On January 11^th, 2003, Miss Li and Miss Huang led us to visit the Author of A daughter of the Stage, Miss Huang Shiou–jin. Miss Li and Miss Huang gave us the book A daughter of the Stage, the biography of Taiwanese Opera Dive, Miss Suen Tsuei-feng. We read about Miss Suen Tsuei-feng’s excellent work in dramatic performance. Most importantly, she didn’t begin to learn Taiwanese Opera until she was twenty six years old. She had to break through her body and language barriers to transform herself to what she is today. Her story is almost a legend in the history of Taiwanese Opera.
With vivid images and Miss Huang’s dynamic writing style, this biography presents Miss Suen’s life experience. She lived a colorful childhood, roving around with his parents in a drama troupe. Then, she fell in love with Mr. Chen Sheng-fu, the current chief of the Ming Hwa Yuan. Later she was married to Mr. Chen, as well as the family. In the beginning, because she had hard time fitting in theater life, she often made ridiculous mistakes. Then, she was deeply moved by the enthusiasm of this big family and the glamour of Taiwan Opera. She decided to put on the costume, accept the training of Taiwanese Opera stagecraft. Now she is already the diva of Taiwanese Opera and has conquered the world with her dazzling performance. She even won the special award of The Ten Outstanding Young People. Throughout the story, we read about Miss Suen’s sadness and happiness, sorrow and delight, her persistence for her goal of life, as well as her optimistic attitude to face challenges of life. A daughter of the Stage is an inspiring biography that is definitely worthy of reading.

Taiwanese Opera often reminds Miss Huang of her mother. When Miss Huang was a little girl, she and her family lived in the old community of Meng-jia in Taipei. Whenever there was a festival, temples would engage Taiwanese Opera troupes to play on Open-air stage. Miss Huang’s mother was a big fan of Taiwanese Opera, but she was too busy doing her housekeeping work to go see the play. Miss Huang’s mother often ended up watching only the end of the play.
One time, it was a Moon Festival. Waiting until children all went to bed, Miss Huang’s mom sneaked out to watch Taiwan Opera. However, young Miss Huang woke up unexpectedly, and she couldn’t see her mother. She started to cry. After Miss Huang’s father got woken up by her sob, he asked what happened to her. She lied to her father that she had a toothache, but in fact, she was just afraid. Her father immediately went out to look for her mother.
Obviously, Miss Huang’s father complained all the way when he took her mom home. He said, “The child has a toothache. Where have you been?” Her mom anxiously went to check is Miss Huang was all right.
After Miss Huang grows up, she still keeps this little anecdote in mind. Whenever there is a performance of Taiwanese Opera, she will let her mother know immediately, or even buy her the ticket to a large-scale public performance. Therefore, probably because of her mom’s influence, Miss Huang always feels that there is a connection between her and Taiwanese Opera.

While Miss Huang studies in graduate school, Her thesis topic was The Research on the Management of Taiwanese Opera troupes. That’s when she first met Miss Suen Tsuei-feng, she was then a siao dan（female lead） of the Ming Hwa Yuan. Ten years later, Miss Huang meets Miss Suen again. This time Miss Suen is no loner just a siao dan; Suen Tsuei-feng has become a household name because Miss Suen is already a famous star on TV, on the big screen, not to mention on Taiwanese Opera. During the process of interviewing Miss Suen, Miss Huang came to realize that inside Miss Suen’s seeming weak and slim body is an extraordinary willpower that supports her going through her life challenges. It is her untiring efforts that make her keep surmounting herself and become a well-known performing artist in the world. The book, A daughter of the Stage not only includes interesting anecdotes, but also serves as the best portrayal of Miss Suen Tsuei-feng’s life struggle.