(The Woman Who Speaks History--Issue 1011) A great disaster will not die, there will be a blessing later. There was a strange man in China who was shipwrecked in a boat when he was 24 years old and almost buried in the belly of a fish; he survived the disaster and later lived to be 107 years old. He was also knighted and became a tycoon, donating 10 billion dollars to his country! To find out how legendary this man is, read the detailed breakdown in this issue. (A) Life began with "buddy" This man is the first legend of the Chinese movie industry, Run Run Shaw. Run Run Shaw, originally named Shao Renleng, was born on October 4, 1907 in Zhenhai, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Shaw's father, Shao Yuxuan, was a famous businessman in old Shanghai who supported Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities, and was also a celebrity in the industrial and commercial circles of Shanghai. When Run Run Shaw was still a child, his father acquired the famous theater "Laughing Stage" in Shanghai. However, after Shao Yuxuan's illness and death in 1920, the Shaw family gradually declined. By 1923, only one house and one theater, the Laughing Stage, remained in the family business. Faced with great difficulties, what was the future of the Shaw family? At this time, the eldest of the Shaw family, Shao Yanjie, who used to be a lawyer, came forward and made a decision that changed the fate of the family history. Run Run Shaw was the sixth oldest among his siblings. He has three brothers, elder brother, second brother, third brother were called Shao Renjie, Shao Ren Di, Shao Renmei, fourth sister, fifth sister has been married, Shao Yifu is the old end. At this time, the oldest brother led the brothers, determined to sell the only house and move the family into the "Laughing Stage". Since then, none of the four brothers took up their father's business, but all of them entered the entertainment industry. To do the job thoroughly, the elder brother changed all the names of the four brothers, Renjie, Rendi, Renmei and Renleng, to Drunken Master, Estate Man, Shanke and Yifu in that order, and made a high-profile foray into the movie industry. In 1925, the Shaw Brothers established the "Tianyi Film Company" in Shanghai. When the company was founded, it was a clean-cut family team. The eldest, Dr. Shaw, was the producer and director, with his sister-in-law, Chan Yuk Mui, leading the cast; the second, Mr. Shaw Estate Man, was the screenwriter, and the third, Mr. Shaw Shanke, was responsible for distribution; the sixth, Mr. Shaw Yat-fu, who had just graduated from high school, could only find a position called "buddy" on the set to do miscellaneous work as he had no working experience. Run Run Shaw's life began as a "buddy". (ii) Starting a business in the South Seas and almost being buried in the belly of a fish, the four brothers divided up the work and accomplished everything in this family-run film company (Shaw was later upgraded to the position of cameraman). The first movie they made was called "Standing on the Ground to Become Buddha", which immediately caused a big reaction in Shanghai after the screening. Tianyi Film grew rapidly in the first two years of its business and stole everyone's rice bowl, so the other film companies formed the "Six Harmonies Film Company "*** with them to encircle and annihilate them. In desperation, the Shaw Brothers decided to open a second battlefield to Southeast Asia. Thus the oldest, Shao Shanke, went down to the South Seas. He took a worn-out silent projector with him to the villages in South China. As a result, the few films he brought with him, "Tin Yat Company", were so popular that he was too busy to help, so he asked his sixth brother, Run Run Shaw, to come as a helper. Run Run Shaw was 19 years old at the time, he was full of ambition, he went down to the South China Sea to start a business with his third brother. At the beginning of the period, they were like migrant workers, carrying movie machines and films, all day long under the scorching sun, trekking deep into the farms where the overseas Chinese gathered to show open-air movies. At that time, the projection equipment was still very backward, and they had to shake the film by hand, and when a movie was shown, both of them were so tired that their backs and hands ached. After a lot of hard work, they finally stood their ground in the South Seas. 1930, the Shaw Brothers set up "Shaw Brothers Company" in Singapore, and purchased a number of theaters, specializing in the screening of the new films of the Tianyi Company. Later, due to the impact of the economic crisis in the United States, many cinemas closed down. But Shaw Brothers decided to stick with it. At this time, Shaw realized that the United States and western countries had already seen the emergence of talkies, and that their own silent movies were bound to be eliminated, so he made the suggestion of making talkies. He then went to the United States to buy sound movie equipment himself. In 1931, at the age of 24, Shaw traveled to the United States by ship. Unexpectedly, the ship