Hou Yao (1903-1942): a martyred patriot

    Although his life was tragically short, Hou Yao 候曜 (Cantonese:  Hau Yiu) was one of China's most talented and creative screenwriters and directors of the silent era.  (We will look at some of his specific films and contributions in future posts.)  Born in Panyu, Guangdong, in 1903, Hou originally trained for a teaching career.  But after graduating from Nanjing Normal School in 1922, and completing two years of graduate school, the attention attracted by his writings on film and drama led to his hiring in 1924 by the newly-established Changcheng [Great Wall] Motion Picture Company as director and head of scriptwriting.  In 1926 he joined the Minxin studio as chief writer and director, and head of its film school.  Later, he became the head of Minxin's Beijing branch studio.  In 1933, with the coming of sound, Hou moved to Hong Kong to join the emerging Cantonese movie industry.  In addition to continuing his writing, he founded the Wenhua [Culture] Film Company, which he managed until 1938 when he moved to the Nanyang [South Seas] studio.  In his writing and his film and theater work, he was an outspoken advocate of resistance to Japanese aggression, which put him on the enemy's most-wanted list.  Learning his life was in danger from enemy agents and collaborators in Hong Kong, he fled to Singapore, but when that city fell in early 1942 he was arrested by the Japanese army and publicly beheaded in the city's downtown, one of the many thousands of Singapore Chinese civilians slaughtered at that time.
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Filmography:
1924:
The Divorcee [aka Abandoned Wife]  (co-director, writer, original play)
1925:
Cupid's Puppets  (co-director)
Woman Picking the Stars [aka Between Love and Filial Duty]  (writer)
The Person in the Boudoir Dream  (writer)
1926:
The Hypocrite  (director, writer)
The God of Peace  (director, writer)
A String of Pearls  (screen adaptation)
1927:
The Cape Poet  (director, writer)
A Reviving Rose  (co-director, co-writer, original play)
Romance of the West Chamber  (director screen adaptation)
The Old Man in the Moon Divorces  (director, co-writer)
1928:
Mulan Joins the Army  (director, writer)
Romance on the Battlefield  (director, writer)
1932:
New Grievances in the Imperial Palace  (director, writer)
1933:
The Fool Pays Respects  (director, writer)
 1937:
The Desert Flower  (director, writer)
The Forces Withing  (original work)
Romance of the Pearl River  (director, writer, original story)
1938:
Incident in the Pacific  (director, actor, writer, original story)
The Purple Cups  (director, writer)
Fortress of Flesh and Blood [aka Provoking Father]  (actor, director, writer)
The Second Marriage of Madam [aka Son vs. Mother]  (director)
The Wrong Couple  (director)
Shaking Heaven and Earth  (director, writer)
Fallen Angel  (director, writer)
1939:
The Ugly Empress  (co-director, co-writer)
Master Keung  (co-director, co-writer)
Incident on Turtle Mountain  (co-director, co-writer)
The Filial Son and the Unworthy  (co-director, co-writer)
Daughter vs. Stepmother  (co-director, co-writer)
1940:
The Chinese Tarzan  (co-director, co-writer)