From Teresa Teng to Chiung Yao: Taiwan’s lost age of cultural sway over mainland China

The work of Taiwanese artists used to be enjoyed by millions on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, influence that has been overtaken by politics and economics

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My Fair Princess was a hugely popular production based on the work of Chiung Yao. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:00am, 15 Dec 2024Updated: 8:01pm, 15 Dec 2024

When news broke earlier this month of the death of Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao, mainland fan Nicole Li was flooded with childhood memories of watching TV dramas based on Yao’s work.

“I can almost recite the lines and plots of My Fair Princess and Romance in the Rain,” 30-year-old Li said, referring to mainland-Taiwanese co-productions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “Most people of my generation would have the same memories.”

The shows were wildly popular, attracting millions of mainland viewers when they were broadcast on Hunan TV.

Former Hunan TV director Ouyang Changlin said the peak for these shows was around 1999 when the second season of My Fair Princess aired, capturing around 65 per cent of the mainland market.

For Li and her generation of young mainland Chinese, some of their earliest cultural memories are of the work of Taiwanese writers, musicians and filmmakers like Chiung Yao.

So much so that after her death by suicide, mainland Chinese media was flooded with tributes from artists, the public and even state media.

But in recent years, Taiwanese pop culture has struggled to appeal to mainland audiences.