hit the reef and sank on the way. Shaw's life was so strong that he fell into the water, holding a small piece of wooden sampan, and drifted in the sea for a night, and was finally rescued and survived. He traveled to Hollywood in the United States and managed to buy back the phonograph and other equipment. He probably did not expect that his death would bring him the blessing of a long life of 107 years. After the September 18th Incident, due to the unstable situation in Shanghai, "Tingyi Pictures" moved to Hong Kong and established "Tingyi Hong Kong Factory". In 1932, Shaw hired Xue Juesheng, a famous Cantonese opera singer, as the lead actor at a high price, and produced and directed his own movie, "The Platinum Dragon", which was a talkie and a sensation. Once when the movie was screened in Thailand, some audience members were so curious that they insisted on smashing open the phonograph to see if someone was hiding inside and talking. Shaw had to send someone to protect the phonograph every time he showed a movie in the future. The movie cost 10,000 yuan and earned 600,000 yuan from the screening in Guangzhou alone. This also made Run Run Shaw become the founding father of Chinese talkies. At this time, the Shaw Brothers already owned 139 movie theaters and 9 casinos in Southeast Asia. However, the outbreak of the war in 1937 disrupted the development process of Shaw's movie industry. Shaw's operated miserably and was forced to close its doors. After the war, Shaw examined the Australian and American film markets and decided to revitalize his business. He was determined to find a new place to start up again and realize his vision. He finally chose Hong Kong. (III) Creating the Hollywood of the East, life began at the age of 50 In 1938, Tingyi Pictures officially changed its name to "Nanyang Film Company". After the end of the war, the second brother, Mr. Shaw Estate Man, also returned to Hong Kong and renamed ""Nanyang Film Company" to ""Shaw's Father and Son Company". However, the company did not develop well in Hong Kong and was attacked by two major film companies, Chinachem and The Great Wall, in the 1940s, so Shaw resolved to take over the film business in Hong Kong. In 1957, at the age of 50, Shaw decided to take over the movie business in Hong Kong. In 1957, at the age of 50, Shaw officially moved to Hong Kong to rebuild his dream, and his life began again at the age of 50. Upon his return to Hong Kong, Run Run Shaw bought a plot of land in Clear Water Bay and started to build Shaw Studios, establishing "Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Limited". The site was actually just a barren hill, which he cut down by 60 feet to make it a flat land on which he built his studio, which was later known as Shaw Brothers Film Studios. This project cost nearly half a million Hong Kong dollars in land and earth alone. However, Shaw built a movie empire here. He ran the business well, placing large advertisements in newspapers to recruit talent. Soon, he recruited famous directors and playwrights such as Li Hanxiang, Bu Wancang and Yue Feng, as well as famous actors such as Lin Dai, Li Lihua, Ding Ning, Chen Hou and Guan Shan. In addition, he identified a large number of talents in photography and production. Shaw first hired Zou Wenhuai as editor-in-chief of his Movie Weekly, a publication that attracted a large number of young people. In order to launch Shaw Studios, Run Run Shaw personally selected the scripts. From dozens of scripts, he chose The Beauty of the River and the Mountain, which depicted the story of Sable Cicada. However, the budget cost was at least one million Hong Kong dollars, and people advised him to give up on the movie. However, Run Run Shaw boldly employed the 30-year-old Li Hanxiang as director, and The Beauty of the River and the Mountain was an instant hit, setting the highest box office record for a Hong Kong movie at the time and including five awards at the Fifth Asian Film Festival. The movie not only made Shaw's company stand firm, but also made Li Hanxiang famous. Immediately afterward, Shaw spared no expense in bringing "Yang Guifei" and "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" to the screen. Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai was such a hit that when it was released in Taiwan, an old lady actually watched it for more than 100 shows. In the 1960s, Shaw's films won dozens of awards, including the Golden Horse Awards and the Golden Statue Awards. At its peak, one million viewers patronized his theaters every day. Run Run Shaw was the first to implement the movie star system in Hong Kong, creating a large number of big stars, big directors and famous scriptwriters, such as Hu Die, Li Lihua, Lin Dai, Ling Bo, Li Hanxiang and Zou Wenhuai. In this movie city, the Shaw Brothers have made more than 1,000 movies, which is regarded as "the Hollywood of the East" by foreign media. (4) Creating the Five Tiger Generals and the Four Heavenly Kings, Life Begins Again at 60 Later on, the Shaw Brothers ventured into the then fast-growing television industry. 