17 Facts About Zhou Xuan

Zhou Xiaohong, known professionally as Zhou Xuan, romanized as Chow Hsuan, was a Chinese singer and film actress.

Zhou Xuan recorded more than 200 songs and appeared in over 40 films in her career.

Zhou Xuan was born on August 1,1920 in an intellectual family in Wujin.

When Zhou Xuan was young, she was abducted to Jintang County by her opium-addicted uncle and separated from her biological parents.

In 1932, Zhou Xuan began acting as a member of Li Jinhui's Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe.

Zhou Xuan began her film career in 1935, and she achieved stardom in 1937 when director Yuan Muzhi cast her as one of the leads as a singing girl in Street Angel.

Zhou Xuan rapidly became the most famous and marketable popular singer in the gramophone era up to her death, singing many famous tunes from her own movies.

Zhou Xuan spent the next few years in and out of mental institutions owing to frequent breakdowns.

In 1950, after Zhou Xuan returned to Shanghai with her pregnancy, she published a statement in the newspaper, breaking up with Zhu Huaide; at the end of the year, Zhou Xuan's eldest son Zhou Min was born.

In May 1952, Zhou Xuan was about to marry art teacher Tang Di, but Tang Di was sentenced to three years in prison by the Jing'an District People's Court on charges of fraud and seduction; in the same year, Zhou Xuan's second son Zhou Wei was born.

Zhou Xuan was survived by two sons, Zhou Min and Zhou Wei, born of different fathers.

Zhou Min was widely believed to be the son of the businessman Zhu Huaide, who left for Shanghai in 1950 after Zhou Xuan entrusted him with her savings and never returned; Zhou Min was born in that same year.

The elder of the two, Zhou Xiaoxuan, is a classical pianist trained at Concordia University and now living in Beijing.

The youngest, Amanda Zhou Xuan, is taking a similar path as an actress and has already worked on a few shows and films.

The book My Mother Zhou Xuan was written by Zhou Wei and his wife Chang Jing ; while a later book, Zhou Xuan Diary, was written by Zhou Min.

An adaptation of the life of Zhou Xuan was produced in TVB's Song Bird, starring Adia Chan as Zhou Xuan and Leon Lai as her lover.

Zhou Xuan sang duets with Lai in the program while under Crown Records.