Yu So Chow
Encyclopedia
Yu So Chow is a Chinese actress born in Beijing
on July 9, 1930 to a Peking opera family. She is the daughter of late Master Yu Jim Yuen
who ran the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School
in Hong Kong, and teacher of many well-known actors.
She started her acting career in 1948 and made over 240 films in the wuxia
, kung fu, action, detective and Cantonese opera genres. Her films were successful at the box-office and she was one of the most popular superstars
of the 1960 in Asia
and Hong Kong
.
(白蛇傳), and in the 1951 film Amazon on the Sea (海上女霸王).
Her first movie was made in 1948, a Mandarin wuxia film called The Kung Fu Couple (宏碧緣 ). She was one of the three actresses in the 1950s who really knew martial arts
. Off the screen, she was virtually a heroine: at the age of sixteen, she alone successfully fought off a group of gangsters with only a silky belt on the streets of Shanghai
. She was able to do all the stunts, punches and acrobatic
skills by herself in all her action films.
Her early wuxia pictures from 1948 to 1957 were in both Mandarin and Cantonese dialogue, with stories intended to increase cooperation of the Northern Style and Southern Style of martial arts, as seen in The heroine of deadly darts (女俠響尾追魂鏢) in 1956. These remarkable wuxia films were mostly based on kung fu novels, e.g. Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery Pt 1 & Pt 2 (火燒紅蓮寺) in 1950, The Golden Hairpin Pt 1 & Pt 3 (碧血金釵) in 1963, Buddha’s Palm Pt 1 to Pt 4 (如來神掌) in 1964 and The Burning of Pingyang City (火燒平陽城) in 1965.
Her performances in Cantonese opera were quite different; she brought in a mixture of Peking Opera, in which she performed a lot of footwork, as in Suet Ting Shan and Fan Lai Hua - Meeting on the Weedy River (蘆花河會母) in 1961, Giving birth on the bridge – the White serpent (斷橋產子) in 1962 and How Zhong Wuyan Conquered the West (鍾無艷掛帥征西) in 1962. She also played a male lead as seen in movies Execution of Lui Po at Pak Moon Lau (白門樓斬呂布) in 1961, Two hunters in a pursuit (文武狀元爭彩鳳) in 1962 and The beauties (陣陣美人威) in 1964. Apart from action films, she did a few rare contemporary and melodrama
films, for example Midsummer night’s romance (夏夜之戀) in 1953, Bachelors beware (溫柔鄉) in 1960 and Two mouthy ladies from the north and south (南北鐵咀雞) in 1965.
Her golden age
of filming was between 1963 and 1966 ,when she made at least thirty movies in a year. Despite her fame and her leading position, she did take part in movies as a villainous woman, a role usually rejected by other actresses who were afraid of damaging their image. However, Yu proved that her talent in acting was not limited to action films. Her surprise roles in The big revenge part 1 and 2 (灕江河畔血海仇) (1963) and Heaven, Hell and Crystal Palace (天堂地獄水晶宮) (1965) did not destroy her popularity nor upset her fans; instead they won the hearts of the audience.
She married famous Cantonese opera actor, Mak Bing Wing, in 1966. Her last major movie was filmed in Taiwan
(Decree of the fire dragon (血火龍令) in 1968) and she made a guest appearance in Secret agent no.1 (神探一號) in 1970. Soon after that she was completely retired from the limelight. She is now settled in San Francisco with her five children.
In 2004, Yu was one of the celebrities honoured on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong
. To date, Yu still holds the record among actresses of making more than 170 wuxia movies. Though she did not gain any international awards before her retirement (because Hong Kong wuxia pictures were accepted internationally only recently), she is recognised as a "queen" of martial artists and actresses by her fans for her devotion to, and excellence in, wuxia films.
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
on July 9, 1930 to a Peking opera family. She is the daughter of late Master Yu Jim Yuen
Yu Jim Yuen
Yu Jim-yuen was the master of the China Drama Academy, one of the main Peking Opera Schools in Hong Kong from which Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Qiu, Yuen Wah, and Corey Yuen received their training...
who ran the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School
Peking Opera School
The Peking Opera Schools were boarding schools located throughout Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, specialising in teaching Peking opera...
in Hong Kong, and teacher of many well-known actors.
She started her acting career in 1948 and made over 240 films in the wuxia
Wuxia
Wuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...
, kung fu, action, detective and Cantonese opera genres. Her films were successful at the box-office and she was one of the most popular superstars
Superstars
Superstars is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon....
of the 1960 in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Career
Yu learned Peking Opera at the age of eight and made her stage debut at the age of nine. She specialized in playing female warrior roles in which she could skillfully demonstrate her footwork by continuously juggling and kicking back twelve red-tasselled tuo shou (脫手) spears, as seen in one of her famous stage Peking operas, The White SnakeMadame White Snake
The Legend of the White Snake, also known as Madame White Snake, is a Chinese legend, which existed as oral traditions before any written compilation...
(白蛇傳), and in the 1951 film Amazon on the Sea (海上女霸王).
Her first movie was made in 1948, a Mandarin wuxia film called The Kung Fu Couple (宏碧緣 ). She was one of the three actresses in the 1950s who really knew martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
. Off the screen, she was virtually a heroine: at the age of sixteen, she alone successfully fought off a group of gangsters with only a silky belt on the streets of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. She was able to do all the stunts, punches and acrobatic
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
skills by herself in all her action films.