1967 saw the creation of Hong Kong's Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) by Run Run Shaw, and since then, his life has begun again at the age of 60 and has entered into a new era of splendor. In 1971, Run Run Shaw opened a training class known as the "Cradle of Hong Kong Stars", which created the "Golden Generation" of Hong Kong's showbiz industry, such as Chow Yun-Fat, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Carina Lau, etc., and even director Johnnie To came from this training class, making TVB the world's leading television network. TVB has become the world's No. 1 Cantonese and Mandarin commercial TV station. Under the leadership of Mr. Run Run Shaw, TVB has produced a series of great productions such as Shanghai Tang, The Legend of the Eagle Shooting Heroes, The Divine Eagles, and The Story of the Deer and the Tripods, and has created five superstars such as Wong Yat Wah, Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Miu Kiu Wai, and Tang Chun Yip, and actresses such as Liza Wang, Natalie Chiu, Carol Cheng, Mei-Ling Weng, Yuk Lian Chan, and Wah Lian Tsang. Liza Wang, Gigi Chiu, Eileen Cheng, Mei-Ling Weng, Yvonne Chan, Tsang Wah Sin, Chik Mei Chun, Lai Mei Hsien, Carina Lau, and so on. It is worth mentioning that the selection and title of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of the Hong Kong singing industry was also organized by Run Run Shaw. Run Run Shaw also organized the first Miss Hong Kong election in 1973, which became the most representative beauty pageant in Hong Kong. (E) Married for the second time, life began at the age of 90 Deeply involved in the entertainment industry, Run Run Shaw was surrounded by beautiful women, and he often said that he loved to dance, dine, go shopping and chat with female stars, but he was a very dedicated person to love. Run Run Shaw life **** married two wives, and are in love for many years. He met his hairdresser, Wong Mei Chun, in his youth when he was still hard at work in Southeast Asia, and they married in 1937. The marriage lasted for half a century until 1987, when she died at the age of 85 in Los Angeles, USA. After her death, Shaw went so far as to suspend production at Shaw Brothers for a year to mourn for his wife! His second wife, Fong Yat Wah, was born in Shanghai in 1934, and was a pop star in her early years; they met in 1952. In 1952, the two met and for more than 40 years, Fong Yat-wah helped Run Run Shaw manage the daily business of Shaw's and Wireless, and became his most trusted companion. It was not until 1997, the 10th anniversary of the death of Run Run Shaw's wife, that the two were officially married in Las Vegas, USA, when Shaw was 90 years old and Fong was 63. Run Run Shaw was a groom for the second time, and his life began again at the age of 90! (F) Exit at 104 In 1980, Run Run Shaw became the largest shareholder of TVB and became the Chairman of the Board of Directors. At the same time, he retreated sharply, allowing Shaw's film business to shrink, selling all of its theaters in 1985, and by May 1987, Shaw announced that it had stopped producing films. In March 2011, Shaw retreated again. He sold his controlling stake in TVB, together with the Clearwater Bay site in the New Territories, to tycoon Chan Kwok Keung, a close friend of Li Ka Shing and known as the "King of Shells", for HK$8.6 billion. the Shaw era in TVB, which spanned more than 40 years, came to an official end. At this point, the 104-year-old Run Run Shaw officially withdrew from the world. It is only a tall man who can enter and exit! (VII) Establishment of The Shaw Prize, Donation of $10 Billion for National Education and Charity Shaw has received many honors in his life. For example, in 1974, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen of England; and in 1977, he was knighted by the Queen of England, i.e., he was given the title of KNIGHT BACHELOR. making him a Sir. In 1988, the city of San Francisco, U.S.A., designated September 8 every year as "Shaw Day" in recognition of his contribution to social welfare. In 1990, the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in recognition of Shaw's contribution to science education in China, named asteroid 2899 as the ""Shaw Star"". In 2008, he was also awarded the ""Lifetime Honorary Award of China Charity Award"" by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China*** and the State. He did not receive these honors for nothing. Although the splendor of his career has brought Shaw a fortune that rivals that of his country, he is not a Grammy, and he understands that money is something outside of his body! How much can one spend? Where does it come from and where does it go. Over the years, he has spent his wealth on charitable causes. On November 15, 2002, at the age of 97, Shaw established "The Shaw Prize", stipulating that this award is not limited to racial nationality and is awarded once a year in recognition of outstanding contributors in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, and research in the life sciences and medicine around the world, with a prize money of $1,000,000 for each award, surpassing