detachment of Women".
It's just that although this movie has been repeatedly polished, the script can be said to be perfect, both the dialogue and the plot have been prepared.
But for the heroine Qionghua, she has never found a suitable actor, no matter how many people audition, she is not favored by Xie Jin, and her head is shaking and fainting at the end of the day.
At this time, the principal of the Shanghai Theater learned of his difficulties, so he made a suggestion to Xie Jin, asking him to come to the school to take a look, in case the Qionghua in his mind was hidden in this green and delicate university grass.
So Xie Jin, who had no clue, followed the principal's invitation and came to the Shanghai Theater to carefully select the heroine in his mind during the daily rehearsals of the students.
This is unbelievable, when he saw Zhu Xijuan's daily rehearsals and training, he was immediately attracted, his two eyes stared at Zhu Xijuan for a moment, and on her body, Xie Jin saw Qionghua's figure.
So it was her who made the decision immediately, and no one could change it, Zhu Xijuan, who was rehearsing, was still dizzy when she was called to Xie Jin, and she didn't know what was going on.
When she learned about it, she was nervous and a little excited, because she could finally act again, and this refreshing feeling was something that foreign objects could not bring her.
In this movie, Zhu Xijuan played the tenacious, pungent, brave and simple female soldier of the People's Liberation Army Wu Qionghua.
So after reading the script and thinking about the character of Qionghua, Zhu Xijuan began to immerse herself in her own world, and used her own understanding and way to interpret Qionghua in life.
At that time, many students were very afraid of Zhu Xijuan, because her temperament changed drastically almost in one day, and she was completely different from the previous Zhu Xijuan, and she was very unfamiliar.
And Zhu Xijuan felt that it was not enough, so she asked the captain of the regiment about the life and experience of the Anti-Japanese War at that time, and then interviewed many retired veterans separately, and a few movies and books to learn from.
At that time, she often wore the clothes of a veteran, no matter what the environment, or whether it was hot or cold, she always dressed like that, stepping on straw sandals, carrying guns, and every move of the Scholar Girl Army.
It is this kind of training that made her appear in the movie, many people who have been soldiers say that she does not look like acting, just like really looking for an actress who has been on the battlefield back then.
In 1961, as soon as "Red Detachment of Women" was released, it aroused widespread discussion, all of which were unanimously praised, and the acting skills of the heroine Qionghua in it were full of praise.
became famous in one fell swoop and became the first "actress" in New China, and her beauty and temperament also made her an idol and dream lover of countless people.
I wish Xijuan an instant hit, and people all over the world know her, when she was 24 years old. At the first film awards ceremony of the People's Republic of China held in 1962 - the Hundred Flowers Award for Popular Films, Zhu Xijuan won the honor of Best Actress.
In the same year, Zhu Xijuan was also rated as one of the 22 top movie stars in Chinese films by the Ministry of Culture of China.
Guo Moruo even personally awarded her calligraphy and paintings, which means that Wu Qionghua's life experience and hard work are introduced, and it is also a recognition of Zhu Xijuan.
Happy life.
After this time, her acting career has also entered a peak period, and the threshold is about to be broken, all of which are from various resources to work with her.
She has starred in "Liaoyuan", "Qingshan Love", "Ode to the Silver Needle under the Shadowless Lamp", "Ah! Cradle" and many other classic movies, showing her different styles and charms.
After leaving the campus, there was no external force that could stop her and Hou Fengmin's love, and the two finally got together openly, and announced their marriage not long after.
At this moment, the illusions in the hearts of many young people were shattered, and Zhu Xijuan's life was also very happy, giving birth to a boy and a girl successively, and the family was happy.
At this time, she was almost immersed in the encirclement of happiness, but her heart still wanted to make some contributions to China, and just when she was at a loss, she received a good news.
In 1983, Zhu Xijuan accepted the invitation of Shenzhen TV Station to serve as the first deputy director of the station and the director of the Shenzhen Television Art Center, so she took her family to Shenzhen for development.
She became the first program host of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, and planned and launched a number of TV dramas and documentaries reflecting the construction and development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, such as "Male Citizen" and "Legal Representative", which won many awards such as the Golden Eagle Award and the Feitian Award.
Zhu Xijuan has worked in Shenzhen TV for 15 years, during which she has not given up her acting career, and has also participated in film and television works such as "The Last Aristocrat", "Kou Lao Xier", "Remarried Family" and so on.
Travel to the United States. However, when she reached retirement age at the age of 60, she made a decision that many people did not expect, that is, to live in the United States.
In September 1998, Zhu Xijuan said goodbye to Shenzhen after retirement, set off directly from Shenzhen, and moved to the United States with her family, regardless of the dissuasion of relatives and friends, because they seemed to be scolded by people if they went to the United States just after retirement.
thought that she was a person who ate inside and outside and went to foreign countries to enjoy happiness when she made money in China, but Zhu Xijuan ignored it and insisted on going to the United States.
However, Zhu Xijuan came to the United States with her own plans, she did not idle, but founded the "American Qionghua Film and Television Art Company" with her friends, served as the president, and committed to the exchange of Chinese and American art and culture.
In fact, after so many years of filming, she has seen a fact clearly, that is, the yearning of young people in China for the United States is getting heavier and heavier, and even many people are a little deified of New York, and they do not hesitate to abandon their motherland.
And she wants to come to the United States, use real framing and real cases, and use movies to tell these people that what they are looking forward to is not as beautiful as you think, and Zhu Xijuan wants to use her own strength to let young people see diverse cultures.
So "100 Broadway" was born, the film is written around the real life of a Chinese in the United States, the framing and screenwriting are all in line with the actual situation, and also introduce the image and culture of the Chinese to Western countries.
At the same time, she did not forget her motherland and the audience, and also returned to China to shoot some film and television works, such as "Justified", "Destiny", "Roots in the Central Plains" and so on.
Back to China. During her years in the United States, she has learned a lot of advanced knowledge and shooting techniques, and she feels that with these, coupled with her advanced age, she should be able to go back and bring some changes to the film and television industry in her homeland.
So, in 2016, after living in the United States for 18 years, Zhu Xijuan decided to return to China, just as she ignored her friends to dissuade her from coming to the United States, ignoring her children's dissuasion of him to return to China.
And she had no one to take care of her after returning to China, so she could only go to a nursing home alone to start her life back to China, but she was very fulfilling, she traveled with old friends when she was tired, and went to the crew to provide shooting advice when she was free.
In 2018, the Hundred Flowers Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Zhu Xijuan, which was the greatest recognition of her, and this day made her recall her life's efforts and express her gratitude to the motherland with red eyes.
On January 17, 2019, Zhu Xijuan ushered in her 81st birthday, on this day, the Ministry of Culture of China announced that Zhu Xijuan was awarded the honorary title of "People's Artist" and held a grand award ceremony for her.
This is the first time that the Ministry of Culture of China has awarded this honorary title, and said that this is a high recognition and praise for Zhu Xijuan's outstanding contributions and brilliant achievements to the Chinese film industry for a long time.
Epilogue. Maybe when she was old, she still had a deep impression of her young self at that time, otherwise she would not have stubbornly gone to live in the United States, she was still so young and energetic.
After she returned to her hometown and was affirmed, she dissipated, hoping that the old artist could live happily.