The opera actress Tsui Feng Sun’s remarkable life story was chronicled in her autobiography Daughter of the Stage, which was subsequently dramatized as a TV series, starring herself. Sun came from an operatic family, but because of its hard life on the road, she was discouraged by her parents from following the same path. Taiwanese opera was Sun’s destiny, however—she married Sheng Fu Chen of Ming Hwa Yuan, a theatre group formed in 1929.

At the relatively late age of 26 and as a mother, she joined the troupe as an actress, overcoming numerous obstacles like discrimination, physical ability, and language to become the group’s, if not Taiwan’s, leading actress and sheng performer (male impersonator) also skilled in martial arts. Under the direction of Sun and her husband, the company has taken Taiwanese opera beyond the confines of the stage, into prisons, hospitals, and construction sites, revitalizing the traditional art through TV and film, and promoting it overseas.