the highest natural science award of the Nobel Prize of US$950,000, and is called "the Nobel Prize of the East in the 21st century". Over the years, Shaw has donated more than HK$10 billion to social welfare and charitable affairs, and has built more than 6,000 educational and medical projects. In 1973, Run Run Shaw established the Shaw Foundation, and since 1985, he has donated an average of more than $100 million a year to the Mainland in support of various social welfare causes. Especially for education and science and technology, Run Run Shaw donated funds all over China. Many universities, middle schools and elementary school all over China have teaching and library buildings donated by him, i.e. "Run Run Shaw Buildings" named after him. Even famous schools such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Nankai University and the University of Hong Kong have ""逸夫楼". In 1985, Run Run Shaw contributed 10 million dollars to protect the murals of the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. In the early 1990s, Jiangsu and Zhejiang suffered from rare typhoons and floods, and many schools were submerged. Run Run Shaw first commissioned Dr. Ma Lin of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to come to Zhejiang. Dr. Ma and several comrades from the education system rowed a boat to go deep into the school buildings to understand the situation. He proceeded to participate in the post-disaster reconstruction, setting a record of subsidizing more than 150 affected primary and secondary schools at one time. In 1991, Run Run Shaw traveled to Inner Mongolia for the first time. After inspecting the Hailar Teachers' College and some primary and secondary schools in the Hulunbeier Prairie, he donated 104 "Run Run Shaw Schools" to Inner Mongolia, with a total donation of HK$137 million. In 2005, Run Run Shaw donated HK$10 million to aid the tsunami-affected areas in South Asia. In 2008, three days after the Wenchuan earthquake, Run Run Shaw and his wife, Ms. Fong Yat Wah, donated HK$100 million to the disaster area. In 2010, Run Run Shaw donated HK$100 million to the Qinghai Yushu Earthquake. In March 2013, Run Run Shaw donated HK$200 million to Zhejiang University for the construction of "The Shaw Medical Center" and "The Shaw Center for Medical Research". In April 201 3, Mr. and Mrs. Run Run Shaw, in turn, donated HK$100 million to the earthquake victims in Ya'an, Sichuan Province. In addition, Mr. Run Run Shaw has made donations to Taiwan, Japan and the United Kingdom. Mr. Run Run Shaw is living, working and donating until the end of his life. On January 7, 2014, Mr. Run Run Shaw passed away peacefully at home at the age of 107 years old. ? (H) Run Run Shaw Becomes the World's Most Watched Moviegoer Mr. Run Run Shaw reigned over the film and television industry for 80 years. He set a lot of records in his life, such as shooting the earliest sound film in China, "The Platinum Dragon"; shooting more than 1,000 films in his lifetime***, the top of all film studios in China; owning the most number of theaters, up to more than 200 at the highest period, which is the highest amount of private ownership in China; and constructing the largest film shooting base in Asia. But Shaw also set a world record as the person who watched the most movies in the world. In order to study movies, he watched at least one movie a day for decades! As for how many movies he actually watched, I guess he couldn't remember. This record is estimated to be unbreakable by anyone on earth, unless you can live for more than 107 years, and also be absolutely loyal to the movie, and do not play computers, cell phones, or mahjong in your spare time. There is, Shaw Yat-Fu watch movies is what all see, no matter good movies and bad movies, eat all. Why? Because he is in the study of the movie, he wants to look at the good movie in the end where the good, bad movie and bad to where, so that they shoot the best movie. Who can achieve this kind of obsession? That's why there is only one Run Run Shaw in the world! In fact, he has also given a big slap in the face to those bullish critics (including literary critics and movie critics) in China! Those guys think they're so smart that they can't read a few books, or a few movies, before they start commenting: all the novels you write are crap! All the movies you make are bad! If Shaw knew about it, he would say, "How many books have you read and how many movies have you seen? You're just a little cowboy! That's why China can't produce great critics. Finally, Shaw Yat-fu's longevity, he can live 107 years old, there is a trick. In his later years, Shaw had to do qigong for 45 minutes every morning and play golf four times a week. His regimen was ""three don'ts": firstly, he did not gamble, secondly, he did not drink, and thirdly, he did not do anything out of the ordinary. Another one is, he is not greedy for money, how much money he earns, all used to do good deeds, which makes him happy, of course, long life. (Article/The Woman Who Speaks History - One Meter Warm Sun)
References:
The Biography of Run Run Shaw, etc.