Her early wuxia pictures from 1948 to 1957 were in both Mandarin and Cantonese dialogue, with stories intended to increase cooperation of the Northern Style and Southern Style of martial arts, as seen in The heroine of deadly darts (女俠響尾追魂鏢) in 1956. These remarkable wuxia films were mostly based on kung fu novels, e.g. Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery Pt 1 & Pt 2 (火燒紅蓮寺) in 1950, The Golden Hairpin Pt 1 & Pt 3 (碧血金釵) in 1963, Buddha’s Palm Pt 1 to Pt 4 (如來神掌) in 1964 and The Burning of Pingyang City (火燒平陽城) in 1965.
Her performances in Cantonese opera were quite different; she brought in a mixture of Peking Opera, in which she performed a lot of footwork, as in Suet Ting Shan and Fan Lai Hua - Meeting on the Weedy River (蘆花河會母) in 1961, Giving birth on the bridge – the White serpent (斷橋產子) in 1962 and How Zhong Wuyan Conquered the West (鍾無艷掛帥征西) in 1962. She also played a male lead as seen in movies Execution of Lui Po at Pak Moon Lau (白門樓斬呂布) in 1961, Two hunters in a pursuit (文武狀元爭彩鳳) in 1962 and The beauties (陣陣美人威) in 1964. Apart from action films, she did a few rare contemporary and melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
films, for example Midsummer night’s romance (夏夜之戀) in 1953, Bachelors beware (溫柔鄉) in 1960 and Two mouthy ladies from the north and south (南北鐵咀雞) in 1965.
Her golden age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
of filming was between 1963 and 1966 ,when she made at least thirty movies in a year. Despite her fame and her leading position, she did take part in movies as a villainous woman, a role usually rejected by other actresses who were afraid of damaging their image. However, Yu proved that her talent in acting was not limited to action films. Her surprise roles in The big revenge part 1 and 2 (灕江河畔血海仇) (1963) and Heaven, Hell and Crystal Palace (天堂地獄水晶宮) (1965) did not destroy her popularity nor upset her fans; instead they won the hearts of the audience.
She married famous Cantonese opera actor, Mak Bing Wing, in 1966. Her last major movie was filmed in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
(Decree of the fire dragon (血火龍令) in 1968) and she made a guest appearance in Secret agent no.1 (神探一號) in 1970. Soon after that she was completely retired from the limelight. She is now settled in San Francisco with her five children.
In 2004, Yu was one of the celebrities honoured on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong
Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong
The Avenue of Stars , modelled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is located along the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. It honours celebrities of the Hong Kong film industry.-History:...
. To date, Yu still holds the record among actresses of making more than 170 wuxia movies. Though she did not gain any international awards before her retirement (because Hong Kong wuxia pictures were accepted internationally only recently), she is recognised as a "queen" of martial artists and actresses by her fans for her devotion to, and excellence in, wuxia films.
Selected filmography
- The revenge of the great swordsman Assassin Zhang Wenxiang (大俠復仇記) (1949)
- The five heroes'deadly spears (五虎斷魂槍) (1951)
- A story of three lovers, pt 1 & 2 (啼笑姻緣上下集) (1952)
- A heroine from Mount Emei(峨嵋女俠 ) (1952)
- The dragon-phoenix swordsmen(龍鳳雙劍俠) (1957)
- The strange hero conquered the dragon(怪俠赤屠龍) (1960)
- Conqueress(無敵楊家將) (1961)
- The secret book, part one (仙鶴神針上下三集) (1961)
- The village militia, pt 1 & 2 (魔鏡神珠上下集) (1962)
- The blonde hair monster(黃毛怪人) (1962)
- The birth of the Monkey King(馬騮精出世) (1962)
- The Road to the west(唐三藏取西經) (1962)
- Ingentious swords, pt 1 & 2 (白骨陰陽劍上下集) (1962)
- Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery pt 1 & 2 (火燒紅蓮寺上下集) (1963)
- Valiant Pan An (武潘安) (1963)
- The iron wild goose pt 1 & 2(鐵雁霜翎上下集) (1963)
- The tiger in hunting(臥虎藏龍) (1963)
- Pat cham lau lan sai pat wan (不斬樓蘭誓不還) (1963)
- Spring blossoms(花開富貴錦城春) (1964)
- The Flying FoxThe Flying Fox (film)The Flying Fox, also known as The Purple Lightning Sword, is a 1964 Hong Kong wuxia film produced by Gam Wing and directed by Siu Sang.-Cast:*Yu So-chow as Tik Siu-ching*Cheung Ying-choi as Man Lei-wan*Connie Chan as Tung-fong Ming...
(萬變飛狐) (1964) - The invincible kid Fang Shiyu(無敵神童方世玉) (1965)
- The all-powerful flute pt 1 & 2(簫聲震武林上下集) (1965)
- Hero of midland(中原奇俠) (1966)
- Fire dragon and the mythical pearl(火龍神珠) (1966)
- Heroic days of the Great Ming Dynasty (斷臂神龍劍) (1966)
- The avengers' tale pt 1 & 2 (鐵血恩仇錄上下集) (1966)